help needed - EGR valve/tube busted 98 explorer 4.0

[evan938]

so tonight, i took a trip to the autoparts store...been having a rough idle, poor gas mileage, etc. no CEL, but i think the previous owner/dealership may have pulled the bulb. no surprise, a code comes up for the EGR valve

i buy the valve, get home, check a few things online, and it doesnt look too horrible to replace. well, after going at this for about 1/2 hour, i realize that the ~170,000 miles on this thing has decided to make my prediction about how difficult this would be, very wrong.

in the end, i got the valve out, but along with it, i found out the tube was quite corroded, and snapped off right at the nut at the other end. damnit

so now i need to figure out what is going to be the easiest way to get to that lower nut, and replace this tube, along with my new EGR valve.

pics because i have them...

FML...

 

[my98nnj]

Heat the nut up until it glows red hot, it will twist right off with little effort.

 

[1998Explodasport]

I think you're going to end up replacing that exhaust manifold but you might get lucky with heat and let it soak with PB Blaster.

 

[evan938]

I think you're going to end up replacing that exhaust manifold but you might get lucky with heat and let it soak with PB Blaster.

trust me when i say i dont like truck enough to put that much time/$/effort into it...ive heard people talking about the EGR delete and it just hurting the mileage a bit, but with as bad as ive been seeing, it couldnt be much worse, if at all. i bought it for the rare cases i need to haul something big, but mainly to make trips to lowes and such, which is <1 mile from my house. its not a DD so i wont worry about it too much.

but just to add, i started typing this after i got off the phone with a buddy who works at a local parts shop, and before i even finished this, he was able to track down a new tube for me for $36.24...just gotta drive about 20-25 min to pick it up

so hopefully this goes a little bit smoother.

 

[1998Explodasport]

trust me when i say i dont like truck enough to put that much time/$/effort into it...ive heard people talking about the EGR delete and it just hurting the mileage a bit, but with as bad as ive been seeing, it couldnt be much worse, if at all. i bought it for the rare cases i need to haul something big, but mainly to make trips to lowes and such, which is <1 mile from my house. its not a DD so i wont worry about it too much.

but just to add, i started typing this after i got off the phone with a buddy who works at a local parts shop, and before i even finished this, he was able to track down a new tube for me for $36.24...just gotta drive about 20-25 min to pick it up

so hopefully this goes a little bit smoother.

Even if you have to replace the manifold it's not that big of a job and it's also not that expensive. I had the same problem on my 98 Explorer SOHC, I heated the thing until it was cherry red and I ended up getting the tube off but I ripped out the threads in the process.

 

[evan938]

just to update -

went down to pick up the new EGR tube...the nut on it is a 1 1/16". i went to sears, picked up a 1 1/16" 6pt socket (since the tube snapped off right there), get home, and it seems to be just a bit too big. tried to loosen the nut, but it didnt seem like that socket was going to work. figure i'll try a 1" or a 15/16". go to lowes (closer to home), get both (12pt only), both are too small. head back to lowes to return them, then back to sears for a 1" 6pt. head home, too small. ####. back to sears, look for a 26mm (about 1 1/32") 6pt, nothing. autozone, nothing. go to oreilly's and check with my buddy dave, only 26mm is a 12pt...figure ill try it. he mentioned using a pipe wrench, which i never thought of...i was also able to get my brother to drop off a torch.

get home, the 26mm socket fits quite well. no movement at all. perfect (so i thought). heat up the nut, put the socket on, breaker bar, attempt to turn, it rounds off. ####. grab my enormous pipe wrench, figure out a way to get it on that nut, give it a huge push, and it came loose. #### yes!

put everything back together, crossed my fingers and started it up...holy ****. its like a totally different car. idles completely smooth, my exhaust doesnt smell like its got a gallon of gas in it from 30 feet away, and even after the engine is warmed up, it starts up just fine.

total cost ended up being a hair over $100. score. total time invested over last night and today, running between getting parts, tools, etc was probably 8 hours. fail.

its done though. whew.