Blind gasketing my EGR valve

[mg655321]

I was tracking down a drivability problem in my truck, which turned out to be a bad wire, but through the diagnosis I ended up making a "blind gasket" to isolate the EGR valve from the intake manifold to eliminate the possibility of a bad EGR valve causing my problem. You do this by tracing an EGR gasket onto a piece of copper sheet metal (all except the center hole of course) and cutting it out, and installing it between the valve and the manifold.

The first thing I noticed was that the manifold vacuum climbed from 19 inches to 20. The second thing I noticed was, of course, the CEL coming on after the engine warms up. The third thing I noticed was a slight increase in power.

Now in the old days, as soon as I got a car I would remove all the environmentalist ***gotry from it because those things do nothing for me except waste my money and my time. In this age of computerized engines I am hesitant to. But this seems to be working fine, and I'm in the process of tracking my gas mileage to see if it improves. Has anyone here had experience with this kind of modification, or can tell me what to expect? Thanks.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

MG, I haven't done this to an Explorer, but I did do it to a couple other vehicles. I couldn't tell a lot of difference in either one. The EGR is there basically to enable the engine to run leaner, while reducing emissions.

The only drawback that I can think of, is you may experience a little detonation (pinging), because of the lean condition you now have without the EGR. (But then again, the O2 sensors may compensate for that)

Keep us posted on the fuel mileage.