Hey all, I was wodering if I remove that metal tube that goes from the exhaust to that valve on the intake. Would it hurt the motor?? Because on all my other motors I usually just cut the tube off, weld it closed and use the cut and welded ends for plugs. Is this a good idea on the L series motor? And what do I do with the valve that is right above it?? Remove it and make a block off plate, or keep it on there??

 

It WILL NOT hurt the motor. So don't worry about that. If you have emissions (and I'm guessing you dont) then it would put you in the can as far as passing goes. Alls its there for is to lower combustion chamber temperature. Not intake temperature, or coolant temperature, or engine temperature, or exhaust temperature, just COMBUSTION temperature. The reason its there is to lower the amount of NOx in the system, which forms at very high combustion temps (if you want the exact number then you or someone else can look it up ). If, however you do this, I would think twice about ever terminating the exhaust anywhere below the vehicle Make sure you cap it off real good and make sure its sealed or you'll have an exhaust and/or vacuum leak which could lead you to think it was removing the EGR that caused the problem. And funny as it sounds, yes, exhaust gas being introduced back into the combustion chamber does lower the temp of the combustion process. As far as the EGR valve itself goes, you can just leave it there, but make sure you disconnect the vacuum hose going to it or you could have issues.

Oh and the combustion temps are not lowered to keep the engine cool or anything like that. It's ONLY for the purpose I stated above. So you're not going to have an overheating or melting engine on your hands from doing this. I should also point out though that it's not worth the effort if you have a working system and don't NEED to remove the EGR. But I'll leave that decision up to you

 

Well ever see that black crap in an intake manifold, it's caused by egr. And I like to simplify my motors. I only have to pass a snifer test here, no underhood inspections. So with a functioning cat I should be okay. At least by cutting it out, it's one less thing I have to worry about. And since it is only a little tube, I can all ways put it back on, after I get a spare, I am going to cut and weld the ends into plugs, so I'll need another

 

As long as your sniffer test doesn't check for excessive level of NOx you'll be fine.

 

Your cat wont clean up NOx. So check to make sure it doesn't test for that. You Cat cleans up CO which is the byproduct of incomplete combustion. The cat works by reburning completing the combustion process and turning the CO into CO2. I doesn't affect your levels of NOx. So make a call before you take it off.

 

Indeed... It'd be easier to just remove the EGR vacuum tube & see if it will pass first. Or make a block off plate. Do simple things before the big things. You'd be hating life if you remove all the EGR parts, then find out ya gotta put them right back in.

 

Good points all. I guess I'll wait till after the test, and get a spare egr tube to make plugs outta.

 

Yes, and No.

The cat that came in the car originally will not affect N0X, because it is only a two way cat. Upgrading to a newer 3 way high flow cat will almost all but eliminate N0X. I had to do that to get mine past smog the first time because even with everything else working, my N0X was too high. Put in the big 3 way and it passed with flying colors. A good 3 way high flow cat will make a huge difference in all the emmisions output.

Rod.