I'm surprised nobody has noticed this thread is over 5 years old.

 

Not from Post 8 it's not...

 

I think we all came down on him pretty hard, and scared him off. But, I have been there, done that with the emission thing, and learned the hard way. No one likes to work around all that junk, and I think I am right in saying no one likes working on something that don't know anything about. Once you take the time to learn what's going on and what every piece does, it's not too bad.

What really ticks me off is you have a well engineered engine underneath, but the whole thing can run like crap because of some poorly designed piece of plastic tacked onto the engine for emissions. I wish they had designed some of this stuff more robustly, been more open about how it works, and support it better now that these things are getting old. It seems the whole thing was a band-aid to get the engine to pass gov mandated emissions till they sold the truck off the lots, and then you are on your own. I don't even think half the mechanics in the shops know what some of this stuff does and what it's there for.

 

I lucked out, a neighbor of my father's worked as a mechanic at his grandfather's Ford dealer during this era, he explained everything to me.

An Emissions testing guy I go to showed me a book put out by the State of Colorado that explains all that stuff (obviously, for all makes, but it seems all the manufacturers did basically the same stuff) and getting your hands on one of those would be ideal IMHO.

He runs an independent shop (but is restricted to testing 1981 & older vehicles) he isn't a government-run entity or anything like that.

 

One thing I have learned the hard way is messing with smog stuff isn't only illegal if not by State by Federal law, but the other thing I know is as stated unless the equipment is defective the gain in performance & mileage is not worth the trouble. Now if you are going to build from the ground up an engine then you will gain. But when you add the cost of rebuilding an engine completely how much do you save in mileage?
On the newer computer vehicles messing with the smog as a rule costs performance & mileage.

 

You will need to plug the thermactor ports on the head as well. Get a couple of 5/8-11 x 3/4 bolts to plug them.

 

You folks were so right- I have been learning a lot after falling prey to this idea that all the emissions stuff "isn't needed". I am so sorry I bought into that idea. But I am learning and intend to bit by bit return this stuff to working order. That is if I ever get up to speed with where everything was in the first place. The vacuum diagram is helpful and I have access to some fellas helping me out with how to read that thing- but to anyone out there thinking you can just tear that stuff out- DON"T DO THAT TO YOURSELF!!

 

Thank you for that post!!!!! Man, I wish I had you available on-demand. All too often I see apparently hormone-infested younguns here talk about "ripping out" the emissions stuff to "make it run better" and "clean up the engine bay."

Any more, I just sigh to myself and move on to the next thread....

 

I have removed the emissions stuff on my buddys 84 only because the PO had started pulling air pumps and vacuum lines, egr tube and assorted other stuff. The thing to remember is its a system and must function as such, so if it's complete keep it as such. If not sometimes it maybe best to just let it go beacuse the incorrect vacuum line routing and/or placement (mainly due to missing components)will cause many issues.

And this was done when the motor was tore down, and ALL the emissions parts were removed. I just talked to him last night and he just got 18mpg with highway driving at 55mph with an 84 150 4x4 3024bbl with 4spd OD. Not too bad for that truck, it usually hangs around 14-15mpg.

 

I was just thinking about emissions while I was at the Ford dealer today. Picked up a PCV valve for the wife's Focus.

On my 82, most of the emissions I took off was directly due to the VV carb and EECIII. The Air pump was locked up, and the EGR valve stuck partway open with a blown diaphragm. Does it run better now? Yes. Going to the 2150 was a great improvement over the VV. My mileage at 12 city and 14 highway could be better, but with no overdrive and 3.55 gears, she is singing 2600 rpm at 60.

I had tried an Edelbrock open element air cleaner and it sucked. The filter was dirty in a month and soaked from the rain we constantly get here. Now running a factory 86 4bbl filter housing. Still have yet to hook up the heated air hose. Got to find the manifold shroud.

 

Glad to know I'm not the only one bothered by this. I can't think of a single system on my truck that didn't have issues when I bought it. I could take it all in stride. But, the emissions system made me want to start a fistfight with the PO. I found a smog pump from a fairmont and got it hooked back up for state inspection.

