In trying to figure out the various issues with my 95 E320, I was checking the purge valve. (my car, apparently, while a '95 technically, has '96 engine components) It's the special edition from '95, not sure what that means, if anyone can shed light on that, just out of curiosity.

anyway, the purge valve...if I take the vacuum line (from the engine) off, the engine runs poorly. If I take it off and plug it, the engine runs fine. What is this information telling me? I'm assuming it's saying that the valve is working. I don't hear or feel any clicking though (I guess this is the sound it's s'posed to make?

thanks

Do you have a purge code??

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A Dalton

well, I've been dealing with this idle surging issue as of late, although I replaced the EGR valve, O2 sensor, fuel pressure reg, cleaned the MAF. Has been running good for 3 days so far.

no specific code, the little black box indicates a 4 and 5 code, CEL is on. I'm rebuilding the code reader tonite to see if I can get anything more specific.

Really, I was just curious what that particular scenario meant, the one I stated in the original post.

You mean this one ??

>anyway, the purge valve...if I take the vacuum line (from the engine) off, the engine runs poorly. If I take it off and plug it, the engine runs fine. What is this information telling me? >

That only means you have taken a vac hose off and created a vac leak that has resullted in a lean mixture , resulting in a poorly running engine...and then you fixed the vac leak you created by plugging it and now the car no longer has that vac leak and that has corrected the fuel mixture and is running Ok again..that's all it means,,it has nothing to do with checking the Purge system , as that would be upstream for what you did.
You simply made a vac leak.
If the purge was not working, you would most likely see a purge code.
Check if you do. You would be looking for a 21 on DM or a 36 on HFM [pin#8]

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A Dalton

Ok,
Pin 8- code 36 (purge valve) could this have been caused from me pulling the vacuum line off?

pin14- codes 5, 10 and 11. can you help interpret these for me?

thanks

<< Pin 8- code 36 (purge valve) could this have been caused from me pulling the vacuum line off?>>>

It could have , but it should have reset when you put the hose back ON
The purge system has an ECU criteria that has to be met in order to energize.
The demands are :
>80 C coolant temp
MAF sensor quanity spec./ flow range
Engine load condition

When the gas tank reaches 30 ml/bar pressure , the vent opens to the canister.
When purge demands are reached, the HFM module sends are sig to the purge switch-over valve in the form of 5/10/20 Hz.. which hz sig required is determined by engine load input to HFM.
You can feel these pulses if you put the purge in your hand.. the reason for the pulsing is so the engine does not get a large gulp of air to the intake, which would be what you did by disconnecting the vac line..the amount of intake air through the purge is determined by which Hz range the ECU uses, with each having a different time duration, so it is metered.

So, the purge is regeneration/emmissons control of tank venting at a metered pace as to not effect the a/f/ mixture to any large degree.
The most common problem with them is they get full of crap from the canister and they stick either open or closed..each will bring up a code 36 on HFM..a trick/remedy is to squirt WD40 in the valve and the hose downstream [ towards canister]..that allows the engine to suck the fluid through the valve as it pulse, thus cleaning/clearing it from the vac and pulses.

If it is to far gone, replace it, but only after confirming that the ECU is getting an electrical sig to it...



<<>>

You have a bad brake switch and your Throttle cable is sticking or there is not enough slack in it. Lube it and check for slack at the adjuster...make sure you don't have a bunched up rug/mat on the floor near the gas pedal.
On the brake sw. it has been detected to have an intermittant fault and you should just chanage it b/c it will get worse and it is not the brake light circuit that is going bad , it is the other set of contacts that are used by various other systems...so don't post back that " But My brake lights are working fine"..that is not the circuit/contacts of the sw we are concerned with.........it is a multi circuit/function switch with more than one set of contacts.

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A Dalton

Ok, I'll try the WD-40 remedy for the purge.

as far as the cable goes, there is slack at the adjuster end. what do you recommend lubing it with, WD-40?

and the brake switch, where is this located?

or better yet, a part # for the brake switch?

any thoughts as to why my particular vehicle has 96 engine parts and is technically a 95?

I don't believe it does...........

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A Dalton

Ok, I disconnected the purge valve and plugged the vacuum line. Car ran great all weekend, no issues, all good.

today, while driving in stop and go traffic, the car immediately starting running very poorly, then surged dramatically. I stopped at Lowes for a couple of house things, started the car, and it ran terribly. I then plugged the vacuum line back into the purge, only to be dealt with extremely poor running, and when I put the car in gear, stepped on the gas, the car died. this happened several times while restarting and I eventually got out of the parking lot.

I'm at a loss here.

any updates ? did you get this resolved ?

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

any updates ? did you get this resolved ?

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.