Hitlayers

I went to autozone about a week ago because of my check engine light and found out it was due to my EGR valve being dirty, he said from cheap gasoline, and recommended I get a bottle of Chevron Techron complete fuel system cleaner, since I just got the car about 2 weeks ago not sure if the previous owner was using cheap gas or not I've been use Hess premium, my check engine light went off for a week and I thought the chevron had acutually worked and cleaned my EGR valve, but today it came back on.

Any suggestions on what I should do next? Possibly clean the EGR valve myself...

Not sure

sbuswell

search for DIY's there is plenty of them and it's not hard to do.

Hitlayers

OK, cool I'll do that, thanx......

fsttyms1

here ya go. i did this awhile ago


Here is the breif diy i did on it



this one still has a few pics left
Post #4
http://www.acurainspired.com/forums/...showtopic=4003
start off by getting 3 or so cans of SPRAY carb cleaner and acouple small scrub brushes.
if your engine is any thing like the 2nd gen
baisicly you take the plastic engine cover off 4 10-mm bolts. then disconect the battery. they disconect the rubber hose that goes from the air box to the throttle body. continue to unplg any thing that goes to the intake (any plugins hoses) then there are 10 10mm bolts on the top plate (the part that sticks up thru the plastic engine cover) oull that straight up being carefull to not damage teh gasket. then there are like 8 bolts (12mm i think, i cant remember off the top of my head) then you are able to pull the upper part of the intake manifold off (double check before you pull straight up that every thing is disconected) then get your self a nice place to work and start cleaning. (stick a bag over the TB before you hose every thing down like in my pic to be safe)
it sounds like alot but its really easy should take about a hr to do

Hitlayers

Great DIY instructions, but I work in the financial field and plus just got this car so I would probably be a little hesitant to do this, is there any other treatments I could put in my car to clear up this problem, or is it really not as difficult as it seems????

fsttyms1

There is nothing you can put in as far as a treatment. Its not as hard as it seems. You dont have to be in the auto field to do it. Im not. If you have simple metric hand tools a novice could do it in 2hrs or less. Many have. its fairly straight forward once you look at things.

sbuswell

I agree it is much easier than you making it out to be.

xanctus

mamamia, I didn't know that Acura TL has an EGR problem just like many Diesel cars on VWs...

fsttyms1

Not that big of a problem on the acura

xanctus

well good to hear that...I begin to dislike my TDi nowdays...

fsttyms1

the higher the mileage the more likely its to happen. it doesnt make the car undriveable either.

xanctus

well I like the fact that diesel can save lots of $$$ on the gasoline bills, but I just can't stand the electrical things that has been happening in my vw.
well hopefully I can go back to honda/acura life again.

loud_whispers

guys..please..just stop..

don't take your Acura to autozone for a check engine light.
dont spray any fuel system cleaner in your car. especially with the words "chevron".

The code is probably a P0401- EGR VALVE LIFT INSUFFICIENT.

you need to replace the Egr valve and depending on what year you have..the intake plenum needs to be cleaned with a steel sleeve installed to re-inforce the egr port.

your fuel cleaner never worked...when the code was cleared it stayed off until the ECU ran through each readiness code. EGR codes, once cleared or reset..will stay off for about a week.

fsttyms1

Well these instructions work.( because its exactly what a acura mechanic did) and no one said to spray it in the car. the instructions are for removing and cleaning the IM for the clogged ports. Hasnt been a single issue from a single person in here from doing it and there have been atleast 100 that have done it in the last year

loud_whispers

Ok and what i said involves you in what way?
Your instructions seemed to be on point. But for 99' TL's a steel sleeve is installed to the EGR port to prevent future clogging. May also be for the 00' TL's im not sure the exact years. i know the 99 TL's get them. Also The EGR valve itself should be replaced. If the port inside the plenum is clogged, so is the EGR valve.

The fuel system cleaner i said not to use was the chevron techron crap he had put in it.. Acura has it's own method of fuel injection cleaning.

fsttyms1

Not trying to fight. I thought you were directing your coment on not spraying any thing in the engine cause i said to get acouple spray cans of cleaner.

sbuswell

so what is Acura's method for cleaning injectors and EGR port/valve?

loud_whispers

The EGR port cleaning is "fairly" well explained in fstty's article. Few things are left out.

The fuel injection service is extensive and i am definitely not typing the whole procedure on here. One of the 3 steps is throttle cleaning which fstty also describes. Maybe if i feel like it sometime i'll type up the article. It's a very good service and highly effective cleaning method.

honda_inspire99

I know the TL's are more of a luxury car why as soon as someon's car has a problem the first word is take it to the dealer, i mean the TL is like every other Honda with time u will know your way around it. I have two integras and their engine and the TL is just about the same to me, if u know anything about one honda engine chances are u know about most ofl the other ones. Fsttyms1 seems to be a pretty knowledgable guy who has helped me out with a couple of questions already since i've been on here.

sbuswell

most honda engine are very easy to work on yourself. I do most everything myself but delicate things like a crank pulley for instance. Major parts of your engine that are estential to your car should really be handled by someone very knowledgable and if you are confident you can do it yourself then you shoudl bring it to someone like that, like a dealer.

loud_whispers

Just so you know.. Autozone can only check generic DTC's(diagnostic trouble codes).. if there's a problem in the idle air control system..the code will come up "idle control/map sensor malfunction" or something of that sort as a generic code.. Our honda scanners give precise codes that are stored in your ECU and give us precise places to look for faults in your vehicle.

theres a reason that the autozone scanner costs 200$ and our honda scanner is over $5000..

think about that..

good luck.

03CoupeV6

Autozone is still a great place to start... if it's a common code you won't pay a dime to diagnose it. I'll take my cars there first, if the code they reveal is unhelpful, then I'll take it to a dealer to have it read with the Honda version.

loud_whispers

but every generic code could be unhelpful because it only reads which system in the car has a malfunction..not the part or which part is getting low or high voltage or if theres even a short to ground in the wiring.

Although, Autozone is free..;P

can't beat free, but waste of time sometimes? yeah..

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

My $100 Actron scanner has properly diagnosed every DTC for me. Considering what Acura charges for simple diagnoses, I'll stick with mine.

YRMV

sbuswell

I have cleaned my TB, TB cables, IM and EGR port myself when I put on my thermoblok spacers. It is very easy. I want to know how to clean my fuel injectors other than running some fuel system cleaner. Please point me to the article you are mentioning.