1989 Volvo 240 PCV with EGR- a Few Tips

[warmblood58]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and serviced my PCV system and as expected, it was a PITA! I have a few tips for those attempting to do so and for those who have the EGR installed in front of the oil vapor separator box (horrible). I did not pull intake but did remove idle air control valve and bracket for better access -this bracket also supports driver side motor mount and you may find as I did that your engine position shifts slightly making reinstallation tricky - just slide jack under sump with board to support engine in advance of removing and you should have no problems. The EGR valve and it's bracket makes getting to the 12mm bolts that hold the oil vapor separator box impossible but if you loosen and remove the two pipe unions (one vertical and one horizontal pipe, they may be quite rusty, treat in advance with PB Blaster or other) and then loosen the retaining nut that holds the EGR valve to the bracket, the valve will slide out towards the front of the car revealing the two 12mm bolts. I used a deep 12mm 1/4 drive socket and universal joint to remove bolts as access is still tight. The box will lift up and out but you may find that the harness is in the way - pay close attention to the harness and it's relation to the box as you will not be able to get the vent pipe (and that should be removed prior to removing box) to that connects to the box installed if the harness is not oriented correctly -it (harness) should be lifted up when you reinstall box and pulled towards driver side - You will find that there are two harness retaining clips, one on block and the other on Idle Air Control Bracket that need to be removed -this will give you more play with the harness, additional, there is a harness clip and small bolt that is connected to the oil separator box - disconnect this before pulling box. Clean EGR with carb cleaner when out, inspect, etc. - I treated threads with copper anti seize. I pulled the verticle EGR pipe where it connects to the upper intake and found it nearly closed off with carbon - remove inspect and clean. Also a good time to clean throttle body and MAF. Naturally, you will be removing idle air control valve, intake pipe to throttle body and connecting hoses prior to removing oil vapor separator box. There were a few moments where I wished I had pulled the intake but honestly, this is still much easier. Good luck and I hope these tips help. Somewhere I read where someone suggested bending the EGR bracket to access the 12mm bolts (NO, NO NO) you will damage diaphragm- just remove EGR from bracket and then proceed -

[850 LPT]

Thanks for this write up. Looks like I may have to use some of your knowledge at some point soon.