EGR Solenoid

[mrpink]

Gentlemen, I have a 5.0 in a Cobra kit car. I got the engine from a wrecked Stang and in the process of installing it, I have left something out. It has the Cobra intake. The block of metal between the EGR and intake has turned blue from excessive heat. The intake has even changed color in that area. I mistakingly had the vacuum line hooked directly to the EGR making it open all the time. It did not go throught the solenoid. I have disconnected the vacuum and blocked it off leaving the EGR attached. Questions:
Do I need to ever hook it up?
Any detrimental effects if I don't hook it up, short or long term? When is an instance that the computer would tell the EGR to open?
I can easily get a solenoid and put it in the line, but I don't know if I still have the electrical connection for it.
And lastly, does anyone have a pic. of the sol. so I can see if I have it laying around. Thanks a lot,
Jim

[billheis]

Don't know emission laws in your area but if you don't have to have car inspected just unhook hose and block it off. I have mine disconnected and have no problems running 16 timing. Main design of ERG is to lower NOX emisions and cool intake mixture. It comes on during part throttle operation. Being you car is light weight you can probably get by without. How did you get the thing to idle with it open?
Bill

[BilLster]

are you sure its the Cobra intake . As the EGR is part of the upper manifold. the GT 40 and stock have a spacer that has cooling lines going to it to help cool the exhaust gas from the EGR.

Maybe the motor had a problem to begine with. are you getting any codes ? i guess you didn't hook up a check engine light in the dash of your cobra.

It's 7:00 am and im going on a limb here i think the egr just has the vacum line and no electric solinoid that i can remember, i cant think of an electrical hook up for it either. I used to run mine unplugged but after finding out what it really did i hooked it back up and no real diffrences.

[mrpink]

Both Bills, thanks for the replys. Yes it is a Cobra intake, no cooling lines. I had it hooked up direct to vacuum, open all the time. So hot it started to discolor the Intake. Always ran great though. Now I have it blocked off. Still runs great but where the EGR attaches to the upper, is cool. I read somewhere that it only opens above 3K, if that's so, thats only a second before shifts. thanks,
Jim

[silver_pilate]

Just for clarification...you don't have any coolant lines hooked up to the intake?? I know the Cobra intakes have the EGR system built into them, but you should have coolant lines going to the EGR system on the intake to cool the recycled exhaust gasses. Maybe I just read your reply wrong or misunderstood you.

If you're not running the coolant lines to the EGR system, that's why it got so hot right there. Maybe the previous owner eliminated all the emissions systems and didn't run the EGR, so he never had the coolant lines run. So if you hooked it up without coolant, it gets plenty warm.

Then again, I don't know jack about Cobra intakes, so maybe I'm just all confused.

--nathan

[tmoss]

You ran the EGR system wide open with no cooling and that's why your intake discolored. Just remove the vacuum hose from the EGR and don't use it - unless you have emissions tests to clear. Then you'll have to do an involved retrofit including supplying coolant flow to the EGR spacer and getting the electrical valves that control the vacuum to the EGR valve.