EGR delete

Have removed the EGR setup from the project car before the motor goes back in, does removing it trigger any fault codes with the factory S1 ECU once all the holes in the manifolds are blocked?

 

No

 

This man be correct. Remove it, never look back.

 

I have a spare setup in perfectly seized condition should you feel the need to put it all back on. +10kw for green peace.

 

If I do feel the need to put it back on I'll request I give myself a stiff uppercut.

 

I concur.

 

Further question: Is there any reason why I couldn't use the EGR holes to run a hidden balance tube under the manifold?

 

the idle air system might be a bit of a bother for that, for some odd reason it goes into an isolated chamber in the back of the plenum then up into that second pipe on the balance tube and joins in the middle. You'd just need to make sure you actually include an idle valve in your new system.

 

Where is the factory idle air valve located? My recollection is that there is nothing hanging off that balance bar in the way of electronics or valves. Does it sit down the back hidden in the inlet manifold somewhere?

 

"goes into an isolated chamber in the back of the plenum then up into that second pipe on the balance tube and joins in the middle."
On the left hand side at the back, you'll note the balance tube has two ports at this end. The auxiliary air control and fast idle control solenoids are bolted to the rear of the plenum and have the square two-pin injector type plugs on them, black and blue before years of heat damage.

The air source for the idle system is the left hand turbo outlet pipe leading towards the intercooler, roughly 5/8" port near the throttle body.

 

Bearing in mind I don't know the VG like the back of my hand yet or have mine in front of me, the way you describe the idle air valve fitting is by simply plugging into the balance tube via two (presumably short) vacumn lines.

If this the case surely you could simply reroute the lines to another spot on the manifold or even add some t peices in the custom balance tube I'm considering, even with the secret trap door easter egg portion of the manifold.

 

It's still simple in operation just not in installation. Safe enough guess that feeding to the centre of the balance tube is just to get even air flow to each bank. Best guess why it runs through the pocket at the back of the plenum is it's an evolutionary artifact, or the aac/ficd assembly is common to some other car where bolting to the plenum made sense. The bi-metal thingo goes straight to the balance tube so I think this is just one of nissan's bizarre solutions to a simple problem.

I'm not explaining it clearly enough then, the solenoid housing bolts to that plenum chamber with a gasket rather than connecting with hoses. I was mostly explaining it so that you could figure it out with the engine in front of you, go have a look and you should see what I mean. If you blank off the balance tube ports on top of the plenum you'll have to make up an adaptor for the idle solenoids or replace them with something from another car. It's not unfeasible it's just not as easy as it could be.

p.s. I got the plug colours wrong, they're red and blue, at least on my new wiring specialties loom they are.

 

Andrew Del Carlo (Minivan?) swapped his balance tube out for a hose and is using an aftermarket idle controller I'm pretty sure. You run a Haltech don't you? If you're interested in a similar mod just get their idle solenoid and it should be pretty straight forward to get it going if you can tee it into whatever balance system you set up. More of a pain with a standard ECU and probably even with a Nistune as nothing will be plug and play.

Andrew did try ditching the balance pipe completely but it made tuning a headache.