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2003 explorer, 4.6l v8, loose wire and broken egr tube.

Exploder2k03

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Joined
February 11, 2022
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City, State
Milwaukee, wi
Year, Model & Trim Level
2003, explorer, xlt
So my intake manifold was rotted, leaked, and basically died on the road. Got a buddy to tow it, we got the manifold replacement, and fixed it quickly in 6 hours. Found the egr tube was snapped du to rotting, so we Jerry rigged it for now, however I need to fix it or delete it. That's one issue, yet the other issue is a wire we found unseated/unplugged. It's on the passenger side of the engine, near the coils and injectors. Quite miniscule and had a black cap on it. Seems to have been unplugged for awhile now but I'd like to get it hooked up to whatever it is.

I'll post pics once I get to the garage. Any info on where to get an egr tube or a kit is appreciated.
 



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Hello and welcome,

Especially when requesting information on a part, it is necessary to include more information about your truck than the year and trim level. The engine type (4.0L v6 or 4.6L v8) and drive train (2WD, 4WD, AWD) are generally also necessary to determine the correct part. Other options such as the transmission/gear box, traction control, etc are specific to some repairs.

A quick search found an EGR tube for the 4.0L v6 at carid.com.

Dorman 598-129 OE Solutions EGR Tube ($165)

They don't seem to have any in stock for the 4.6L v8 (Dorman 598-148).

I normally don't use Dorman products for anything important, but this is just a metal tube, so as long as it fits it would likely be fine. There may not be any other options for a new part. Ultra-Power also makes these but they are more or less the same as Dorman.

Plan on replacing all of the mounting bolts/nuts/screws/clips, etc, with new hardware with a corrosion resistant coating.

If you have any local salvage yards I would probably look there first. It's just a metal tube so as long as it's not also rusted out there isn't any reason to spend allot to replace it. Getting the remains of the old one off may be more of an issue. Start spraying with PB blaster (or whatever you use) several days before the job.

There are some collectives of salvage yards that allow you to send a request that will be distributed quite widely. These are located in the sunbelt where you are more likely to find a part that is in good condition.

Here are a couple that I remember,

Arizona Automotive Recyclers Association
Salvage Parts

I am sure that there are others.

Make sure that you check any recommended part to make sure that it is correct for your truck. Don't just believe me, or anyone else. Check carefully and contact the seller if necessary to confirm.

LMHmedchem
 


















The wire in question
IMG_20220211_090628.jpg
 












That looks the the control wire for the valve on the heater hose. The connector on mine looks like that but mine does not have the plastic protector on the wire. Follow the heater hose back from the engine where it goes under the air intake hose. You will see the valve there where the two parts of the hose connect. There should be a wire in the top of the bell of the valve solenoid. If the wire is missing, that it probably what you are looking for.

Here is a picture of what I am thinking of,

possible_connector.jpg


The connector on the end of the wire looks the same and it's in about the right place.

LMHmedchem
 






It isn't it, checked. Thanks for the reply.
 






Well there are allot of other wires in that area of the engine that are about that size. I didn't notice any others that terminated in a connector. Most just terminate into a wiring harness. I will look around again later this afternoon.

One thing I have done in the past is to tie a piece of string at the fixed and of the wire and cut the string it to the same length as the disconnected wire. Then I move the string to every part of the engine where it can reach. This is mostly to avoid pulling on the wire itself where I might risk additional damage. It has to go somewhere it can reach so you should be able to find it by checking everywhere it could get to. Sometimes it's just hard to spot the connector terminal on the engine.

LMHmedchem
 






Can someone post a picture of their engine bay with a hose guide? Took it for a test spin and coolant exploded all over the bay
 






Okay
I'm perplexed
Coolant out the new manifold, yet oil was clean. No fluid in it.
 






Okay
I'm perplexed
Coolant out the new manifold, yet oil was clean. No fluid in it.
Alright, found the leak issue.
New manifold had a little cap on the back held by a crappy clamp. Seems it doesn't hold well. Cleaned it, applied some gasket sealer and put a worm clamp on it besides the original clamp.

