Savage57

New to the site, but wow, what a resource and community.

Vanilla daily driver with 146K miles.

Found the EGR fix tied to the Spacerblock DIY (thanks). Performed EGR port clean only as noted, used SIX!!! cans of TB cleaner - plenum spotless, wire brushed EGR port in plenum, cleaner blew through and came out intake ports.

Noticed a lot of carbon build up in lower intake manifold where the upper and lower EGR ports on the 2 manifolds mate and cleaned out as best I could with thin dowels, cloths etc.

Checked EGR valve, very clean, re-installed.

Car drove great afterwards, then 2 days later check engine light - TCS lights. Having code checked today.

Q: If the port on the LOWER intake manifold is also clogged, will that trigger another 0401 code and if so, does anyone know what the fix is for clearing that port? Curious also as to where that lower port leads and if I can use cleaner in that?

Q2: Dealer quoted $550, Acura/Honda specialty shop quoted $480 to fix EGR port 0401 code - seems way high for the work. Anyone have a feel for what it should be?

(I think they should call it the EGArrrgghh! port.)

Thanks

01tl4tl

most people poke what they can free on the lower port and suck it out with the shop vac
If some falls down - thats life

Did you run a wire rod/coat hanger thru the inner length of the manifold
from the egr valve ports-thru to the opposite end and out the other port?

clear the ECU for fun and drive it some more = pull the CLOCK fuse on passenger end of dash for a minute

ck all connections, hoses and clamps again
did you remove the TB and clean iacv while it was off the car?

cleaned egr valve ports? and lube its arm

Savage57

Thanks for the reply, here's where I'm at in regards to some of the things you brought up:

1. Probably need to hit the EGR port in the lower manifold again. Curious if you know where that port terminates, especially in regard to spraying/blowing carbon crud out or using any solvent. Afraid of "washing" oil off internal components or having the hard, chunky stuff mess something up in the valve train if that's where the LIM port ends up.

2. Didn't coat hanger the plenum EGR port, but did run a narrow baby bottle brush what I thought was all the way through it. Was able to get a steady flow of TB cleaner cascading out the other manifold ports while I was spraying through the EGR port, so I assumed that was cleared.

3. While doing this job, pulled the neg. batt cable. Once the check engine TCS lights came on a couple days later, I pulled the clock fuse for a minute, but it didn't rectify the problem.

4. Had the TB off, cleaned the throat and throttle plate thoroughly, but didn't specifically clean the IACV (intake air control valve??). Is the IACV the large chamber on the bottom of the TB?

5. EGR valve looked very clean, just little carbon dust inside and the base port was clean.

As to the rest, pretty AR about the little stuff, but I'll check everything again. The tough part of this is that the car runs great now, just can't get the @^%#! light to shut off. Probably going to have to unzip everything again, pull everything apart and check it with a fine tooth comb.

Couple of other questions for you since you seem to have a pretty solid command of this process.

Q: Is there any chance that pulling the large ECM fuse under the hood would help re-set the ECM and the associated OBD code?

Q2: Do you know of anyplace where there's a schematic of the upper and lower manifolds so I can trace that lower passage?

As always, thanks for the reply and any assist's.

fsttyms1

The lower passage leads to the egr itself. It is to the front and down of the tb mointed off the front head.
Did you ever get the code read to see what it was? Pulling the clock backup fuse is the best way to reset the ecu. Nothing will do a better job. I will post pics of the 99 im and factory service cleaning when i get home later today

victus1

Make sure you don't have the upper manifold gasket upside down. It fits both ways, but it will block some passages. Some people have made this mistake and got codes.

01tl4tl

just what I was thinking
that top gasket is easy to invert and blocks a critical port
Match it to the manifolds bottem- not the block

the clock fuse controls the secret backup power to the ECU
if you pull the regular ecu fuse it can take 45 minutes to power down and clear codes
we like the instant method,, and not having to input the radio security code

fsttyms1

He has a 99 they don't have an upper cover, so there isn't a gasket to put on wrong.

Savage57

Second code came up as 0401 again, insufficient EGR flow - yaddy, yadda. Have pulled clock fuse twice for 1 minute each time, check engine light remains.

Probably have to go in again and troubleshoot.

Really curious as to whether I can go in a clean out that EGR port in the lower intake manifold with TB cleaner without messing anything up.

Any other "gremlins" on this EGR fix any of you all know about? Seems like a genuine engineering FUBAR at this point.

Also recall seeing a post a few weeks ago about the IACV and cleaning. Anyone have/know where the link is?

Thanks.

01tl4tl

use search feature

fsttyms1

Take the EGR off and clean the port out in the lower. You wont screw anything up. IF its not plugged its highly probable that the EGR itself is defective.

Here is the 99 EGR cleaning PDF
http://www.filedropper.com/99egrportcleaning

smartypants

I had a "insufficient egr valve lift" error, which translates into the egr valve was unable to open to what the ECU wanted.

After cleaning all journals and ports several times, I finally replaced the egr valve and it has never returned. I also ran the low & high voltage tests and got the valve to respond as expected yet it still caused the error.

In my view, change out the valve and see what happens. The worst thing that could happen is that you have to return the part. Replacing the valve is two nuts and a connector.

Best of luck.