New owner, just failed GA emissions, high NOx main culprit

[royster]

If the belt was just done they might have put it 1 tooth off if they don't know mit's. Most of the time they line up the cam pulley with the edge of deck, there is a small mark just below that that is your timing mark.Maybe one of the boy's will post a pic of where the marks are so you can double check as I don't have the 4 cyl in mine.

Little details like this make a world of difference. After reading this post, I looked at my own, sure enough: there's a subtle "nub" just below the top of the cylinder head. The Chilton book does not give a good photo of it. But in looking at it, I realized that if you were lining timing marks with the TOP of the cylinder head, instead of the casted timing mark, it is EXACTLY one tooth's difference. All the difference in the world.

The Chilton book DOES point out that the mark is on the head, just below the top. Not sure I would have missed this, but potentially, Fordubishi saved me a ton of agony by highlighting this detail.

Regarding EGR:

there is a labrynth passage for the EGR valve. This is a little hole you'll see in the intake manifold, and it is likely filled with carbon. By seperating the plenium from the manifold, you see this passage is pretty well blocked up there, too. But when you take the EGR valve off, you can see this is a total of 4 square inches of carbon yuck that disables the EGR to do its job properly. It takes some doing to get that carbon out of the whole passage way AND the EGR valve.

quote from: Roy's Garage

I took off the EGR and it was PACKED with crap. I got it cleaned up to where I could actually see the valve shaft. While Seafoaming the engine is great, it doesn't help the EGR to this depth, and can't: there's no way for it to reach the EGR. At 89,000 miles (boy, I'm envious) yours' wouldn't have nearly the crap mine did, and that may be a blessing to you: removing the EGR valve and clearing that passage might be as simple as spray cleaner.

I again express my gratitude for the experienced members of the forum for sharing their knowledge. I'm clearly no expert, but by sharing my own experiences, it adds to the overall view. I came here without one penny: now I'm able to at least put my two cents in.