no EGR?...

buickmastermind · #1 08-31-2006, 07:49 PM

After spending countless hours under the hood, I can't figure this one out.

There is no egr valve visible on the 3800 vin C (1991). Heck, the whole vacumn system appears to be not right. There is no vacumn line going to any form of egr valve that I can find. However, there is a soleniod centered on the motor between the rear valve cover and the intake. This soleniod resembles that of the soleniod between the EGR valve and vacumn source on my 86 lesabre. however, on the regal, the vacumn lines that come out of the soleniod go to the HVAC, cruise control, and continues through a hole near the purge canister to the space between the driver side fender!

Where is the EGR valve?
Why do the cruise and HVAC work properly when bypassing this fully functional soleniod (always came out the 'vent' instead of heater or defog...)
What is up with the mysterious 'vacumn controlled fender'? (PLEASE be an automatic dent popper)

A 1991 Olds cutlass with the 3300 doesn't have an egr either, yet a 1994 Park Avenue and a 86 LeSabre DO! brain is melting...

BNaylor · #2 08-31-2006, 11:41 PM

Good observation. The EGR valve started showing in the 1993 model year and up. 3800 Vin L and then 3800 Vin K and 1.

Salestax · #3 09-02-2006, 08:25 PM

Where is the EGR valve? - I thought this was a digital unit. My 88 Lesabre has in just behind the throttle body--has a 4 wire connector on top. On my 93 Lesabre, I believe it got moved to in front of the throttle body near the exhaust manifold.

Why do the cruise and HVAC work properly when bypassing this fully functional soleniod (always came out the 'vent' instead of heater or defog...)
What is up with the mysterious 'vacumn controlled fender'? (PLEASE be an automatic dent popper) - I'm not sure what you're discussing here, but there is a vacuum line that goes from the rear of the intake/throttle body to a check valve on the firewall. This is the vacuum feed a control head. If you happen to have the push button style control head, the blend door is controlled by the head and a 'programmer' located behind the glove box.

buickmastermind · #4 11-28-2006, 11:10 PM

I hate to bring back an old topic, but

Why does this engine not have an EGR? My 86 LeSabre has one.

Ian Szgatti · #5 12-10-2006, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buickmastermind

I hate to bring back an old topic, but

Why does this engine not have an EGR? My 86 LeSabre has one.

I am positive your engine has an EGR valve. It is a digital EGR unit. It looks like three towers in a casing, in the location between the throttle body and the valve cover.
It doesn't require vac because each of those towers operates a pintle with electromagnetic force. A a signal from the PCM operates these pintles as the need for exhaust gas increases or decreases.

The 3300 engone doesn't have any form of EGR valve system. Engineers used a different approch with this engine. All they did was retard the exhaust valve timing. The exhaust valve closes a little earlier, thus keeping more inert exhaust gas in the combustion chamber.

Yor LeSaber just has the conventional vac operated EGR your used to seeing. If you new how many more EGR designs are and have been used, you'd shake your head.

buickmastermind · #6 12-10-2006, 07:34 PM

Assuming that the computer were retarded and couldn't tell if the egr was working then (no dummy light), how can I check it?

Ian Szgatti · #7 12-10-2006, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buickmastermind

Assuming that the computer were retarded and couldn't tell if the egr was working then (no dummy light), how can I check it?

It's the physical design of the camshaft that provides the EGR effect. I'm afraid it would be very difficult for you to check that unless you pulled the cam shaft and measured the exhaust lobes and compared them to spec.

On your 3800 though the digital EGR valve can be checked for continuity through each pintle. Why are you interested in checking the EGR of the 3300 anyways?

buickmastermind · #8 12-11-2006, 06:46 AM

The 3800 is only getting 20 mpg, and everything else seems to be working fine.

I was just curious as to why the 3300 didn't have an egr is all.

Ian Szgatti · #9 12-11-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buickmastermind

The 3800 is only getting 20 mpg, and everything else seems to be working fine.

I was just curious as to why the 3300 didn't have an egr is all.

so how many kilometers or miles on the 3800? whats been done to it recently? Ever used combustion chamber cleaner on it? or cleaned every electrical ground you can reach? I could give you countless tips on improving fuel economy.

maxwedge · #10 12-11-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buickmastermind

The 3800 is only getting 20 mpg, and everything else seems to be working fine.

I was just curious as to why the 3300 didn't have an egr is all.

As Ian said, engine design eliminated the need, as nox was reduced to acceptable limits at the time. This thread is getting old, lets start a new one if necessary.

Ian Szgatti · #11 12-11-2006, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxwedge

As Ian said, engine design eliminated the need, as nox was reduced to acceptable limits at the time. This thread is getting old, lets start a new one if necessary.

a little more on this... my car, same engine, just emmision tested, passed nicely with almost 300,000 kilometers... the only reading that was on the high side was NoX. Of course im not sure if this car has a three way catalyst, never bothered to find out. Also I suppose it could have been pretty warm when it was run.

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