Anyone have such an issue?
 






Alright, found the leak issue.
New manifold had a little cap on the back held by a crappy clamp. Seems it doesn't hold well. Cleaned it, applied some gasket sealer and put a worm clamp on it besides the original clamp.

Anyone have such an issue?
This was actually discussed in a thread I had about the different types of hose clamps used for the radiator hoses. Someone mentioned a cheap plastic cap on a Dorman manifold that didn't stay in place with the equally cheap included clamp.

See post #8 in this thread by fordysenior,

radiator hose clamps for 2002 4.6L v8 (sizes, style, and where to buy)

The worm gear should hold for now but I might get something a bit sturdier like a t-bolt clamp since I have stripped out many worm clamps trying to get them tight enough. I does depend on the quality of the worm clamp, some are quite good, but I think that a stainless steel t-bolt clamp is one of the most reliable, and you can get it really tight without the risk of striping.

I like Apache t-bolt clamps from globalindustrial.com but it may be hard to find one the right size if what you need is not very big. The down side of t-bolt clamps is that they don't have near the size range of the worm gear clamps. The hard thing is to find somewhere to get them where you don't have to buy a pack of 10, and where the shipping isn't more than the clamps. I got 5 t-bolt clamps to do my radiator hoses and it came to $18 including shipping which is pretty good for stainless steel. The clamps were also very nice.

Something like this might be nice,

ABA MINI S40 Screw Clamp

though I'm not sure what size you need.

LMHmedchem
 






This was actually discussed in a thread I had about the different types of hose clamps used for the radiator hoses. Someone mentioned a cheap plastic cap on a Dorman manifold that didn't stay in place with the equally cheap included clamp.

See post #8 in this thread by fordysenior,

radiator hose clamps for 2002 4.6L v8 (sizes, style, and where to buy)

The worm gear should hold for now but I might get something a bit sturdier like a t-bolt clamp since I have stripped out many worm clamps trying to get them tight enough. I does depend on the quality of the worm clamp, some are quite good, but I think that a stainless steel t-bolt clamp is one of the most reliable, and you can get it really tight without the risk of striping.

I like Apache t-bolt clamps from globalindustrial.com but it may be hard to find one the right size if what you need is not very big. The down side of t-bolt clamps is that they don't have near the size range of the worm gear clamps. The hard thing is to find somewhere to get them where you don't have to buy a pack of 10, and where the shipping isn't more than the clamps. I got 5 t-bolt clamps to do my radiator hoses and it came to $18 including shipping which is pretty good for stainless steel. The clamps were also very nice.

Something like this might be nice,

ABA MINI S40 Screw Clamp

though I'm not sure what size you need.

LMHmedchem
Thanks for the info
Mad that I avoided dorman yet all available manifolds have that dang cap
 






3/4 heater tube plus bolt plus clamps. After some experimentations, it seems to be holding
 






According to the service manual that stray wire connector, which comes out of the engine wiring harness, is the fuel rail ground wire. The connector goes on the stud of the fuel manifold.

Mine was disconnected for who knows how many years until I dug into figuring it out. Seems to not make a difference and there isn’t one for the driver side for some reason.
 






Alright
Still have some power loss but the idle is no longer rough, and it isn't leaking coolant.

Manifold replaced
Coils and sparks replaced
Injectors replaced
No error codes, yet
No tube leaks, nor disconnections
Haven't taken it on the highway, yet.
Plug seems to be holding.
Could it be the egr tube? Patches it best I could. Even cleaned the iac.

Suggestions?
 






Alright
Still have some power loss but the idle is no longer rough, and it isn't leaking coolant.

Manifold replaced
Coils and sparks replaced
Injectors replaced
No error codes, yet
No tube leaks, nor disconnections
Haven't taken it on the highway, yet.
Plug seems to be holding.
Could it be the egr tube? Patches it best I could. Even cleaned the iac.

Suggestions?
Gave me a fuel too rich error I believe it's due to the EGR, any ideas?
 






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