Good morning...

I have a thread over in the 1987 - 1996 asking about the EGR system. I should have known I was going to stir up some ugly when I called the EGR "government BS", BUT.... I took my chances and got the result.

ANYWAY....
In the 1973 - 1979 Ford forum, almost everyone is of the opinion that the EGR is just something else to get stopped up and not work anyway. It was MAYBE about half way through that era that the EGR was "invented". People will tell you the engine worked just fine before EGR and will do nicely without.

I have a "Ford friend" close by me, that is of the opinion that the EGR and a LOT of other things on the 1987 302 V8 engine, are useless and should be deleted.

Since EGR stands for "Exhaust Gas Recirculation", I just always figured the whole idea was a government way to "clean up the air".

I guess it all boils down to this..... (and I hope I am among friends here)... Does the EGR REALLY help with engine efficiency.... OR can I get rid of it and help my engine breathe better without "choking on exhaust gas"....LOL

Thanks for bearing with me!



And thanks David for your comment on my original thread. I can tell you are not just a parts swapper. You know how this stuff REALLY works.

 

Mike, I just saw this older thread. You know I won't flame you.

Yes, I agree that getting rid of EGR is a good thing for engine performance, provided you tune for the deletion. EGR definitely has a purpose. In the good ole days, it was an environmental crutch to compensate for carburetors that were tuned rich from the factory and then just got worse as the vehicle aged. It compensated, at the expense of reduced engine performance and lifespan. Every stock engine I've torn down, had EGR components and intake manifolds that looked like cutaway drawings on a heart doctor's wall. That same garbage is introduced into the combustion mixture, reducing combustion efficiency, which reduces fuel economy, which causes you to burn more fuel, which produces more harmful emissions. Geez!

I've gotten to where I don't talk carburetor tuning on the forum, because of egos. But here's what I've learned over the years. First thing: If you don't have Air / Fuel Ratio, and Vacuum gauges, you cannot tune a carburetor properly. You may think you can, but you have no way of definitively knowing how it's tuned unless you use those gauges. That said, my Dent gets better MPG's than it did when it rolled off the assembly line. And that's because I monitor those gauges and tune the carburetor as needed. Seasonal temperature prompts tuning, and that's another branch of this conversation. I tune to the leanest A/FR that I can safely run. Safely meaning without pre-detonation when I load the engine. So if my tune has my engine efficiently burning fuel, then my exhaust pushes less harmful products into the air. An example Air / Fuel Ratio of 14:1 out of a carbureted engine, produces the same amount of harmful exhaust gases as an EFI, EGR, PCM, etc engine that runs at 14:1. Yeah, I know that EFI is better at maintaining A/FR throughout the range, it's just an example.

Now here's the funny part. If you do maintain your carburetor's tune throughout the seasons, and your Air / Fuel Ratio is at lean best, then your exhaust gases will be much cleaner, which in turn produces less harmful emissions, and clogs EGR components much less. So why not just leave the EGR in place, and learn to tune carburetors with gauges? Well, the flip side is, if you do have EGR, those exhaust gases are going make it harder to tune your carburetor. Dangit! Every door you open, there's someone there to slap your face!

All that preaching was done from an efficiency & emissions pulpit. Looking at it from a performance perspective, does change it up a bit. Without getting into the weeds here, the biggest improvement you get from not having EGR, is that your intake temperature is much cooler. That helps make power, and reduces the chances of pre-detonation.

 

Mike I'm sorry I missed this a year ago.

If you haven't gotten results yet say so, I'm subbed now.

 

My findings with the early ford efi's with egr are that it benefits mpg in stock tune, ONLY Because of how raggedly lean these engines are tuned from the factory the inert gas from the egr allows more timing without detenation.

If a custom tune is applied all this goes out the window.

I tested this carefully with two different 4.9's and wound up putting the system back on line because i didn't have the want or time to fool with trying to do a megasquirt etc..

I've got a pretty in-depth thread on here somewhere from yrs back,

Yes its terrible for the engine as a whole, who wants to breath their own farts?