How To: EGR Removal and Cleaning for Rough Idle Fix

[paperthin]

EGR Cleaned

I just feel like sharing my thoughts and experience.

I have to say that this is a good forum. It has saved me many trips to the mechanic and thus $$. I have a 98 Protege 1.8L with 285kms on it. It really runs very well. It is always reliable and I will be almost sad to give it up.

Anyway...I removed my EGR valve for the first time this past weekend @ 285kms on it. I feel as though have not needed to until now. I did it mostly for the challenge. I had to remove my battery and air intake to gain access. I also and to play with some coolant hosing in order to get access to the two 12m bolts holding that thing on. Once off i spent about 2 hours with a small wire brush manually cleaning it. There was a lot of carbon dust consistently coming out of that casing. I did not use oil or soak the thing because I felt that it would be the tackiness from such a product that could encourage more matter stick in the valve itself in the future. I did buy a new gasket for $8 not knowing if I needed it. I used it but I am not entirely positive that I needed to....I think I could have reused the gasket....at least once more.

Before I cleaned it my car had erratic rpm almost to the point of stalling whenever i would approach a stop sign or stop light. Now my car is running smooth. I have no idea how long it will last but I am happy.

 

[hopeful]

mine wont unstick, what should I do? This is the 2nd or 3rd time im cleaning it. Its been off my car fora few weeks now, i've left it to soak in castrol super clean, WD40, Carb Cleaner, and now ATF.

Im sorta being lazy with it cos my car needs a new engine soon, but it would still be nice to get this thing back in, any ideas?

 

[SoonP5ismine]

mine wont unstick, what should I do? This is the 2nd or 3rd time im cleaning it. Its been off my car fora few weeks now, i've left it to soak in castrol super clean, WD40, Carb Cleaner, and now ATF.

Im sorta being lazy with it cos my car needs a new engine soon, but it would still be nice to get this thing back in, any ideas?

assuming you have the same egr valve as mine (for non turbo protege 2003)
you can order a new one and have it shipped. when mine died in 06 this is the best deal i found read this post http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2643171&postcount=263

 

[mgerst1]

subbin

 

[imola.zhp]

mine wont unstick, what should I do? This is the 2nd or 3rd time im cleaning it. Its been off my car fora few weeks now, i've left it to soak in castrol super clean, WD40, Carb Cleaner, and now ATF.

Im sorta being lazy with it cos my car needs a new engine soon, but it would still be nice to get this thing back in, any ideas?

Replace with new?

You can order one from just about any auto-parts store...

Replace with used?

Search (FS) forums or local junk yards...

Good Luck!

 

[Nick&kari]

Running rough @ idle

Good day, seems i have ran into a problem, I have a 2001 mazda protege es 2.0, the other week I had almost run my gas tank dry, didn't run out of feul but came very close. Well I filled up, and now my car is running like a bag of s#*t. It wants to stall when i come to a complete stop, has problems starting, and it idles between 0-1400 rmp, and lower when i push the clutch in, and the brakes seem not to work properly when rpms are low. Now i have done a little research and found that it maybe my EGR. Any kind of assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Nick

 

[mgerst1]

did it suck up sediment in gas tank? were they filling the underground tanks when you were filling up? try running some seafoam through the gas tank and see if it helps, if not i would try the egr cleaning

 

[vel]

mine wont unstick, what should I do? This is the 2nd or 3rd time im cleaning it. Its been off my car fora few weeks now, i've left it to soak in castrol super clean, WD40, Carb Cleaner, and now ATF.

Im sorta being lazy with it cos my car needs a new engine soon, but it would still be nice to get this thing back in, any ideas?

you mean the screw, mine was stuck too then screw started to strip so i used a small vice grip to grab the screw and turn it and not strip the head of the screw any further.

 

[808MP5]

darn egr problems... glad i don't have them anymore... im not even using it... its hooked up and everything but i took the tube and bent it a few times to block it off... no problems idling at all

 

[Omar MSP]

how the heck did yall get yours out? i tried to do mines today, the bolts sit in a unreachable position. and even if i get it, space is too tight to turn the ratchet...

sooo, how did you guys do yours?

 

[Not Jo3L]

Lol I have the same exact problem. I still havent gotten mine off, so I think I am going to take off the whole intake manifold.

 

[mgerst1]

so on the msp the throttle body is located where the intercooler cold pipe goes into the intake manifold? i ask cause i want to clean the egr and the throttle body, also on all throttle body cleaners i have seen it says not to use if you have a turbo, so what the hell do I use?

 

[speed1016]

I cleaned mine yeasterday. I used a stubby 1/4 rachet. And cleaned it with some brake cleaner. Runs great, and like the first post, total time 30 mins tops

 

[mgerst1]

what is the normal rpm at idle for the msp? mine is at 800 and dips to 200. i know part of the problem is the egr but i thought that caused it to dip from 1100 to 200 not start it low and bounce lower. im worried the egr might not be the only problem. can you use throttle body cleaner on the msp or will it put all that s*** into the turbo?

 

[speed1016]

Mine was going from 750 down to 300-400. Im sitting at around 550-600 now. Big change for me. I wouldnt use throttle body cleaner. Just go to autozone and pay 2.99 for brake cleaner just incase

 

[mgerst1]

I have brake cleaner already so ill just use that

 

[MarvinM02]

I know that we give dealerships a hard time, but after a month with code p0401 and all the almost stalling issues and cleaning the egr, I went to my dealership in canada, told them after researching on the net and the code I was getting, that I thought the egr was still under warranty (2002 P5). The service manager looked up my vin, said yes it's still under a 7 year warranty, the part is in stock and I got my appointment for thursday. No hassles. Pass this on to any Canadian 2002/03 protege owners with 2.0 engine. PM me if you have any questions. I'll update after appointment

 

[red95_240sx]

brake cleaner doesnt do alot, that stuff comes off better if u leave it dry and brush it.

 

[MarvinM02]

Just got car back. Dealership replaced egr valve and gasket under warranty. No hassles, although he did try to push their 59.95 oil change lol.

 

[goodfornothing]

I just cleaned mine out yesterday but I wasn't able to take out the 4 screws that connect the solenoid and the valve together. I ended up stripping three of them. So I just sprayed carb cleaner into the holes. It didn't really do much, even though my car didn't idle extremely rough, but I think it's because I didn't clean it well enough.

Is there anyway to remove the stripped screws?