Im deleting my thermactor system today, i think it is causing me tooo many problems including lots of pinging and loss of power. Ive done a lot of searching but cant find any info on what to use to plug the back of the heads. Im gonna be heading to northern today to get some bolts. Thanks for your help

 

About 8 years ago when a friend helped me rebuild my 302 we rolled the tubing up tight and welded it tight. I have been told to plug it with hardware. I can't remember what size. Let me know how that works out. also did you have to plug any vacum lines on the solenodes?

 

RJM Injection Tech EGR Eliminators Scroll all the way down, doesn't say a size but if you are willing to pay $15 they include the thread sealer too.

 

They also have the resistors to eliminate the 2 solenoids if you like. I ordered a EGR eliminator from them, took forever to arrive and they don't answer the phone. The product did come eventually and works as advertised.

 

I tried a 1/2" and a 5/8" bolt today and neither worked. The 5/8" bolt seemed like it would fit but I could never get it started. I thought I saw somewhere that it was a 9/16" hole but I couldn't find any at the stores I went to today. I hesitate to pay $15 plus shipping for two $0.80 bolts. I will keep looking tomorrow.

 

It's 5/8" alright, regular coarse thread too - basically you buy two of the shortest cheapest 5/8" bolts at the hardware store, then cut them down till you got only like 1/2" long thread left. The tricky part is installing them - the threads in the heads have more than likely been plugged solid by carbon deposits, you'll have to chase them clean before the bolts can go in - it's a royal pain when the engine is still in the vehicle, I did it to my old 302-powered car and it took me a rather long time to get the threads clean enough to where the bolts fit all the way...

 

what a royal PITA this project was!!! took me my whole saturday afternoon and evening to do this. It is a 5/8" bolt corse thread, but i could never get it started until i tapped the hole like the others said. I had to unbolt and jack up the tranny to lean the engine forward to give me a little more room; take out the tranny dip stick (my driveway is evidence of what happens when you dont drain the ATF first ); and cut my tap in half and re-shape the end so that i would have enough room between the head and firewall.

truck runs better, tho i still have a miss. i was able to put 89 octane gas in today and not get hardly any knocking. only problem is now i get a CE light when the engine is warmed up and i decel. code 85. I have a EEC from a 92 mustang in it. When the CE light comes on it seems to run worse, almost like its in a limp home mode??? I left all of the AIR equipment in place in case i wanted to quickly switch back, i only plugged the back of the heads. What can i do about this code

 

just put an old spark plug into the back of each head...threads right in and will seal it off....

 

Does this pass Smog ? for califorina ?

 

Probably not California. My understanding is that the AIR only assist the cat during warm-up and then is otherwise useless. As long as the truck is warmed up there shouldn't be any problem. My numbers have been really low the last few years so I am not worried.

 

You can pass the sniffer test without that AIR mess, as long as you go in with a well warmed up engine and exhaust. No if there is a visual test in addition to the sniffer, then they may nail you. Personally I think visual test are total bull, who cares what is in the vehicle, if it passes the sniffer then it ain't polluting - ain't that the whole reason for emissions testing after all?

 

Any ideas on my code 85? i dont understand how it can be throwing a code since i still have all of the solenoids and valves hooked up, just have the heads plugged. Since it occurs only after i decelerate, almost seems like an EGR problem. Where is the charcoal solenoid?

 

I'll have to look up the code tomorrow, as right now I'm real warm and cozy in my house on wheels and the idea of getting drenched by cold rain before I made it even halfway to the garage just don't sound all that appealing, lol

IMHO the solenoid you ask about should be somewhere along a vacuum line that runs between the charcoal canister and your intake plenum, follow the line up from the canister and you'll find it eventually.

 

IIRC 85 is for the Canister purge solenoid which is on the vac line between the charcoal canister and the TB. I think it might be 5.8 only. My 5.0 had code 85 stored but it doesn't cause a CEL and has no harness for the CanP.

 

I used to always have code 85 stored too and it never threw the CEL. my dad said it was because it has a mustang computer in it since we converted to mass air.