Well since my spark plug installation went well, I decided to go ahead and do the EGR Valve myself. Its right in the front of the engine bay, and pretty accessable. The only problem is I cant find it on this site..... http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...A4AT&catcgry5=

I want to order it online, instead of the dealer, cause I'm sure they'd try and rip me off. Does anyone know whats involved with replacing it? Theres no fluids inside or anything right?

 

Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve...no fluids just exhaust.

1. Take off plastic engine shield
2. Unplug EGR
3. Unscrew two nuts holding it on, and replace..

Don't have to do now, but will eventually half to

Take off upper intake manifold, and take a small drill bit and scrape out as much of the gunk from the EGR port as you can. The port is pretty small. You can just follow it from the EGR to find out where it is. DO NOT LET ANY METAL SHAVING STAY IN THE INTAKE, OR GET INTO THE PORTS. Make sure everything is clean before reinstall.

If you need any help, I am sure I live close by, just PM me and I can meet up..

 

the 99 design of the intake is a little different from the 00+ but cleaning is simple, even for a novice

 

Forgive my stupidity.... but what the hell is the intake manifold? Is this part of it????

 

OK, well after doing some research... I guess the big metal plate covering the cylinders is the intake manifold. Are you talking about taking that top off?? I really do need to get in there and clean that shit, and I want to do it tomorrow.

 

Im sure fsttyms1 is itching to post his pictures of cleaning his...?

 

I hope to hell he is!

 

Yeah thats it...take it off...turn it upside down, and you will see a small dirty ass port...clean that

 

Shit... I just looked online... New EGR costs $170. I'd rather try to clean it first. I need to get this done, plus that solenoid switch under the fuel tank before march so I can pass emissions.

 

Is your engine light on?

 

yea... it sure is. I got a code from the EGR too.

 

yes thats the intake manifold (the upper piece) take that off and like speedr73 said clean the hole out and clean the intake out as good as possible. (disconect teh battery while doing this to help reset your computer)

 

most of the time it is not the egr valve not functioning when you get that fault code but it is actually the egr flow that is restricted by deposit. All you have to do is clean the passageway of exhaust gas and you will have no more check engine light. My RL used to have fault code relating to egr and all I had to do is remove the intake manifold and clean the hole at the rear part of the intake coming from the egr valve. The hole is blocked by carbon deposits. I did a reset and up to now I didn't have no more check engine light.

 

PICTURES!!!

 

the 99 and 00 are different in design. theis is the 2000
you can really see the build up and deposits in the first pic



after

 

good work fsttyms1...I knew you would come though! When you clean that, just use some carbon remover...or what?

 

yes carb cleaner in a Spray can, and some pipe cleaner scrub brushes (old tooth brushes work ok on the flat spots, the round pipe cleaners work great on the ports (they can be found in all sorts of different sizes)

 

Was there some kind of warning in a different post about being wary of spraying various sensors with carb cleaner? Is that true?

Jung

 

I think that was about cleaning out the throttle body...have to watch out for the sensors and shit in there... I cant really remember.

 

the areas you clean out have no sensors so there is nothing to worry about.

 

The throttle body has passages to sensors which you should remove if you clean it out with carb cleaner. The hidden pockets will cause idle problems if fluid is left in there.

In my case I started by cleaning out the throttle body since it was sticking. Then I progressed by cleaning out the upper intake manifold and finally the lower intake manifold.

After putting everything back together I reset the PCM. With 87K miles my Acura runs and idles like new.

 

hmmmm I may do that sometime then, sounds pretty easy and a worthwhile thing to do

 

the throttle body doesnt really need cleaning. its black but not causing problems, that can just be cleaned with light spraying... the big area is in the intake. thats what really needs cleaning.

 

why do people clean it? just maintanance wise or does it free up some hp?

isnt there some kinda spray u can spray in the throttle body while the car is on and it cleans the intake manifold and cleans out all that shit and it comes out the exhaust??

 

Here's my story... I ended up cleaning out all this myself on my 1999 TL. When I removed the manifold, my EGR port was 90% clogged. I cleaned out everything in the manifold with throttle body cleaner and when I put everything back together, I had a couple of problems.

