civic hx egr valve deep clean

[Chrysler kid]

I have been battling with an egr code since I purchased this 1996 civic hx.

I cleaned out the egr passage ways on the intake manifold and they were completely clogged. I also removed the valve itself an scrubbed it Down with brake cleaner as well as the passage way to the exhaust. This changed my code from p1430 I believe to a egr insufficient flow.



So this time I was going for broke. There were a few threads mentioning the passage up to the egr being clogged so I went after it with pipe cleaner from the kids craft isle and brake cleaner.

The best way i found to check the passage from the exhaust is to slide a vacuum hose from a shop vac into the tail pipe of the exhaust of your vehicle, and with the egr removed (and the engine and exhaust cold), start the vacuum sucking through the exhaust. Go back to the engine bay and you should hear an audible suction from the egr passage on the intake manifold. This suction will help guide the pipe cleaner all the way down the passage with the brake cleaner. Be warned the passage is about 24 inches deep, took two pipe cleaners end to end to reach the bottom



Now back to the egr valve itself. The valve drops down to let the exhaust air into the intake. I had used a screw driver to lift the valve upwards and spray cleaner into it before but this time I was determined. I was able to get the valve to fully extend further than it had before on my previous cleaning and slid a pipe cleaner into the passage way. I was able to get flully around the valve unit and completely clean it.





Once assembled the car is driving and idling much smoother. I did have a considerable amount of smoke out of the exhaust but I do believe that was from the brake cleaner and soot being burned off from the exhaust that I had loosened with pipe cleaner and the shop vac. It was white smoke and went away after a few minutes. It did however fill my garage behind me before I realized it was smoking. Smelled like wd40.

Hooray for the shift light indicator again





I am hoping this completely cures the problem, if not I am looking at $160 for another valve. I am in luck however as just recently a pick and pull yard has a new hx in their lot. I have also identified that an egr valve off of a 1998 Honda accord ex 4 cylinder is an identical unit with the exception of the plug being on the opposite side. The accord egr is $60 cheaper as well

Fingers crossed.

[Baltothewolf]

We insight owners also use the 98-02 accord/Odyssey EGRS as they work just fine, and is only 64.99 on eBay vs the 270$ for a new one specifically for the insight. I'm glad you got that solved, I have the EGR insufficient flow CEL as well, but I'm just gonna opt for a new EGR.

[Chrysler kid]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

We insight owners also use the 98-02 accord/Odyssey EGRS as they work just fine, and is only 64.99 on eBay vs the 270$ for a new one specifically for the insight. I'm glad you got that solved, I have the EGR insufficient flow CEL as well, but I'm just gonna opt for a new EGR.

Great tip, that is a MUCH better price than the parts store. the hx and accord unit are identical except for the plug position so I'll give it a try if worse comes to worse


I'm not sure if the problem is solved, but I do know for sure know it could only be the valve itself if the light comes back on.

Don't suppose you know what pins on the egr valve I could use to make the valve extend using a 12v power source? That may be a project for the bad valve I suppose


Oh also would "porting" the exit opening on the egr base to be the same size as the opening on the intake manifold improve the air flow?

[Chrysler kid]

Argh!

Code came back. I am not shelling out $167 for a front facing egr. As mentioned the accord it the same, however the 2002 odyssey is BIGGER see what happens so far it doesn't not work

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Chrysler kid

Great tip, that is a MUCH better price than the parts store. the hx and accord unit are identical except for the plug position so I'll give it a try if worse comes to worse


I'm not sure if the problem is solved, but I do know for sure know it could only be the valve itself if the light comes back on.

Don't suppose you know what pins on the egr valve I could use to make the valve extend using a 12v power source? That may be a project for the bad valve I suppose


Oh also would "porting" the exit opening on the egr base to be the same size as the opening on the intake manifold improve the air flow?

On my insight, it's both the bottom pins. On my insights EGR there are 3 pins on top, 2 pins on bottom. Touch both the bottom pins, poof it opens.

No idea on the airflow question

[Chrysler kid]

Such a pain. Check engine light came back on for flow so I went back through the intake passage and it was completely clogged under the passageway on top of the manifold. So the intake manifold to combustion chamber was completely clogged

I used a small drill bit by hand to try and remove as much debris as possible without pushing it all into the combustion chamber. I then used my vacuum gun to try and suck all that debris up and out.



