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I debated on starting a new thread, but since it does cover emissions equipment, and the state of California, I thought I would share some more information about our wonderful little truck with everyone.
As we all know, emissions components are very difficult to find and maintain. I am blessed that I was able to get my truck smogged a couple months ago, but I am finding more and more problems with the emissions equipment the more I drive this resurrected stock 80' luv.
It all started with an exhaust leak at the flange connecting the manifold to the pipe. Stripped flange studs lead to stripped egr pipe. I ended up cutting off the egr pipe to get the manifold off. This lead to a siezed up egr pipe on the egr adapter plate, so my truck was down for about 3 weeks getting the egr pipe problem fixed. I spent 2 weeks looking for a egr pipe with no luck, so I ended up taking the egr adapter plate and the exhaust manifold to a machine shop and having him drill and tap 3/4" pipe threads so I can plug them temporarily. There is no place I can find metric pipe thread fittings, so I am going to go with parts I can find. With a couple of different fittings, I can turn a standard appliance flexible gas pipe into a temporary egr pipe when it comes to smog time. I have read in several other import forums that this is a fairly reliable substitute for a standard egr pipe. I don’t know if this will fly with a Blue Shield inspection facility, but it should work at any other smog inspection shop. The beauty of this is that a replacement flexible pipe is only $14 at any hardware store.
Ok, now I have the egr bypassed, and the vacuum lines plugged off to the egr backpressure transducer, I decidede to tackle the problem of the smog pump hoses. These hoses are about ready to fall apart, so I went back to home depot and purchased 3 feet of 7/8” ID high pressure hose, and various ½” copper tubing fittings to handle the various bends, and a bag of hose clamps. I will have to get some fuel resistant hose when it comes to smog time, but for $8, I had to see if it was possible. It is. It looks like crap, but no longer have any leaks in and around the new smog pump.
With everything back together, the truck still ran like crap. By chance, I was fiddling around with the hose between the intake manifold, and the mixture control valve, and the truck just died. Hmmmmmm….. The mixture control valve is suppose to supply air to the intake from the smog pump when a very large amount of vacuum is present in the intake. This is suppose to cut down on vacuum sucking fuel into the engine during decelleration. I took off the mixture control valve, and its stuck open, meaning its acting like a huge vacuum leak. I plugged off both ends leading to the mixture control valve, and the truck has never ran better. The only other emissions part I have yet to test, replace, or bypass is the air switching valve.
I no longer am looking for this mixture control valve. I cant find it anywhere. I am looking to make it. It’s a simple normally closed spring loaded air valve opened by a simple vacuum actuator. There are electrically operated mixture control valves, and it is an option. I will simply have to figure out a way to connect a vacuum actuator to an electrical swith to operate it, but for the time being, I don’t mind being a law breaker by bypassing some of my emissions equipment.
Anyone have any other ideas?
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1980 Luv Mikado 2wd stock
1995 Ford F150 XLT 4X4
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