Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting gonna attack the EGR system this weekend, advice??

Originally posted by Terry Haines:

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Best is to take it right off.Sandblasting has been known to clear it with a hp wash after, most cases a new/later tube cures it....

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Not an easy operation to undertake with engine in car. Getting access to bottom nut nearly impossible and if you get it off, then getting it on again is a PITA. You can access from below (I did), but little space to swing wrench. Best tried from above with crowsfoot, removing coil pack to obtain visibility.

I removed mine at 60,000 miles, tube was as clean as a whistle.

If anyone wants to see if venturi is restricted I would suggest a small bottle brush or similar device be inserted from above. Due to bends in EGR-to-manifold tube, venturi not visible even when tube is removed.

p.s. Driver's front wheel on ramp gave sufficient clearance for this work.

Originally posted by Brandon Mendenhall:

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Can the entire egr be removed and the a plate put over the open spot? And crimp the hose? Just curious.

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No need to, simply pull EGR vacuum hose and seal it and the nipple on valve with tape.

This is not a recommendation, simply a how-to, since I believe performance will deteriorate without EGR system.

Well...so far so good. In the past everytime the OBD was reset the CE light would come back within 5 miles; I'm now at 15 with no light. After doing some exploratory work, here's a pic of what I found:



Holy plugged passages batman! These are the fabled 3 EGR passages that lead directly to the EGR valve, and obviously mine were completely plugged up. In fact it was so plugged up that I didn't even recognize the passages until I sprayed some Berrymans into the EGR passage behind the EGR valve itself & it started to ooze out the middle TB passage (the other two were 100% blocked.) And I also wouldn't have found all this buildup if I hadn't carefully removed the TB gasket. I spent the better part of an hour cleaning this up as well as digging out the rest of the passageway up into the UIM as best I could with Q-tips.

I also removed the EGR valve itself, clean/inspected it as well as most of the surrounding lines & the main EGR tube, and it all looked pretty good. Apparently when my local shop said "the EGR system looks really clean" they meant the actual valve, but in all honesty I would have never noticed these three passages unless I'd have either A. sprayed a bunch of carb cleaner into the main EGR passage like I did, or B. removed the TB gasket.

In any case, the CE has yet to return...hopefully this took care of the problem. I've also noticed that the bad sulfur smell I had under moderate/hard acceleration is gone too, guess my cats weren't bad after all

If the CE light comes back on I'll post up here, otherwise I'd say this problem is CLOSEFILE. And one last thing...if you do this little bit of maintainece, make SURE you get all the hoses hooked back up. A 2.5 will make some horrendous sucking noises and run like stale poop if you forget to hook up the PCV system

Thanks for the pic and post. BTW how many miles on the car?

Originally posted by Huntervf:

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Holy plugged passages batman! These are the fabled 3 EGR passages that lead directly to the EGR valve, and obviously mine were completely plugged up. In fact it was so plugged up that I didn't even recognize the passages until I sprayed some Berrymans into the EGR passage behind the EGR valve itself & it started to ooze out the middle TB passage (the other two were 100% blocked.) And I also wouldn't have found all this buildup if I hadn't carefully removed the TB gasket.

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All I can say about your message is AWESOME.

I also took off my TB this past weekend, but could not find the elusive EGR passage that everyone was talking about. If it weren't for your message, I would probably be replacing the EGR pipe in the near future.

Here is a picture of the UIM behind the TB on my car:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/37207779/47528989JLOiXi

I thought that those three areas at the front of the UIM opening were just indentations in the aluminum cast!

I can't tell you how thankful I am that you wrote your message. If I could figure out how to give you 5 stars I would.

Glad I was able to help out. I guess it just shows that if you want something right you gotta do it yourself. It kinda peeves me; my shop said everything was clean & thought I had a 'puter problem. I ALMOST went to the local Ford dealer for a diagnosis...good thing I decided to check things out on my own first. Ah well, I didn't pay my shop for their diagnosis anyway.

BTW, my 'tour is closing in on 97k.