The first problem is my power steering. When I turn my steering wheel, it makes a whining noise and it is pretty noticable. I know for a fact that my car did not make that noise before I started messing with it. I drove 100 miles before I took apart the manifold and I would have definately heard that noise if it was there before.

The second problem is I have this LOUD rattle from my dashboard area and I cannot for the life of me find out where it is coming from. I noticed that the noise is only there at certain RPMs. Mainly when the car is idling. If I stick my head in the engine compartment to try and find out where it is coming from, the engine noise makes it difficult to hear the rattle.

The job seemed pretty easy so I don't know what I have done wrong.

I'm out of the country at the moment but when I get back, I am going to have to suck it up and pay the dealer whatever they want to fix this problem.

The question I have is should I tell the dealer what I tried to do when I take it to them or do I just say that my car is making noises? I figure since my car is out of warranty, they will charge me a diagnosis fee. If I tell them what I did, they would know where to look as opposed to looking everywhere and taking twice as long to find the problem. On the other hand, they could justify charging me an arm and a leg since I tried to mess with the car and screwed it up.

What do you think?

 

have to say those problems you are saying shouldnt have anything to do with what you did...at all. But you dont have to tell them you did it if you dont want too...you did nothing wrong or anything

 

I cleaned my throttle body because it was sticking. The carbon had built up on the edges of the throttle plate and inside the throttle body. I even took off the throttle plate and gave it a good cleaning. When I was done it looked like a new throttle body.

I would recommend that anyone with a sticking throttle also look into cleaning out the intake manifold as well. Its like cleaning the entire bathroom instead of just the sink.

I believe the "spray" you are refering to is a fuel system cleaner that you pour into the gas tank and have it clean the fuel system (injectors fuel rail, etc.) This will not clean the throttle body on our TL's because there is no fuel going through the throttle body - only air. The fuel in injected into the lower intake manifold after the throttle body and before the cylinders.

 

the longer they take to fix the problem, the more youll pay
telling them what you did will make their job easier

they dont charge depending on how much they like you

 

The problems you are having have nothing to do with the work you did on the intake. unless you disconected something not even remotley related to the intake you couldnt have done any thing to cause it.

 

Are there more step-by-step pictures to show how to do this? I'm interested in getting this done even though there's no CEL light and the throttle isn't really sticking but just preventive maintenance. I saw the pictures fsttyms1 posted but no pictures of what exactly needs to be removed (screws, nuts, sensors, and the like). Thanks.

 

I assume its pretty obvious once you get in there, just take off what you need to...I mean I doubt there are any tricks - but Im with you, may be a worthwhile preventative maintenance

 

no im not talking about fuel injector cleaner, its a spray u spray into the TB.

 

Cleaning ur throttle body is not a good idea because it will take the special chemical at the throttle plate out. Carbon built up at throttle body is normal to all TL because of it engine design and chemical in fuel. The right way is to replace with a new one. Vehicle Warranty will cover 4 year and 50K miles. Some factory and aftermarket extended warranty will cover it also.

 

im tempted to clean the intake mani but scared

 

Yea, me too... I'd probably break a gasket, or seriously fuck something up. I'm lucky I was able to do the damn spark plugs myself.

 

hey you got to learn sometimes and get confidence in yourself - cleaning the intake manafold out looks like a very easy job if you take your time.

 

agreed. you cant be scared doing stuff like this. its very easy, just take your time and think things thru as you do it.

cleaning the upper manifold is about the easiest diy there is. its as easy as changing your plugs (if not easier)

 

the instructions i posted told what bolts and where to remove them. look at teh instructions and then go pop your hood you will see what bolts to remove 1st. then once those are removed you will see the 2nd set of bolts

 

I'll get around to it one of these days. I just dont want to break a gasket. I already di that to a head gasket, and I was able to get insurance to cover it since the stupid body shop didn't fix my radiator and my car kept overheating. Dumbass people in Alabama.... grrrrrrrr

 

there is a big difference between the head gasket and the upper intake manifold gasket. it comes apart very easy with out breaking or tearing