T1 , I understand that paying for sufficient bandwidth and paying for the servers to handle the many thousands of posts directed too the website is very expensive. Also, the mass accumulation of specific posts related too each individual Thread takes a tremendous amount of storage capacity. And, since history repeats itself, the same basic questions are continuouslly re-asked and re-answered, adinfinitum , adnausam. So you'll make a management decision to limit the "rehashing" of the same threads by telling "new" posters Asking the "same old Questions" tooo "Use the Search Feature".....Well, that's a very efficient way of limiting the Absolute number of posts and thereby minimizing the "Need" to buy additional storage capacity every so often. But , the search feature isn't always available , (2)People don't generally , as a rule , know how to configure the Syntax to obtain the desired result so as to answer their question ,(3)there are lots of threads with Absolutely no substance or Answer content whatsoever(those should be eliminated in my opinion), (4)As the website has grown so have the number of very knowledgeable folks(like yourself) who want to Participate and help those of US who are trying to obtain and Apply the vast amount of Help that is available for our mechanical edification , (5)Each new poster who asks a question and Each pearson who Answers that question are PARTICIPATING in the Process of Becoming MEMBERS of this website and by definition members of the Family so to speak.....So, to some extent using the Search feature is, in my opinion , a way of denying new folks the opportunity of enjoying the features of the website for the greatest good for all participants......fd

 

FatDaddy is correct, in my opinion, with his comment regarding posting to FTE. I have been using the Usenet Newsgroups for years and see the same dynamic at work here on FTE. Experts gather and are annoyed at simple or often-asked questions. The referral to the "search" is appropriate but I personally like reading current posts too.

Another thing not mentioned is the inherent weakness of written communication. When the moderator says someting like "How is it you know how to use a vacuum gauge but don't know how to hook it up? That does not make sense..." the reader is offended. I'm sure Torque1st did not mean it that way but without tone and facial expression to rely on, the meaning is distorted.

Anyhow, we appreciate the work of Torque1st and the other moderators. FTE is my homepage and I am here every day. I'm a half-assed shadetree that just keeps trying and I get a great deal of helpful info from here.

One small off topic beef: Too many posters do not have galleries. I wanna see those photos!!!
jor

 

Patience is a virute- we are all not at the same level of education and ability, people have a need to learn somehow -why not this site. I like reading some of the past issues come up again and again - every once and a while someone has a NEW fix / technique. Hostility is no way to greet newbies.

There's been a lot of hostility and firing back in this forum lately. These pissing match posts really detract from what the post is about. I know these "conversations" would be a lot different in person.

Occasionally its really hard not to get steamed and start firing off, I've learned to just leave it alone. Like grandma used to say:

"If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it all!"

 

Well I am leaveing now and I wont be back home untill monday night or tuesday morning. I will check out my problems then buy I will still have access to a computer so I can ask some more questions I have. I will do what you said. And about my EGR valve, I cleaned out the crud and put a new gasket on it, the old gasket was soaked with gas and was leaking. the male connection sticking out of the EGR is arround 1/2 an inch long and has a very small "little bigger than a pin hole" opening when I took it off I could blow through it and suck through it. And I do hear a slight pinging, but it was hard to tell with it missfireing and all... What is the EGR suposed to be hooked up to? I know this is prob one of thoes stupid questons, but I have never read a vaccume diagram, and they are not at all what I thought it was going to be. I can understand wireing like the back of my hand I am just not understanding how to read this vaccume diagram? How do I identify the parts?

 

A good, stiff , adult debate on any subject area is Good in my opinion. Name calling , personal attacks , racial slurs , and the like are grounds for immediate suspension from this website in my opinion. Although, i happen to like ethnic jokes that are not mean spirited, rather they tend to show the differences in our various cultural heirtages and how we see each other. Just my .02's worth...fd

 

The OEM manuals and some versions of the aftermarket manuals have explanations of the emissions system parts. The parts themselves usually have letters molded into the housings that match these designations. The acronyms they use are just that, abbreviations for the names of the parts. Kind of like electrical schematics; CR1, T1, C12, R7, etc. You just need to learn the "language". Unfortunately each vehicle manufacturer uses their own language...

The small male connector would normally have a vacuum line on it to control the operation of the EGR valve. The control of the EGR valve is complicated and it can not be hooked directly to vacuum since that would cause severe problems. You mentioned that the gasket was soaked with gas. That is not right unless there was some manipulation of the throttle linkage that sprayed a lot of gas around.

I did not mean any offense with the "does not make sense" line but I did mean to press a point. Just because a person has read an instruction sheet does not mean they know how to use a tool. In this case the tool, a vacuum gage, is fairly useless to diagnose this problem except if there is some underlying physical problem. Which a mechanic would eliminate one step at a time using his experience, senses, and training.

