Well, the past few days have seen me making some repairs to the 91 F-150: As some of you may know, the EGR pipe failed at the flex joint in it last week: I tried repairing it with muffler seal, but no good... SO yesterday I started an odyssey of repairs to it... I also installed a battery, and a fuel pressure regulator, but more on those later.

I started by buying a nice Dorman EGR pipe at Pep Boys. When I read the one review for it, the buyer described it as 1/4" SHORT. Well, I hoped he had a defective one, and mine would be fine. Guess what- Mine was the SAME way. So, on a Friday afternoon, I set out to find an aftermarket pipe to replace the damaged(and already removed) pipe.

On Thursday night, I used a hacksaw to cut the upper section off, and a hand held blade to cut at the lower nut. With the intervening piece removed, I was able to remove the two nuts- although the lower one was a b--ch in d a half. I ended up using a 1 1/4" deep socket, and a 4 foot breaker bar, and finally broke the nut loose. I cleaned up the threads of the adapter into the manifold with a wire wheel on a die grinder, as the adapter would NOT break loose! I had the 4ft of breaker bar bent like a fishing pole, and I decided to not endanger my life by adding strain...

Anyway, I got the Dorman pipe out of the bag, put it onto the lower connection, and found it was indeed too short. So I ran to various parts houses looking for an alternate. First, I found another of the same, and compared- as I figured, they are making them wrong for the F-150 5.8l engine. SO I tried a BWD(Borg-Warner) one from Advanced Auto- which had me running 20 miles to pick it up in another town...

Well, the BWD WAS the right length, and I picked it up, just in case nothing else appeared. Leaving Advance Auto $70 lighter(as opposed to $50 at Pep Boys for Dorman), I realized I was NOT happy with my purchase: Not only did this pipe NOT have the fiberglass insulating sleeve the original and the Dorman both had, but I did not think much of the construction: the metal of the BWD was thinner, and the flex joint, rather than corrugated tube like the one on my truck & the Dorman one, was actually a spiral of folded metal- and a corrosion trap which would have lasted about a year.

So I tried NAPA- they supply Dorman, so no win there.

So I went to the only place I could think of, but often don't use- The Ford Dealer. (In this case, Miller, in Mt. Holly, NJ) They had one in stock. It was perfect. And it was around $90... $103 with tax. Happily, the cashier noticed my USAA debit card, and asked if I was military- I responded "I WAS, but am out now. (I have 15 years in between Army Guard & USAF Reserve) So she sent the bill back, and got me a military discount! Cool. Didn't even ask. Now the part was $80 + tax. I was quite happy with it.

So back to Advance (I went to the one nearer home, I was a little embarrassed returning it so soon) then over to Pep Boys, to return that one. I then came back, put it in- that took a little while: I had to buy a large wrench at Pep Boys(1 1/4") but could only access it well from below, and flipping the wrench each turn. And I couldn't put a torque wrench on it, so I used the "calibrated elbow"...

Anyway. Got it in, changed the fuel pressure regulator, and took it for a test run. Well, the CHECK ENGINE light came on- first there was the return of code 94- CCCS solenoid fault: I may just replace the solenoid pack at this point. It had stopped doing that a while back, but now it returns. The transmission felt a little thumpy, so there may be something to it. (I wonder if putting a strong new battery in changed things...)

And I also had a 33 in stored: it is an "EGR opening not detected" I jiggled the connector on the EGR, and will recheck everything tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to see about buying a used cap for the truck I located. I pulled the bed liner today as well...

FOR REFERENCE: The Dorman part which DOES NOT fit is #598-101
The FORD one(which is perfect!) is FOTZ 9D477A, and lists at $93.65- and well worth the money when you consider all the trouble I had with aftermarket, and all the fuel used as well as time wasted.

OH- And on the subject of fuel, my mileage is around 12 mpg at the moment- checked before I replaced the EGR pipe with the vacuum leak: I am hoping it improves further after repairing that leak...

Scott

 

Thanks for posting your trials and success.

I had heard that the Dorman replacement was indeed shorter and some mechanics are heating them with a torch to lengthen them. But I had not heard of the BWD being crap quality.

I suppose when I get the '95, 5.8 in my garage close to being repaired and installed, I will opt for the Ford replacement. Mine was broke in 2 places, so go figure.

Thanks once again for your results and time spent posting.

 

I think the torch heating and stretching is not a good idea: I could see the method of grinding one weld(there is a good bit of tube inside from what I could see, and what my original had) fitting it, tacking it, and re-MIG welding it: but it is FAR better to just get the factory part... Time alone would make up the difference...

And You're Welcome! for the post- I wanted others to know about the issue: I also posted a review of the Dorman part on Pep Boys website: It was not bad quality- it just did not have the "fitting properly" thing worked out! lol...

Scott

 

Have you decided what kind of replacement liner you're going to go with, yet? At CarGear we have a great product that uses recycled tires to give you a water proofed and rubberized liner that also dampens noise. You can check out more about the Bully Liner here.

 

Thanks, but I'm going with a painted liner- I've had them before, and I like them better than drop ins, as they seal, and they do not wear the bed paint as they are the paint, and are easily touched up...

But thanks for letting me know...

Anyone need a drop in bed liner with top of fender covers?

Scott

 

When I bought my '95 that tube was leaking on mine so went to Amazon and bought one there WITH the sleeve and fit perfect. Dont remember how much I paid though.

 

Hey Scott,

It's spray in, not drop in. Bully Liner | Truck Bed Liner, Anti-Slip Coating

Cheers,

Jimmy