Quote:
It sucks being on a tight budget.
I certainly hear ya.
Using the OEM system...
If you are sure the exhaust tubing behind the engine is
fully blocked, you can pull the cooling fitting from the intake side of the head (center on intake side) and replace with a plug. Then pull the Y pipe from the cabin heater core return, and use a straight hose coupling (hose mender?) and a couple of clamps to restore the return path from the heater. Best to do this when you have the head off. This allows you to eliminate several possible sources for coolant leakage, since without exhaust, there is no need for cooling the EGR. If you don't have a sure-thing EGR blockoff plate, Seth sells the Weeks 2 kit separately with everything needed for that.
https://shop.sasquatchparts.com/products/egr-delete-jeep-liberty-crd-upgrade/and this will allow remove the offending exhaust crossover tube entirely.
Also, having the exhaust tubing
fully blocked, (or removed), will prevent the exhaust soot from becoming asphalt when mixed with the oil vapors from the CCV in the intake. If you have opted for a Provent, then you won't have to worry about oil vapors either.
Anyway, leave the FCV and it's CAC hose fitting in place, and pull the brass butterfly valve plate out. Also best to do while the engine is apart. Clean the EGR & Intake manifold as best you can before re-assembly.****
This way, you won't have any weirdness with your CAC hose. The OEM or any OEM replacement will work, and you still have the electrical bits in place to prevent diagnostic trouble codes, but the FCV and EGR won't be able to cause their dirty rotten badness.
If you're happy with the way it runs when you get it back together, it can be left that way indefinitely. Me, on the other hand, I tend to balk at leaving any untapped potential on the table....
Edit: ****Someone on here, and I cannot for the life of me remember who, found a novel approach to blocking the Intake pressure from EGR bits. The little fitting that comes down from the oem elbow, they drilled and tapped and threaded in a pipe plug. That, with the exhaust plug on the other side also would allow pulling the egr cooler and crossover pipe. If you remove the EGR solenoid from the valve, you could bin the whole valve, cooler, and coolant hose mess, and still look factory OEM.