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LQ1 EGR Leak? Solved! Well, sorta...


Galaxie500XL

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Replaced my lower intake gaskets, and cleaned up a mess...now the car doesn't leak coolant, but I've created a new problem.

 

The car is missing, scantool shows the mixture is lean, idle is now around 1200 RPM. Sounds as if I have a vacuum leak.

 

Tried the carb cleaner trick, idle picks up around the EGR...and it sounds like a vacuum leak somewhere around that area. I did replace the EGR gaskets with new ones, and the lower gasket was some strange blue thing, not the metallic ones I've seen before....

 

I'm thinking that the strange lower gasket isn't doing the job, and the EGR is leaking at either the adapter base between the plenum, or at the gasket between the EGR adapter and the EGR itself. Anyone else ever run into this issue?

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Found the EGR was definitely leaking. Took a small glass of water, poured it around the base of the EGR slowly, and the idle changed.

 

It appears the problem is the EGR adapter is no longer flat. The "toe" of the adapter, the end closest to the EGR tube is for lack of a better term "slumped". The adapter is slightly thinner at the back than it is at the end closest to the plenum. This is causing a very large vacuum leak at the EGR.

 

Desperate times call for desperate measures...so as a temporary "fix", I've stacked a pair of plenum-to EGR adapter gaskets under the adapter, and two adapter-to EGR gaskets above the adapter. Idle is now smooth, and around 700-750 RPM.

 

Obviously, this is not an ideal repair, but it does have the virtue of temporararily shutting down the leak.

 

Any idea how long this might last? And, does anyone know where I could find a decent EGR adapter for an LQ1?

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that makes no sense... more likely you did not have the egr tightened down... although... if you had the wrong bolts in place you couldhave the bolts tight but not clamping....

 

but if you have something cobbled together for now... let it be... at least until you can do it in warm weather this spring.

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I agree, it does sound strange. However, the bolts were the proper ones, and I torqued them to the proper factory spec of 22 foot-pounds (I'm weird like that, I've even got a inch-pound wrench) ...3 separate times before resorting to extra gaskets.

 

 

that makes no sense... more likely you did not have the egr tightened down... although... if you had the wrong bolts in place you couldhave the bolts tight but not clamping....

 

but if you have something cobbled together for now... let it be... at least until you can do it in warm weather this spring.

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