Hello all. My recently acquired Ranger has been running a bit rough, if not just loud. It's a 1998 XLT 4.0 2wd. I was checking under the hood the other day for the source of the noise, since it seems to be coming from the front passenger side of the engine bay. During this I noticed a thin plume of white smoke coming from the engine bay when I pressed on the accelerator. I think I have found the source of both the noise and smoke, but I had to bring my question here. What the hell is it? I have attached some pictures I took and hopefully, this being a forum full of Ranger drivers and aficionados, one of you can identify it for me. It looks to me like some sort of port or mini-exhaust coming off of the rear of the driver-side header. Is this seriously a thing? Not that I need a reason to replace the headers.... but it helps convince the wife

In the first picture, it shows the headers and the "port" I am talking about. In the second picture, it shows the same thing but you can also see the effect this has had on the firewall. It is this that makes me think this isn't exactly normal. I hope someone can provide me with some insight. Thank you all.

Attached Images

	headers.jpg (96.3 KB, 46 views)
	headers2.jpg (95.6 KB, 46 views)

I think think they are plugs for the egr port.

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2014 F150 xl 3.7 6 speed auto.

There is suppose it be a metal holes for the egr valve there.

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Grace 3.0l 2wd xlt v8 swap
Blue. 3.0l 4wd xlt

I checked it out further this morning knowing this and cannot find any egr valve or tubing anywhere. Could this be just be remedied with aftermarket headers? None I have seen actually have this port on them.

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1998 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0L v6 2WD

You could plug it.

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Grace 3.0l 2wd xlt v8 swap
Blue. 3.0l 4wd xlt

I might just have to do that. One of the previous owners seem to have removed the valve entirely. This at least gives me something to do. That's always a good thing. Almost always...

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1998 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0L v6 2WD

Just remember to have fun

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Grace 3.0l 2wd xlt v8 swap
Blue. 3.0l 4wd xlt