energyturtle wrote:SlowLane wrote:The location you have chosen, the intake to the EGR valve, will work, as long as the EGR valve itself isn't leaking. There is a rubber diaphrgm inside the valve which is prone to failure. If it is cracked or split then that's another potential source of vacuum leak.
If you don't require the EGR valve for emissions inspection, why not just remove it entirely and bolt on a proper blockoff plate? Parts that aren't there are parts that wont fail.
That it what I was looking for. Makes total sense. I did not know the function of the EGR, nor was I aware of the diaphragm. I will remove it this morning, do some further tuning, and report back this afternoon. Thanks a bunch bus brother. The struggle is real:)
Indeed it is, and sometimes one wonders if it is all worth it, until you get behind the wheel and the van runs like it was intended to.
The block-off plate doesn't need to be anything special. Just as long as it is flat enough to form a seal against the gasket and thick enough to not bend when gently torqued down. Also, the mounting holes in the air plenum are open to the interior of the plenum, so you should give some thought to sealing the mounting bolt threads with some sort of sealant.
In fact, before I had to resurrect the EGR on my van for California emissions, I think I had blocked off the EGR hole in the plenum by threading it with a 1/8" NPT tap and screwing a brass NPT plug into it. was simpler than fashioning a plate.
Whichever way you go, don't discard the EGR parts. The EGR filter in particular is getting hard to find for Federal emissions Vanagons, and the supply of good EGR valve bodies is thinning out as well. Save the gaskets too. There should be one gasket with a tiny orifice that meters the amount of exhaust gas that actually gets injected into the engine. It should have been in the location where you put your coke-can fix. If you hang onto all the pieces, you can probably sell them for good coin to some poor sap who is trying to get his Federal emissions Vanagon to pass smog in CA.