I was in the process of replacing the valve cover gasket on my 96 f150 w/ a 4.9L engine, and I found this tube to no where. Is it suppose to be like that or is it suppose to be connected to something? I can't find anything that it connects too. The tube ran next to the intake manifold. The hose in the picture coming in from the right of the picture runs to the AIR system.

Thanks

 

the hose hooks to the first picture then you should have a spot on the exhaust the other end hooks to. if your exhaust has been replaced they might not have welded the tube back on.

also the mounting points are the bolts that hold the upper half of the intake to the lower half.

 

Where on the exhaust would it run to? I bought the truck recently so I don't know it's history, but to me it doesn't look like the exhaust has been replaced.

 

you have to crawl over the top of the engine, look down behind the last intake runner and the firewall, the tube comes up there. has what looks like a round check valve there on top. the tube is about a foot long.

mine has been welded back on before so I know they have problems with them rusting out

 

Sweet, thanks for the tip. I'll have to crawl around the engine tomorrow and have a look. It ran okay without the tube, but there is a lot of noise without that tube on. There isn't any noise from the exhaust though, so I'm guessing one of the last owners plugged up the hole where the tube ran to.

 

Yup it should connect to a steel line between the 2 cats but i assume its rotted off like mine. But ive welded mine several times

 

As for what it is and what it is for, it appears to be the EGR tube that should connect to the air tube from either the exhaust pipe or the cat. Without it your vehicle will not run properly and you will fail an emissions check if your area has that.

 

Mine has the same dead end but the valve looking thing is still there. Seems to run great in spite of it, but no emmisions check in MI. The valve thing looks like a small funnel with a rounded cap. Deffinitely nowhere for it to run to...

 

That might explain why someone screwed in a spark plug into the exhaust pipe. I don't know if it'll throw a code or not. My computer was junk so I'm waiting for the new one. The engine ran okay even with the tube off although the cats might be suffering if they aren't able to function efficiently and burn off excess carbon.

 

Can I buy a new tube somewhere that connects to the exhaust?