The search function is a problem and has severe limitations. We hope the new version of the forum software will have a better search function.

I do suggest using search to people because they can very often find the answer to their question fairly quickly without having to wait for replies. Especially the "common" problems. I am sorry if you guys take offense at that but I feel that suggesting the search function is doing my job, -getting help to people as fast and efficiently as possible. That is one of the reasons the "content" is here and it is not wiped off after 90 days or so... Use of the search function is not meant to turn people away from the forum and becomming "members". Anyone who comes in here and uses the information in any manner will eventually join the community in some way, -either with questions or answers. Storage space is of no concern although it does add up... Ken will not allow any "content" to be removed even if it is meaningless.

I am sorry also that you people feel this is some sort of pissing match, I don't. I am just trying to show everyone that all is not what it may seem and there are reasons for some of the things I/we do around here.

You guys may feel that this forum will be taking a turn for the worse when I post the new Posting guidelines and begin enforcing them. But again the posting guideleines will be aimed at getting people help as fast and efficiently as possible. Right now many questions do not get the attention they deserve because of the high volume of posts here. I have to bring many of them back to the top of the list with any kind of answer including "try the search function" in order to let people see them again, which seems to offend some people. Most of our experts just simply do not have the time to wade thru a page or two of posts to find people to help. This detracts from the community and the quality of the help offered. I can't please everyone and still perform the job that I was assigned, although I try to address any concerns anyone may have. Anyone can email or PM me at any time with their concerns, they do not have to post them. Right now I have four forums (three are very busy) I am taking care of as well as a couple that I watch occasionally. There are two that I am very expert in that I almost never go in. I have a new moderator lined up for the Ranger forum so I will be going back down to three forums, two of which are very busy. The Garage forum is difficult to manage because it seems many of the new people get excited and post their tech questions there. Every time someone does that it takes about 10 minutes of my time to deal with it. Time that I could use to answer questions in the forums I have some expertise in. I wish I could get Ken to move the Garage forum so that it wasn't the first thing new people see.


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Dave, if I've got this right, the 1/2" long fitting you are referring to is the connection for the vacuum hose. If it won't hold vacuum (you can suck and blow through it) the diaphragm is ruptured and won't move the valve. As long as the valve itself isn't leaking (keeps exhaust and intake separated) it won't cause a vacuum leak (missing) although the engine will ping unless other things have been adjusted to compensate for the pinging. What commonly happens is a piece of carbon gets between the valve and seat causing a vacuum leak which is hard to trace because it's all internal (no external air).
Back to the 1/2" fitting: The vacuum line runs to there from a TVS (Temperature controlled Vacuum Switch) which keeps the EGR valve closed when the engine is cold. That is fed from a ported vacuum supply (vacuum only when throttle is applied). All of that is moot if the diaphragm is ruptured 'cuz it won't work anyway. Fix the leaks, get it running as smooth as possible, and THEN work out the small stuff.
p.s. The vacuum diagrams will be a lot like a wiring schematic only a lot better 'cuz most of them will try to take the physical positions of the components into account. As far as what the abbreviations are is concerned, a repair manual and a lot of reading will go a long way.
Hope this helps.
Greg

'77 F-250 Camper Special 400ci driver
'76 F-250 Supercab 360ci current project
'71 Mach I 429CJ in storage
'79 F-150 for parts
HONK if you love peace and quiet!

 

Thanks Greg! :-)


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[updated:LAST EDITED ON 01-13-03 AT 02:42 AM (EST)]Sorry I posted twice my browser is messing up Please Read below. Also why is it that It says i have only posted 9 times? I have easily over 100 posts?

 

>Dave, if I've got this right, the 1/2" long fitting you are
>referring to is the connection for the vacuum hose.

Yes that is correct.

>If it won't hold vacuum (you can suck and blow through it) the
>diaphragm is ruptured and won't move the valve. As long as
>the valve itself isn't leaking (keeps exhaust and intake
>separated) it won't cause a vacuum leak (missing) although
>the engine will ping unless other things have been adjusted
>to compensate for the pinging.

How would I adjust everything else to compensate for the pinging?

>What commonly happens is a piece of carbon gets between the valve >and seat causing a vacuum leak which is hard to trace because it's >all internal(no external air).

How can I know if this is my problem?

>Back to the 1/2" fitting: The vacuum line runs to there
>from a TVS (Temperature controlled Vacuum Switch) which
>keeps the EGR valve closed when the engine is cold. That is
>fed from a ported vacuum supply (vacuum only when throttle
>is applied). All of that is moot if the diaphragm is
>ruptured 'cuz it won't work anyway.

