nillvurt

I finally got to it after having to work on other things and I found the problem. I removed the intake body and EGR valve. The passageway from the EGR to the intake has a tight turn that was clogged even though it looked clean from inside the intake manifold. I was able to shove a short section of speedometer cable down through the hole of the temperature sensor (right next to the EGR valve). I had to double back the front 2" of the speedo cable, spin it and pull it back and forth. All sorts of black gunk started falling out of the EGR passageway and get stuck on the cable, which I had to wipe off every 10 seconds or so. I tried to blow as much as possible of the gunk out, and when I finally was able to blow air from the EGR to intake manifold, I vacuumed up the loose gunk to not have it go into the engine. When I reassembled everything, I was able to push the EGR diaphragm in and the engine instantly stuttered and eventually died, which is what the California smog tech looks for to make sure that the EGR system works. Finally ready for a re-test! Thanks so much for your help, Dave!

great! I'll check it out tomorrow, since it seemed like there was back pressure when I blew air into the upper port. Maybe I'll have to dig down into the intake manifold and see what it looks like…

I didn't know where the air would come out at the intake, would I have to take apart the manifold to check that, or would I be able to tell with just the rubber manifold detached? Yeah, the car drives fine and emission readings are good. The tech just needs the car to stumble when the EGR valve is manually pushed in in order to pass the car. Seems silly, since the car runs clean. I think I found the 2 wire sensor. Is it the one that is mounted right by the upper (intake?) passage right by the EGR valve.

Hello, I need to pass emissions in California with my 1994 Loyale. When I took it in to get tested it passed everything except for the visual of the EGR system. The tech said that when he pushed the diaphragm on the EGR valve, the car should stumble and/or die, but it didn't, which he said was a symptom of clogged EGR passages. I took the EGR valve off, cleaned it, the stem moves well, even when on the car and I increase throttle to 2500 rpms. The carbon deposits didn't look too bad. I tried to clean the passages with a speedometer cable and some carb cleaner. I found that I couldn't get it around some of the bends in the passages. I knocked some carbon loose and vacuumed it up and tried blowing air down the passages. When I reinstalled the valve again, the car still wouldn't change its idle when I pushed the diaphragm in to open the valve. In fact the car ran fine without the EGR valve on (it was louder since it was blowing exhaust gases out of the lower hole). The EGR valve moves when applying vacuum and holds it when I keep the vaccum applied, so it doesn't leak when it is closed and is not seized. Also, the vacuum hoses don't seem to have a leak, since it opens at higher RPMs. I also have a 35ohm resistor mounted on the purge valve solenoid instead of the old stuck solenoid in order to clear the CE light. Would this effect the car and keep it from dying when pushing the EGR valve diaphragm? Or is it a completely different system? The EGR solenoid is brand new. What do you recommend that I do? Is the tech right? Are the EGR passages clogged? How do I get at them? I unscrewed the flare nuts that hold the 90º EGR pipe in place, but seemingly couldn't remove it without taking the intake manifold off. Also, I remember cleaning that pipe 10K miles ago when I did the head gaskets, so I imagine it is other passages? Does anyone have a diagram of how the passages run? Any other tests I can do? Many thanks!

All good! No leak! I just set it flush with the front, and I'm pretty sure I didn't press the camshaft seals in all the way either now that I think about it…

Dang, I've always pressed the camshaft seals in all the way into the housing, but I seem to remember them not really going deeper than flush. Haven't had a problem with them... I'll try to put the crankshaft seal flush and no deeper, it seems more right

They are new rotors and I doubt they have runout from the box...I could do an on car turning, but I'll wait and see how my shims work out...

Got some 0.001" shim washers on Amazon and the clamping dial indicator from HF. Got the runout within 0.002" so hopefully that will keep my rotor from developing judder again. Ultimately, I would like to find the cause of the hub having runout, but for now this will have to do! Thanks for the help!

