Ok, so my EGR valve was toast. Any time I hooked it up it would kill the truck. So I went and spoke with my friendly Autozoner and ordered a new EGR valve and a new Ported Vacuum Switch.The switch went in with minimal problems (a trip to Home Depot to get some brass fittings), but the EGR valve came with a slew of orifice washers. I was able to clean up my old EGR valve and get the part number off of it, which gave me the washer number I needed. Well, the problem is the way Wells wants the washer installed. "Use a hammer and center punch to make indentations around the edge of the washer to hold it in place." Yeah, doesn't work. I used a center punch, and my trusty Stanley hammer, and punched the living dog $h1t out of that sucker. When I thought it was good I picked the valve up off the bench and *ting*, the washer falls right out. So I say screw it, and sorta RTV that stupid thing in place. Does anyone see ANY possible problems I may face by having it in like this?? What a stupid setup they have for these aftermarket valves. Why can't they just spend the money on the tooling and make them the right way??

 

Has no one used one of these aftermarket valves??

 

Can you show a picture of the valve and the washer you're talking about? I've never come across this before; it's always been a straight bolt-on, flange to flange.

 

Too late for that, I installed it and ops checked it and so far so good. Basically, if you buy a Wells EGR valve, it is made to accommodate many different models. It comes with the valve, gasket, and a bag of washers. Based off the part number of your OEM valve, you use one of the washers. The washers go into the orifice on the EGR valve to reduce it. All of the washers have a different size hole, so you have to use the right one. It's a stupid system, but apparently if you don't want to spend $100 on an EGR valve, it's the system you're stuck with.

 

I had to replace my valve and the one I got was the same as yours. I thought it was a stupid idea too but I managed to stake the washer in with no problem. Bolted it on and now the truck runs perfect. I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do these days.

 

Thanks for the follow-up; hadn't seen these before. I guess it's cheaper to mass produce them this way.

 

Ok, so another question. Is it common for these trucks to not want to start when it's mildly cold outside?? Since I replaced the EGR valve the temperature has dropped from 80 degrees to highs of around 60. Right now it's about 47 and I just drove the truck but she didn't want to start and is running kinda rough. I'm wondering if it's the EGR valve or if these suckers just hate life until they are warmed up. She did run slightly better by the end of my quick trip to the store, but she was running seemingly better without the EGR valve hooked up.

 

If the cold-running issue only appeared once you added the EGR valve, make sure that vacuum to the valve is sourced through a ported vacuum switch. The EGR valve isn't supposed to receive a signal until the engine warms up past a certain temperature.

If it's having trouble starting when it's cold (EGR valve or not), make sure the choke is closing when you press the pedal once before a cold start.

 

It is through a ported vacuum switch, I replaced that with the EGR valve. I'm thinking it may also be caused by the fact I don't have the stock air cleaner, and the pre-heater is non-existent. I LOVE having to reverse engineer backwoods engineering!!

 

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

Can't wait to replace my EGR valve and Ported Vacuum Switch!

 

Well, it's official: my truck HATES the EGR valve. I took her out today to get an air cleaner stud from Autozone and some odds and ends from Home Depot. On the way to Autozone she was running like crapola and bucking and kicking her way down the street. When I reached in my pocket to get my keys I felt the vacuum plugs in there, so I yanked the hose from the ported vacuum switch to the EGR valve and capped them off. She ran like a champ the rest of the trip and started easier. Must be the cheap aftermarket valve causing problems.

 

Yeah, my EGR valve isn't even hooked up at the moment, and the truck runs fine without it... I've talked to FMC before about EGR stuff and it seems that it's NOT necessary to have it hooked up, but it's a good idea.

One of those things that was designed to help the vehicle, when all it did was complicate things.

 

Disconnecting the EGR raises your combustion chamber temps, which can lead to detonation and dieseling upon shutdown. I'm not getting either problem without the EGR, so until I can afford to plunk down $100 on an OEM direct replacement, I'm just gonna run with it disconnected and check my plugs every oil change to make sure nothing bad is happening. I have more important things to spend that money on, like brakes and steering and suspension components.

 

I've never said that - we might have had some sort of miscommunication. As jjski78 pointed out above, there are multiple issues that can arise without the EGR system in place, and I try to point them out when the issue comes up.

 

FMC, would you mind rehashing the cons of removing the EGR? My '76 still had the pump on it when I bought it though long locked up apparently and I'm considering removing the EGR and plugging the heads where the tubes went.