5.0L EGR tube replacement

[Four0Sport]

well b4 i went to work today i was looking under the hood of my explorer and saw some carbon build up on my egr tube. i brush it away and tug at the bellowed steel tube to find a H shaped crack in the metal tubing. all this time i thought my pass side header was cracked but it may just be this crack in the egr tube. called ford and was quoted 62, walked in wearing my work uniform and paid 52, not too bad. replacement does not have the bellows, just a straight tube which is nice. soaked the nuts down with pb blaster b4 i hitched a ride to work, came home and soaked them again. any tricks with replacing the egr tube? im soaking as much as i can, i really dont want to crack the fitting on the header when i try to turn that nut off. just seems funny that crack has been there this whole time and i never once threw a CEL for it. oh well. wish me luck, and advice is appreciated.

 

[Turdle]

Remove the intake tube
Cut off the closed end of a 1 1/16" combination wrench-the remaining open end is the perfect length, and is the perfect tool.
I have the record for egr tube and header removal. In fact-I fit my egr tube about 15 times in the last week or so---but it is a whole 'nother story--

 

[Four0Sport]

i took off the intake tube and removed the coolan/washer jug to get some room to move that big wrench around. either i havnt been eating enough spinach or that thing is on there.. im gonna try to start it up for a couple secons, hoping it gets hot enough to seperate.

 

[IAmTodd]

I'm going to have to tackle this on mine sometime. Its leaking. No problems, just a little noisey when cold.

It was fun at all when I replaced my EGR valve.

 

[Four0Sport]

yeah, mine started out about a year ago as a minor noise when the engine was cold, it got so that i heard the annoying tick of the exhaust valves constantly. after using a can of PB Blaster, an 1 1/16 combination wrench with a 3 foot lead pipe for a breaker bar to get the nut on the header loose and a 8 inch small pipe wrench that my uncle brought down to get the nut on the egr valve loose i pulled the old tube off and saw that each bellow in the line had a crack, the new ford part is a solid ss tube. got the new tube in relatively easily. im sure i'll have to check the nuts after the manifold heats and cools after a few days of driving. starts up quiet now, all i can hear is my air intake. check engine light is on, prbly from starting the truck w/o the MAF and AIT sensor plugged in. I'll repost to let you know if any other problems arise. one quick question i had though.. i noticed that there are steel perforated exhaust manifold gaskets on my explorer, was this a factory gasket or was the factory gasket paper? just wondering. figured one of you guys would know the answer. thanks again for all the help through this. the Search feature came through for once lol.

one more thing, anyone know how long it takes for pb blaster to burn off? maybe i shouldnt of used half a can.