EGR Boxby Richard Atwell |
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Behind the driver's kick panel on some buses (mainly CA models) is the operating time recorder (aka EGR Box) halfway down the speedometer cable . It is a mileage based counter that trips a switch at preset mileage intervals. When the switch closes a light on the dash comes on to remind you to go into the dealership to have your emissions system checked (we all know the EGR system rusts out since it's part of the exhaust and oxygen sensors have a limited life also).
Read the emissions notice in Owner's manual.
When the light comes, apart from being annoying, you may also fail your emission test if the tech believes it to be the check engine light (CEL).
To reset the EGR light remove the driver's side kick panel and press the white button on the box until you hear a loud click. If you only press the button half way without hearing a click the light will only stay off as long as you press the button. Some boxes have two button (more later).
You can reset the box at any mileage before the switch trips.
I believe there were three versions of the EGR Box:
The large button always resets EGR and the smaller button if present resets CAT.
Here's a photo of a box from a 1978 bus.
Wiring terminals:
On 79 CA models, the CAT light is labeled OXS instead as a reminder to check the oxygen sensor. Earlier models only had a CAT but 79 CA had both. Each bulb (1.2w) is powered by the blue wire from the VR. When you turn on the key the light(s) should come on. When the alternator is engages the light will go off, unless the switch has tripped.
If you look at the wiring diagrams you'll find some variation between models:
1979: it shows the OXS warning light is activated by the OXS switch. The dash also has an EGR label but it appear to have no bulb behind the lens.
1977/78: the EGR warning light is activated by the EGR elapsed mileage switch. No bulb behind the CAT lens.
1976: there are two switches in the elapsed mileage odometer, one for CAT and one for EGR. There are also two separate reset switches.
Canadian models were free of all these hassles despite the EGR equipment on board thanks to differences in the regulations. I'm not sure about other countries but given the era I would guess this was a USA only requirement.
Unfortunately, just like the VDO odometer with it's plastic gears the EGR box can break similarly. The box itself is quite rugged but the rest of it is somewhat delicate like a clock movement. Any of the plastic tabs/teeth could become brittle and break off.
Electrically, little can go wrong except for the diode(s) that connect power to each light could conceivably burn out.
The more common problem is that the speedometer cable breaks and the two sections are both NLA.
The solution to reactivate your speedometer and odometer is to bypass the box completely with the non-EGR version of the speedo cable.
So exactly when does the recorder trip? The exact moment depends on your tire diameter but let's say they are 26" tall. First we have to compute the reduction by multiplying all of the worn-gear ratios:
There are 73 ratchet wheel teeth from rest to the cutout:
31:1 x 16:1 x 20:1 x 16:1 x 73 = 11,586,560.
This is the reduction factor! Now we can determine when the box trips. First, how many inches are in a mile:
12"/ft and 5280 ft/mile = 63360"/mile
Now let's compute the tire circumference:
1 tire rotation: 26" x 3.141592 = 81.68"
The number of tire rotations are:
63360"/mile divided by 81.68"/rotation = 775.7 rotations
Now factor in the reduction by dividing the rotations into the gearing:
11,586,560 / 775.7 = 14936 miles.
So the EGR light triggers at 15k miles. The gear that drives the wheel for the CAT light has twice as many teeth so the CAT/OXS light would come on at 30k miles because the wheel is the same height and the cutout is also 73 teeth from the ratchet stop.
Wouldn't it be cool if you could use this notification system to remind you to change your oil?
Reassemble and voila. Idea courtesy of Rob Taylor in Salt Lake (RAMVA).
09/22/05 - Created
09/08/11 - Fixed broken photos, added translate button, updated footer
07/15/19 - Google update: new adsense code, removed defunt translate button