I have a 1986 coupe. I am have a trouble identifying two parts. The first is the relay under the throttle body bolted to the water neck. The second is the hold down retainers, that hold the air intake housing to the upper radiator cover.

Thanks for the help..

 

I think the relay on the water neck is the egr solenoid?? Can the car be driven with vac line broken?

 

That's correct it is the EGR solenoid. It appears that is in the wrong spot too. I think it's supposed to be on the passenger side of the rear intake by the distributor.

You can drive with the vacuum line disconnected but it will run like crap and have no performance during an EGR cycle.

You should also be careful of detonation. During an EGR cycle the ECM reduces the amount of fuel that is injected into the cylinders and a lean mixture is the result if there is no exhaust gases entering the cylinder.

 

EGR solenoid is in the correct place for an 86. The vac line more than likely goes to the EGR valve..with it being disconnected there will be no EGR movement.You can plug the line from the TB to the solenoid so there will be no vac leak.Keep in mind that EGR only cycles at cruising speed.Fine to drive until you can find a replacement.Many of us have eliminated the EGR altoghether.

 

Thanks for the help. What happens when you eliminate the EGR? Does the car run better? What parts do you eliminate from the engine?

 

If it's an '86 the EGR solenoid is in the correct location but it appears that it could be maybe the incorrect one. On the solenoid there will be some information DRXXX - XXX will be numbers. Post the numbers on your solenoid.

Cliff posted this emission/routing label a few days ago. It's for an '86 YDJ engine and not knowing more about yours it's either identical or very close. I believe it's correct.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1586659975-post6.html

 

Well, not necessarily run better, I could do with or without, doesn't matter to me. The EGR valve doesn't effect performance if its only active during cruising. A stuck EGR valve although can cause some frustration, running like crap and no power.

To eliminate it, you would remove all the vacuum lines connected to the EGR solenoid, remove the EGR valve, install a block off plate, remove the solenoid, and you would need to modify the tune of your ECM to disable EGR cycles.

EGR is purely for emissions controls. EGR cools down combustion temperatures so the catalytic converter can work efficiently. When exhaust gas temperatures reach I believe 2000 degrees or a few hundred more, the catalytic converter can not efficiently convert the exhaust gases into cleaner emissions. After 2000 or so degrees the catalytic converter will turn exhaust gases into Nitrogen Oxide, (NOx), which when mixed with the atmosphere can cause acid rain, which is why we use EGR to prevent that from happening, or we try to keep it on most vehicles to prevent that from happening.

Now remember, 2000 degrees is HOT! So the only time that I would recommend removing the EGR system is if your car is no longer equipped with catalytic converters. When you overheat a catalytic converter, sometimes, if not all the times, it will ruin the substrate in the converter, and it's basically useless.

The same effect happens on a catalytic converter when you run too lean.

 

Thanks for the information everyone.

Does anyone know about the hold downs on the air intake housing??

 

Most of the questions related to the EGR solenoid have been answered, but here are a few more details.

The one on your car is for an earlier year. The '86 and later versions have a bracket that is curved to fit around the thermostat housing:



As far as I know these EGR solenoids are no longer available as new parts. The part number is 1997195 or AC Delco 214-340. My EGR system is complete and functional, but I live in California where we have pretty strict smog laws.

The air filter hold down bolt doesn't look right. It's either the wrong bolt or installed incorrectly. This is what mine looks like:

 

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This is unrelated to this post, but a good tip is to drill a hole through the little black plate and frame under the bolt shown in this picture and put a rivet in it. That will keep the bolt from spinning when you are trying to remove the hold down nut to remove the air cleaner assembly.

 

Thanks for the help. I ordered two hold downs from a junk yard.