My Sweetheart returned home last evening with the news that the Beater-Which-Might-Never-Die was making a funny sound. If you're married, you know what kind of disaster that news could indicate.

It's a 1990 240 with an Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve and, of course, that is where the problem resided. The recirculation line had rotted apart at the adapter fitting to the exhaust manifold. Since we needed to use the car in the morning, I plugged the line and the port in the manifold.

This is a beater unit with about 250 Kmi. on it and as I said, it just doesn't want to die. Does anyone have any thoughts about the consequences of running this car with the EGR effectively disabled? Where I live, the only emissions check which is done on a 1990 240 is to make certain that the gas cap is sealing properly, so I do not have to worry about hitting the hydrocarbon target.

Thanks one and all,

Rich