>Fix the leaks, get it running as smooth as possible, and THEN work >out the small stuff.

Ok I understand everything you said except how I am suposed to detect if I have carbon between my valve and the seat?

 

I have asked that same question about your post totals in the Moderators forum. I noticed it too:-(

There was a problem with a hard drive a few days ago and your post totals may have been "whacked".

The distributor advance curve has to be modified to run without EGR. Unless you have a friend with a distributor machine you will have to take it to a shop that has one. A carb that is jetted for EGR will be jetted a little lean. Again, a shop can adjust that if they know carbs.

When you removed your EGR did you clean it out? If you did don't worry about the carbon under the seat.


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>I have asked that same question about your post totals in
>the Moderators forum. I noticed it too:-(
>There was a problem with a hard drive a few days ago and
>your post totals may have been "whacked".

Yeah that is when I noticed my # of posts was gone! That sucks! Oh well I can always just put (Add 90 to my total) will give people somthing to think about... lol,


>The distributor advance curve has to be modified to run
>without EGR. Unless you have a friend with a distributor
>machine you will have to take it to a shop that has one. A
>carb that is jetted for EGR will be jetted a little lean.
>Again, a shop can adjust that if they know carbs.

So you would recomend me to take my carb and distributor to a "shop"?
What kind of a shop? Just a regular aoto shop or what?


>When you removed your EGR did you clean it out? If you did
>don't worry about the carbon under the seat.

And yes I cleaned it out befor I re-installed it...

 

Racerdave,
I recommend that you ask around and see if any of your friends and/or coworkers have any recomendations where to bring your truck. Take it to an automotive tune up shop. Get an estimate. If it seems too costly, take it somewhere else. I too beleive it may be the pickup coil, but you're gotten caught up chasing the EGR. The previous owner may have some input for you to...after all he should know the truck's history. This site sells shop mauals on CD. I recommend you buy it - thay are invaluable tools specifically for your year truck (I've been told that they also contain applicable vacuum diagrams). Haynes sells an emissions book that covers over general emission control principles and the abbreviations for vaccum diagrams. A lot of things can make the engine put-put. I'd pay some attention to the items that have been tinkered with lately. Really, it could be the carb, could be the EGR, could be ignition related....it can get costly swapping / testing parts without experienced direction. Without having the luxury of living right around the corner and stopping by, it's tough for me to diagnose and help you online. If you live close to SLO, CA I'll give you a hand...what are the chances? Honestly, talk to the previous owner if you can and ask around for a reputable shop - or better yet, a shop to avoid. A basic tune up may uncover something obvious that's been easily overlooked. Best wishes, keep us posted. ;-)

 

>Racerdave,
>I recommend that you ask around and see if any of your
>friends and/or coworkers have any recomendations where to
>bring your truck. Take it to an automotive tune up shop.
>Get an estimate. If it seems too costly, take it somewhere
>else. I too beleive it may be the pickup coil, but you're
>gotten caught up chasing the EGR.

( That is because the EGR was pluged up with buildt up crud and was leaking gas out of the gasket.. )

>The previous owner may have some input for you to...after all he >should know the truck's history.

The PO of the truck bought it from a guy that had it siting in the woods for 14 years or so. All the PO did to it was get it runing clean it up and fix a couple of things. And also messed up a couple of things.

>This site sells shop mauals on CD.
>I recommend you buy it - thay are invaluable tools
>specifically for your year truck (I've been told that they
>also contain applicable vacuum diagrams). Haynes sells an
>emissions book that covers over general emission control
>principles and the abbreviations for vaccum diagrams. A lot
>of things can make the engine put-put. I'd pay some
>attention to the items that have been tinkered with lately.
>Really, it could be the carb, could be the EGR, could be
>ignition related....it can get costly swapping / testing
>parts without experienced direction.

Well, the PO did rebuild the carb.... If he did somthing wrong with putung it back together could that cause it? Or can I just take it to a shop and they can tell me what I need to do? Will it cost money for them to diagnose the problem? I meen I can do most of the easy stuff they charge you for.
>
>Without having the luxury of living right around the corner and >stopping by,it's tough for me to diagnose and help you online.
>If you live close to SLO, CA I'll give you a hand...what are the
>chances?

Not so good... I live in Washington State and have no automotive connections.

>Honestly, talk to the previous owner if you can and
>ask around for a reputable shop - or better yet, a shop to
>avoid. A basic tune up may uncover something obvious that's
>been easily overlooked. Best wishes, keep us posted. ;-)