All About Valves

Archive for July, 2009

ok thanks what side is the cover on

Remove the trans-axle side cover disconnect wire harness connector slide retaining clip off of PC. solenoid pull solenoid out of valve body. reverse procedure to reinstall

I have a 98 Ford Contour. I’ve had it to the dealer a couple years ago because of the check engine light, after paying a fortune (smoke test) they told me my gas cap wasn’t on tight. Now they say it will cost over $400 to fix the idle control valve, it stalls out when I put car in gear. Are they trying to rip me off - or does it really cost that much?

Stop going to the dealer if the car is out of warranty - they charge double or more for labor compared to a good local mechanic.

Start here: http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/

I don’t know how much time it will take, but the part itself will usually cost around $75-200, depending on where you get it. The local dealer will charge $75-100 per hour in labor, so the cost could easily be $400. A good local mechanic, on the other hand, will only charge $30-50 per hour, so your cost could be closer to $250-300, assuming you get the $200 valve.

A local mechanic will usually not try to upsell you things you a) don’t need or b) can do yourself, which is a big plus versus going to the dealer.

The pvc ones I can find online are upwards of $70!!! I was trying to figure out how I might put together something just as good for a lot less money.

Yes. You could create a manifold using standard PVC fittings, and put three separate Ball ValvValves (one on each line running off of the manifold). This however poses a problem as it allows more than one of the lines to be open at once, whereas a 3-way ball valve will only select one line at a time. Depends if you can put up with this ‘catch’ in whatever your application is.

There is oil around the spark plugs on top of the valve cover. It pools up in the shallow area around the plugs. It appears to be coming from one or more of the plug holes, not from the sides of the valve cover. It’s not losing a lot of oil, and the car runs fine (but the Check Engine light goes on and off). Can this be fixed?

Its the cam cover gasket replace it and your PCV valve.

The water is strong to kitchen, 1st bathroom sink hot good, shower in same bathroom good, but tub off of same line as shower no hot water flow. No hot water pressure in 2nd shower about 20 ft from the tub line?

could be that the valve is not fully open or you have some sediment build up that got caught in the valve

I understand how to wire sprinkler valves in theory. But in practice, how is it done. For instance, starting at the last valves in the run, the common wire is attached, but in a 7-strand wire, you may only use 3 colored wires or so. What do you do with the unused wires? Just leave them dangling? Cap them off with a grease cap? Then, as you arrive at the next set of valves, do you cut the entire strand and splice, or just cut out the individual colored wires that you need to wire those valves?

well if you have a few extra strands in the cable, they may be used in the future if you add on to the sprinkler system with more valves. or to help troubleshoot wiring problems.
no need to cap the unused wires, just cut them and leave them
our company leaves enough of the wire in the valve box, to be able to pull out the connection for service. make sure you leave enough wire to service the Valves and their connections easlily.. we then wrap the unused cables around the used wires and the connections. keeps the valve box nice and neat, and ready to be serviced if needed.
the next set of valves, the best way is to cut the whole cable and splice them back. it is just easier.
again, make sure you leave a good bit of wire in the box so you can service it easily.
i work on sprinkler systems for a living.
one pet peeve is when a connection is not in the valve box, but inthe ground around it, b/c some one cut the wire too short.then i will have to dig up the connnections and repair them, instead of just doing it through the valve box without messing up the customer’s yard.
and by the way, grease caps arent the best way of sealing wire connections.
the best way for irrigation is with the orange wire nuts, and seal them with Dri-Splice.
from my dad’s over 20 years of expericence and my last few years, this is the best way.
good luck and hope this helps.

On the throttlebody is a vaccum hose that i believe goes to the canister purge solenoid. If I’m wrong please tell me where the other end goes?

you are right. from the throttle body there will be a rubber vacuum hose, follow this hose and you’ll run into the canister. the canister is usually on the side of the fender, or behind bumper between wheel well.

the purge solenoid will be obvious… it’ll be a metal valve with 2 hose ends and an electrical connector.

it is supposed to be in the wall but its on the outside of the wall and going into my counter top its an eye sore and is causing water damage in my ceiling, i plan to cut it off in the attic, cap it change the drain under the kitchen sink to newer piping same location and set up but add a air admittance valve for ventulation, is this a good idea?

YES just put the studder vent up high in the cabinet. sounds like where your vent penetrates the roof you may have a leak at that point… may need to get some roofing tar up there? cast iron is very difficult to cut either special blade in a sawzall or a ratchet style cutter desiegned just for cast iron or a heavy hammer with safty glasses

the quickest way to figure it out i think would be to call a fitting/valve supply house and ask them. the BSI standard you reference deals with manufacturing. i have found some ISO sets that govern this and some API but im not in India and have yet to build anything in that country so i doubt these will help. unless India uses American Petroleum Industry standards.

I am getting ready to buy valve covers on ebay for my 350 V8. I found a pair that is chrome and has the numbers "350" stamped on them. Now there is one hole in each cover for a breather but there is no hole oil change cap. Is there supposed to be a oil change cap? Do I have to buy one seperate? If there isn’t supposed to be a cap, then do I pour the oil through the breather hole when I change the oil?

the hole on the passenger side is the breather hole .the onr on the driver side is for the oil cap. you might have to go to a parts house to get a cap that will fit.