Nah, pulled the whole engine out, it seems like it would be a nightmare doing it with the engine in… Turns out it was the front seal. Somehow it was seated crooked, even though I am sure it was straight after I replaced it. I put a new one in, it went in straight, but right at the end when it went deeper it seemed to get crooked again (which seems impossible with how tight fit it is) Now I'm waiting on a new seal from the parts store and thinking I just won't seat it as deep, probably just past flush with the front of the engine block seal housing. Anyone know if it is supposed to be driven in all the way? I read that somewhere, but there also seems to be openings for oil to flow down at the bottom, which would be blocked if I drove it in all the way…

Any good way to measure the runout? Or do I need specialized tools? I imagine it has to be pretty exact…basically no runout at all once I put the shims in…

Hi guys! Got it all back together, started up on first go after I ran the starter with the ignition coil disconnected for a bit to move some oil around....noisy valves that quieted down after a bit of driving. Thanks for all the help, couldn't have done it without you! Now I still have an oil leak that is coming out of the oil pump. Same as before that caused the oil to spray all over the inside of the hood. My theory is that the oil pump shaft is grooved since I did all the oil pump seals and the shaft seal, but forgot to inspect the shaft. It seems to be coming off with speed and rotation since it sprays a fine mist off a pulley, and I think it is the oil pump pulley. But I run open timing belt covers and changing that will be super fast now that I have done something as involved as the head gaskets! I think it was also running back along the oil pan and making it look like the oil pan gasket was leaking. Now I have GDs RTV coated cork gasket in there and I have a hard time seeing that leak… On the good side, no exhaust in coolant anymore, exhaust smell in cab is fixed after replacing front exhaust assembly and catalytic converter. New axle assembly after a broken boot and it giving out after 275K. New struts and rubber mounts, replaced stabilizer bar rubber at the ends that had disintegrated. New wheel bearings and seals and all new seals everywhere in the engine. Now the only thing I have to figure out is why a new rotor on passenger side has about 0.5-1mm runout when strapping it down to the hub. My theory is that the hub is somehow bent, and I'm inclined to pick another one up at the pick'n'pull… Anyway, I can't quite believe that it all went together! Thanks again!

So I imagine I would put the shims between the hub and rotor where they bolt on? I may also buy a new cone washer since I keep reusing the same one, but it doesn't look bad. It's just crazy to imagine that the hub is not flat. I guess when hitting a rock, or a curb or something it can bend it…. I was also thinking of pulling a hub from a pick and pull, but I already did that once and didn't change it, but maybe I pulled a bad hub.

I haven't got him back on the road yet, but when I put on new rotors and tightened down the axle nut, installed new brake pads and spin the rotor on the car, the rotor is already out of line. I can tell by it getting harder and easier against the brake pad, and also by putting a stationary object against the front surface and when spinning the rotor will get closer and further. Not a lot, but noticeable. I don't know if I have messed up splines or what. I cleaned the surface of the hub where the rotor mounts to make sure it is all in line. My conical washer looks good…but maybe I should change that? Or maybe I'll go get the rotors matched and machined on the car, as that seems the most reliable option…

So I got the heads back from the machine shop and they made some nice flat surfaces as I was messing up with the sandpaper. Somehow I was rocking the head when sanding it back and forth over the glass with sandpaper and rounded it toward the edge. They also got the bolt out with a sweet trick: where I had drilled out the hole they filled it with weld and then stuck a bolt in with a washer on top to protect the head surface. Then they welded the new bolt to the stuck head bolt and went back and forth with the impact on low. The combination of the intense heat from welding and the impact managed to shake it loose from the rusty stuckness! I will definitely try that next time… Now I am just going to lap the valves and stick it all back together. You guys use RTV on the water pump gasket? Thanks again for all your input. This forum has been an amazing resource and wealth of good information!

Cool. I may have the machine shop do the drilling…or try a extractor screw. How flat should I get the deck of the block. It seems like it should be resurfaced like the head, but maybe it isn't as critical? Do you just scrape it with a gasket scraper?