Today my car was being borrowed when the maintinance light came on. She took my car to tuffy who is now holding it saying it needs a $400 dollar EGR Valve replaced. I think this is BS. What should I do?

 

It is BS. Get your car back and get some carb cleaner. Clean the EGR valve yourself or get a mechanic to do it.

 

I didn't get to see the car before it was put into the shop. She claimed it was making a hissing noise. I am figuring that it popped off then. Is it located on the intake? I need to get my car back tomarrow morning and look myself. If they have the parts ordered and I am still stuck on the price of the parts, is it anyharder than other cars? I done a EGR valve myself on my Tahoe. Needless to say I have been hotheaded all day thanks to this.

 

Pay the check out time to the repair shop and take your car back!!!! Depending on what year your RL is...It may be covered under a warranty for the emissions. If your RL is a 96 or 97, then there is additional coverage on it for 14 years or 150,000 miles for the delivery date. There may also be an outstanding emissions tune up available under the same warranty extension. CHECK WITH THE DEALER!!! You may not have to pay for anything diag from the aftermarket shop.

 

Thanks for the help. I will keep you posted how it goes.

 

This is a 99 RL by the way 118K miles on it.

 

I just got it back! $75 for labor on a code read, WTF? Anywhays I am trying to locate the EGR, this is waaaayyyyyy different than my Tahoe, and Vette to work on! I can hardly find the valve covers on this thing!

 

It is on the passenger rear side of the engine. Accessable from the top. You have to take off the strut tower brace to get to it. I've heard that the EGR is usually not the problem but instead the valve is working fine but the flow through the valve isnt because the exhaust passeges are clogged up somewhere else. I'm trying to find info on that for my own problem right now!

 

It worked great after a good spray with carb cleaner, and unpluging the battery to reset the system. The light is now out! It cost me almost nothing to do!

 

Here's some extra info. P0401 is EGR flow. A non-functioning EGR valve should set a different code (P1491, P1498).

The insufficient flow is based on MAP readings (and maybe some other sensor readings too). The MAP flow will change if the EGR is open or closed. If the MAP flow doesnt change by a set amount as the EGR opens or closes it says P0401 insufficient flow. So you can't really trick it into not setting a code.

From what I can tell it will not set the code unless you decelerate from 55+mph for 4 seconds with the throttle at 0%. So the code may not set again if you never drive over 55. (That's probably why mine was off for weeks of local grocery getting then suddenly came on again after a highway trip).

And read this if it will let me link it. /forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20766&d=1126810088


Excellent info from that link if it doesnt link or work right.

The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system reduces oxides of nitrogen (NOx). NOx is generated by high combustion tem-
peratures. The EGR system lowers peak combustion temperature by recirculating exhaust gas into the air/fuel mixture, thus
reducing NOx. The manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor detects the intake manifold pressure (vacuum) and the
powertrain control module (PCM) determines if the amount of exhaust gas recirculation is sufficient. When starting to decel-
erate with the throttle valve closed, the EGR valve is closed. If the intake manifold pressure changes only slightly while the
EGR valve opens fully and closes again within a specified time period, a malfunction is detected and a DTC is stored.


Driving Pattern to set code P0401
1. Start the engine. Hold the engine at 3,000 rpm with no load (in park or neutral) until the radiator fan comes on.
2. Drive the vehicle at a speed between 25 - 55 mph (40 - 88 km/h) for at least 5 minutes.
3. Then, drive at a steady speed of 55 - 75 mph (88 - 120 km/h) for at least 5 seconds.
4. Decelerate with the throttle valve fully closed for at least 4 seconds.

 

Wow I am not that high speed on code reading. I didn't even read the code. I was just told by the car repair shop I had a bad EGR and it was going to cost me $490 after parts and labor. I considered that complete BS. I did the carb cleaner trick, and unpluged the battery to reset the system, and the light is off now. I even had it on the highway today. No problems at all. It made a puff of dark smoke and all is well. I did use a nylon gun cleaning toothbrush to clean it also. It does idle just a tad lower now. Thanks for all the help guys! I love my 99 RL so much I got another! I now have a 99 Green RL, and a 04 Black RL. I plan on getting the new style when it comes out! A local honda racing team driver tells me it is going to be awesome!!!! RL's are awesome!!!