626 IM EGR help

KrayzieFox · Mar 17, 2009

Ok guys, I know this topic has been discussed a lot.. but I don't think this has been brought up yet.

I picked up a used 626 IM with a 626 EGR pipe from a junk yard, and I'm having some problems. The nut on the exhaust end of the 626 pipe is a lot smaller than the Protege one, so it won't thread onto the EGR bung on the turbo manifold. And I don't see how one would be able to put a different nut on the pipe cuz the nut isn't fully open on both ends.

Has anyone here used the 626 EGR pipe instead of the corrugated Home Depot fix? If so, I'd like your input.. and pics of the pipe routing would help. I'm having a hell of a time with this damn EGR.

Any help would be appreciated. At this time, I'll even settle with capping off the EGR until I figure something out.. but I need to know what thread size the bolts need to be for both the turbo and intake manifolds.

EDIT: Intake size should be 5/8" and exhaust should be 1/2" correct? Can someone confirm this please?

magnumP5 · Mar 17, 2009

What year 626? I have a '02 626 IM with VTCS removed and a 626 EGR tube and everything bolted together just fine. It was a pain in the ass to installed but once I got everything aligned everything just screwed together. I'll check when I get home if I have any pictures.

KrayzieFox · Mar 17, 2009

It was from a '00 626. The manifold bolts up perfectly, but the pipe doesn't for some reason.

magnumP5 · Mar 17, 2009

Is everything lining up correctly or is it just that the threaded bolt is too small? I've always heard it's best to torque down the EGR tube first then to torqure down the exhaust manifold so you know everything is tight and lined up.

KrayzieFox · Mar 17, 2009

I dunno man.. that pipe was a royal pain in the ass to put in cuz of all the coolant lines and my turbo oil feed line being in the way. It kinda looked like it was lining up.. but I never really had it installed 100% cuz I knew it wouldn't even thread on. So I just skipped that part and figured I'll either cap both ends or do the corrugated tube fix.

You care to post a few pics of how you routed yours?

mightyray · Mar 17, 2009

My vote would be spend $20 and get the home depot one. It's flexible, fits perfectly, and I've had no problems with it.

sprinter119 · Mar 17, 2009

Yea i had the same problem i bought the manifold used and the tube used but the nut at the end was too small. I bought it from a member off the boards. I just ended up buying the kit from PG

KrayzieFox · Mar 17, 2009

Well I ended up plugging both ends for now.. but now I have a DIFFERENT problem.

I started the car, and it idles fine. Vacuum reads 22 inHg so that's all good too.. but my brake pedal is VERY VERY hard and weak. I can't even stop the car from rolling back if I put it in R..

The only thing I did brake related was unhook the brake booster vacuum line and plug it back into the 626 IM. Should I have cut the line to make it shorter cuz the 626 IM has a different location for it or what?

magnumP5 · Mar 17, 2009

Just make sure there aren't any kinks or crazy bends in the line. You didn't crush the check valve in the brake booster line, did you?

KrayzieFox · Mar 17, 2009

It was a kink in the brake booster line. I guess you can't really reuse the Protege line can you? I went to Advance Auto and got it all taken care of.

So.. I'm officially done. There are no vacuum leaks that I could hear or see according to the boost gauge so that's good. I capped off both ends of the EGR, and no CEL yet. I used two washers between the block and the bracket to get it to fit right.. and besides that it was all pretty straightforward. Took forever though.. but I got it done.

I also installed the NSN thermal spacer while I was at it.

Overall though, I'm not all that impressed by this mod. Probably cuz I have an automatic turbo.. so I can't really use the available power as well as you manual guys. In all honesty.. I really felt NO DIFFERENCE at all after installing both the spacer, and this manifold.

Looking on the bright side though, the engine bay is a LOT cleaner and more spacious around the firewall. I can now get to my oil filter easily by reaching from the top, and if I ever develop an oil leak by the oil feed tee, I can probably fix it without removing the intake manifold again. So overall, it's a good mod.. even without the power gains

khaosman · Mar 17, 2009

You probably knocked off a couple pounds off weight too

TheMAN · Mar 18, 2009

using a 2000 626 intake manifold requires the use of a 01-02 626 EGR pipe to make it work on a protege.... the pipes are bent differently because the 2000 doesn't have the warmup cat, the 01-02 has the same exhaust manifold as the protege

KrayzieFox · Mar 18, 2009

TheMAN said:
using a 2000 626 intake manifold requires the use of a 01-02 626 EGR pipe to make it work on a protege.... the pipes are bent differently because the 2000 doesn't have the warmup cat, the 01-02 has the same exhaust manifold as the protege

That's good to know. See even after all the thousands of threads on this topic, this still hasn't been covered. Thanks Edwin, good info.

magnumP5 · Mar 18, 2009

KrayzieFox said:
Overall though, I'm not all that impressed by this mod. Probably cuz I have an automatic turbo.. so I can't really use the available power as well as you manual guys. In all honesty.. I really felt NO DIFFERENCE at all after installing both the spacer, and this manifold.

Looking on the bright side though, the engine bay is a LOT cleaner and more spacious around the firewall. I can now get to my oil filter easily by reaching from the top, and if I ever develop an oil leak by the oil feed tee, I can probably fix it without removing the intake manifold again. So overall, it's a good mod.. even without the power gains

FWIW, I noticed a decent decrease in low-end torque, but a pretty high increase in power in the upper-RPM range. This IM shifted my peak torque to around 4000 RPM instead of the typical 3500 RPM and I no longer have that "plateau" of power after 6000 RPM so I make peak horsepower at 6500 RPM now. Because of the auto, I'm not sure how well you are going to be able to take advantage of this.

KrayzieFox · Mar 18, 2009

magnumP5 said:
FWIW, I noticed a decent decrease in low-end torque, but a pretty high increase in power in the upper-RPM range. This IM shifted my peak torque to around 4000 RPM instead of the typical 3500 RPM and I no longer have that "plateau" of power after 6000 RPM so I make peak horsepower at 6500 RPM now. Because of the auto, I'm not sure how well you are going to be able to take advantage of this.

I honestly noticed zero different overall. No decrease in low, no increase in high. I guess the automatic transmission offsets all effects of this manifold.

KrayzieFox · Mar 18, 2009

Got a CEL today after 30 miles. I'm guessing either EGR (most likely.. cuz its plugged off) or possibly the VTCS/VICS.

magnumP5 · Mar 18, 2009

KrayzieFox said:
Got a CEL today after 30 miles. I'm guessing either EGR (most likely.. cuz its plugged off) or possibly the VTCS/VICS.

As long as you left the VTCS/VICS solenoids plugged in (they don't have to have any vacuum lines running to them) it's almost certainly due to the plugged EGR tube.

KrayzieFox · Mar 18, 2009

I have them plugged in, and vacuum hoses running from one to the other.. so they're pretty much capped off. I kinda figured it was the EGR deal.. I'll go check later today.

KrayzieFox · Mar 19, 2009

magnumP5 said:
As long as you left the VTCS/VICS solenoids plugged in (they don't have to have any vacuum lines running to them) it's almost certainly due to the plugged EGR tube.

+1

P0401 - Insufficient EGR flow :'(

MSpeedFreak03 · Mar 19, 2009

wow nice to know about the intake manifold, i think i will just get the one off PG though

626 IM EGR help

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