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How to clean EGR valve

110K views 45 replies 28 participants last post by  BikeHelmet 
#1 ·
97 escort lx sport. recently got engine light on and read code P0401 :Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient Detected.

mostly problem come from EGR valve clog, so before you decide replace a new Egr valve or go to auto shop. try to clean EGR valve by yourself, all you need just carb cleaner( around $6) and tools. I am not mechanic and it's my first use tools to remove auto parts. with Jlongoria9 help I did. so happy, share my picture and experience here. Hope can help somebody.

1, remove negative baterry . locate EGR valve , see picture below , it connect with intake manifold.


2. Egr valve connect with a EGR tube and the tube conncet to exhaust manifold, on tube there are two hoses connect to a device mount on firewall .


3. we need take out EGR valve and clean it, so you need unfasten two bolts which secure EGR valve to intake manifold and two bolts which secure EGR tube to exhaust manifold. before you use tool to losent any bolt, disconnect two hoses first. use marker make sure you will remember how to connect if necessary or use my last picture as reference.



4. move air intake side make more room if necessary.


5. use 10 mm socket , ratchet and extent bar remove two bolts from EGR tube.



6. now remove two EGR valve bolts.


7. carefully take out EGR valve with EGR tube. then you can clean it and unfasten tube nut dispart EGR valve and EGR tube.



spray carb cleaner into EGR valve and check and clean tube
very importent thing is check intake manifold conncet with EGR valve hole make sure there is clean , some carb also deposit there. my EGR valve and EGR tube is ok but intake manifold got a lot of carb and clog flow.


after clean , my car get stable idle and engine light not come back so far.
 
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#2 ·
great write up, i think this should be a sticky :!: considering that most escort's\tracer's egr problems can be traced to clogged egr tube or egr ports 8)
i had the same problem with my 98 tracer and i spended over $350 in computer tests and parts and vacuum hoses and neither of those solved my problem. after i asked around ELBE told me to clean my egr tube (since he had the same problem) so i did, but my egr tube wasnt clogged what was clogged was the egr valve port on the intake manifold. if u guys r having egr problems i would suggest u try this out first instead of going to repair shops and end up spending money for parts/tests that u dont need :wink:

BTW, that last pic was done by me using my laptop 8) not bad ha?
 
#3 ·
Great writeup! However I would add that it would be good to check the valve itself to make sure it's not leaking vacuum before I bothered cleaning it. No sense in reusing it if the valve part is leaking vacuum. I am also wodnering if there are any other symptoms to look for, other than a code.


Also, please clean your engine! It's filthy. Espically that brake master cylinder.
 
#8 ·
My car's symptoms look like rough idling and less mileage and little bit loud engine, not stalling. I think clean it per year or two is a good idea . but you know what, my car is 97 and I bought it on 2002 , I used it for 4 year and it's my first time to clean it. :oops: I don't know if previous owen had clean it. by the way, I didn't replace fule filter for 4 years , is it time to replace it now ? how about drive belt? also need change ? :oops:
 
#9 ·
tommyliuca said:
My car's symptoms look like rough idling and less mileage and little bit loud engine, not stalling. I think clean it per year or two is a good idea . but you know what, my car is 97 and I bought it on 2002 , I used it for 4 year and it's my first time to clean it. :oops: I don't know if previous owen had clean it. by the way, I didn't replace fule filter for 4 years , is it time to replace it now ? how about drive belt? also need change ? :oops:
I bought the car new in October 1995, and have 143,000 miles on it. Perhaps I should clean the EGR tube? I have had drive belts outlast the engine. The only belt you usually ever need to change is the timing belt.
 
#11 ·
I have a 93 auto station wagon, and I think I want to clean this port before I take it to the mechanic, but the pictures of my engine compartment don't look the same so I'm not sure where the EGR valve is - any help here?

Also, when you refer to a "wire" to clean the port - does this just mean like a straightened wire hanger?
 
#12 ·
chuckin said:
I have a 93 auto station wagon, and I think I want to clean this port before I take it to the mechanic, but the pictures of my engine compartment don't look the same so I'm not sure where the EGR valve is - any help here?

Also, when you refer to a "wire" to clean the port - does this just mean like a straightened wire hanger?
any type of wire will work :p
the 93 escorts are alittle different in design, but look for the egr valve (it should be on ur intake manifold. if im not mistaken it should be close to ur battery, but its mounted in a vertical manner and not horizontal (like SPI's)
 
#15 ·
zzyzzx said:
jlongoria9 said:
the tube doesnt really get clogged, what does is the egr port. where the egr valve meets the intake manifold ;)
Do older Escorts even have this? I mean I don't have OBDII in my 1995LX. I'm specifically referring tot he two smaller tubes that go to the sensor that you referred to.
i dont know about that, but i would assume that it doesnt have them because the sensor (DPFE) is used to tell the computer if theres an excess or insufficient flow in the EGR system. assuming that u dont have obd-2 then i think u proly dont have it
 
#17 ·
That 93' auto wagon that was sitting around our yard for a month had no EGR but I have seen pics of other 93's that did have it. I guess 93 had a half-year.
 
#37 ·
The photos in this posting show as broken links on 1/12/15. Below are some replacements of what they look like.

Before cleaning port in manifold


EGR port after cleaning
 
#20 ·
EGR cleaning

Great write up, i did the same thing but a week or so later got the code a gain. I had the car running one day and heard a fluddering noise that was coming from the airbox, it turns out that its the sound that the EGR is making while opening and closeing. So i will be buying an EGR soon.
 
#22 ·
can someone draw me a line for dpfe to egr thats slightly more clear (i need to be 100% correct)

on the egr metal pipe, we have a left (lower hose) when facing it from the drivers side... and a right, (higher metal outlet, to vac hose)... at the right/top of this metal pipe.

these two hoses (left/bottom and top/right) then go to two more metal hoses (one each)... on the DPFE sensor.

this is where i get confused. which one goes to which? i need a clear pic of the dpfe traced back to top (right) metal outlet on metal egr valve tube... (the ones mentioned in paragraph 3)...

that would be super clear for me. if you could take a real picture then trace it. i'm confused which is top/bottom or left/right with the dpfe...

how about... passanger side(dpfe hose) goes to top/right(egr side), and driver side(dpfe hose #2) goes to bottom/left(egr side)

if this is the case then... using his diagrams is this true?

1. ref= top/right(egr) and connects to left/passanger(dpfe side) aka REF side or the REF hose in the pic

2. left/bottom (egr) and connects to right/driver (dpfe side) aka HIGH

3. the REF hose on both ends is farther away (towards passanger side)? same as #1
4. the HIGH hose on both ends is closer to you (towards driver side)? same as #2
 
#23 ·
this is the correct way:



if u were to grab the egr tube from the valve and go down, the first fitting would go to the REF on the DPFE sensor and the one after it would go to the HI port. the DPFE sensor has the ports labeled so u shouldn't have a problem
 
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