Trying to find a belt was another hassle. Once I got an employee competent with english, they had no idea what a smog pump was, or how to look it up. All the threads online about belt size were from idiots wanting to bypass "all that crap." Finally found a man in his 80's that runs a small auto parts store and got one.

Like Dave said, things like this, the early Bosch J-tronic, etc systems were a temporary bandaid. They disappeared between the guys that still dump waste oil in the creek, and those that can't diagnose a car without a laptop hookup. What's even worse is I saw numerous threads about deleting emissions components on EFI era trucks. Open loop is totally great bro!!1! No wonder people complain about gas guzzling.

For the record: My truck, 86 '250, no cat, 300 converted to DS2. Complete tuneup and carter YFA carb. The PO left the hoses associated with the smog pump, primarily to the charcoal canister and the larger ones to/from the pump, unplugged. I still don't have mine in correctly, need a diverter valve and the 300 guys to check out my vacuum routing. But, I picked up over 1mpg after installing a pump. Nearly 10%. Made enough difference that I had to re-tune my carb.

 

I am glad that this old post got revived because I just purchased a 86 F250 and need to address the emission system.

The truck has a stock 460 with the exception of an Edlebrock carb. It does not have a catalytic converter but it does have 2 air pumps. Neither of the pumps have a belt installed and one of the pumps is locked up. Probably why the belts were removed......

In reading one of the earlier posts the air pump is to help the catalytic converter work. If the truck doesn't have a cat, what is the air pump for?

I do not know if the truck originally had a catalytic converter. The exhaust system doesn't appear to have been modified to remove a cat, but it could have been replaced to the point that it is not obvious that there was a cat there in the first place. To be honest, it doesn't look modified.

It does appear that all of the original under hood emissons, vacum lines, etc are still there, and with the execption of the air pumps, still seem to be working.

From reading all of the posts it would seem the likely answer is that I should replace the locked air pump and install the belts. But since I am one of the many that does not fully understand the purpose of all the emissions "stuff" I thought I would ask those that appear to have more knowledge about it.

My first question is - did this truck originally have or should this truck have a catalytic converter?

Second question - If the truck didn't have a catalytic what are the air pumps for? - or - was this just a way to appeaze California on a 8500# GVWR truck that didn't require a catalytic converter?

I am planning to dual the exhaust and maybe add headers so I do have the opportunity to put some good high flow catalyic converters back in but I would only want to spend the $ if I had to. The same would go for the air pump. If it is really needed then I will go looking for one to replace the bad one.

By the way - great site. A lot of really good information for a new owner of an old truck.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Yes, you should be able to add headers and true duals to your truck with no problem. Though if you want to make sure you can keep the stock AIR pump and replace it so you can keep it working, you need to check out how it's connected to the exhaust manifolds/tail pipes. I think the 460's blew the air down directly through the ports, but I'm not sure. On a 300-6, the intake and exhaust are bolted together and it blows it straight into the outlet for the tailpipe by going through the EGR baseplate.

If you have any more questions about emissions systems or anything, just let us know. We've got a lot of people here that know a good bit about this stuff (you'd be surprised how many people we get that come here asking about removing all the emissions).

 

Look at your emissions label under your hood to see if you originally had cats or not.

Here is mine for reference, note the NON-CATALYST:



I have not definitively read or heard from a credible source why AIR pumps were installed on non-cat trucks but it has been speculated that appeasing the government isn't far off.... The manufacturers had to go through a lot of costly, bureaucratic BS with the EPA to get any configuration approved by them, and perhaps they deemed it too costly to make a configuration without AIR pumps (because of no cats), get the initial design approved, then run it through the tests and EPA approvals, then adapt the manufacturing process to sometimes do this, other times do that, it depends. Ford is a business in business to make money, and the more that things are the same, the faster and therefore cheaper the build process is.

Again, pure conjecture, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's reasonably close to reality.

 

Now correct me if I am mistaken, but changing ignition and/or cam timing in an emissions controlled vehicle could cause it to fail an emissions test? Would that be a similar taboo like removing a cat or egr?