I may actually have to remove the intake manifold if this last cleaning session didn't work. :/

Also the odyssey egr valve looks more like the insight egr valve according to a few part stores

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Chrysler kid

Such a pain. Check engine light came back on for flow so I went back through the intake passage and it was completely clogged under the passageway on top of the manifold. So the intake manifold to combustion chamber was completely clogged

I used a small drill bit by hand to try and remove as much debris as possible without pushing it all into the combustion chamber. I then used my vacuum gun to try and suck all that debris up and out.



I may actually have to remove the intake manifold if this last cleaning session didn't work. :/

Also the odyssey egr valve looks more like the insight egr valve according to a few part stores

Wait are you using a brand new EGR? If it's still doing it after an EGR change that sucks man... It's rare but it does happen with the intake manifold clogging. It happens if you let a clogged EGR or plate go for a long time.

[Chrysler kid]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Wait are you using a brand new EGR? If it's still doing it after an EGR change that sucks man... It's rare but it does happen with the intake manifold clogging. It happens if you let a clogged EGR or plate go for a long time.

Yeah brand new odyssey egr valve.

I should have just read the full text before I cleaned the passageway. The write up submitted on this site is not thorough in its description of the intake manifold cleaning, just the passage plate

The manifold clogges from the intake back to the passage way. The way the cleaning was described initially led me to believe the plate was the blockage point, however it is actually the manifold holes which are tiny

I was pretty nervous about using the drill bit method but re reading the full write up teggers blog is very detailed about this part.

Hope this thread helps out others in the future, you should not need a new valve it is simply the manifold being clogged, either from the exhaust or the intake. I believe mine was clogged both ways all the way from the exhaust to the intake manifold. 300k miles of soot

If you for some reason need a new valve one from an accord v6 will work and it only costs $54 on amazon. The 02 odyssey valve worked, on both vavles you will need to really be careful as the plug faces a different direction and the harness is slightly short

[firehawk618]

Back from the dead.

Chrysler kid, you already know I have swapped the HX setup but I do have an EGR question.

When I had the intake off I pulled that top plate and cleaned out all the passages. All 4 routes / ports were 100% blocked.

I am 100% certain that ALL my egr passages are sparkly clean inside.

I keep getting 2 pending codes. I seem to get 1 at a time and have yet to see both pending at once.

P401 Insufficient EGR flow.

P1491 Insufficient lift.

I have a question about the Odyssey valve you bought. What year Odyssey and did it end up bolting on to the manifold ok? I'm fine with extending the harness a tad if the plug won't reach.

I see in 02 the only engine option for the Odyssey is the V-6 but in 98 there was a 4 cylinder.

Did you eliminate all your EGR codes?

Thanks!

EDIT:

I pulled my EGR valve and checked the position sensor.

I get absolutely NO variance in resistance when testing between pins 1-2, 1-3, or 2-3 and manually moving the valve in and out.

This tells me the position sensor is toast.

I would still like to know if the Odyssey one fit your car so I can save 2/3 of the price!

Thanks again.

[Chrysler kid]

Originally Posted by firehawk618

Back from the dead.

Chrysler kid, you already know I have swapped the HX setup but I do have an EGR question.

When I had the intake off I pulled that top plate and cleaned out all the passages. All 4 routes / ports were 100% blocked.

I am 100% certain that ALL my egr passages are sparkly clean inside.

I keep getting 2 pending codes. I seem to get 1 at a time and have yet to see both pending at once.

P401 Insufficient EGR flow.

P1491 Insufficient lift.

I have a question about the Odyssey valve you bought. Did it end up bolting on to the manifold ok? I'm fine with extending the harness a tad if the plug won't reach.

Did you eliminate all your EGR codes?

Thanks!

EDIT:

I pulled my EGR valve and checked the position sensor.

I get absolutely NO variance in resistance when testing between pins 1-2, 1-3, or 2-3 and manually moving the valve in and out.

This tells me the position sensor is toast.

I would still like to know if the Odyssey one fit your car so I can save 2/3 of the price!

Thanks again.

Yes the odyssey one and the accord v6 egr both worked. The harness plugs were all the same they all just had plugs facing the wrong way.

My code has not come back on at all but I went back to my my 300k mile stock one. The odyssey valve worked fine for a few days but then I got the same 0401 code so I knew for sure the valve wasn't the problem.

See if you can pry the egr valve open as far as I got mine, I soaked mine in brake cleaner and I could tell that piston could move alot more freely.

You will probably need to extend the harness plug, I was just barely able to get mine to fit