How To: EGR Removal and Cleaning for Rough Idle Fix

Thanks for the how-to.
I cleaned my EGR valve and it solved my almost stalling issues at idle.

I cleaned it the first time with tons of Carb cleaner and a brush... but it didn't solve it.
Only then I realized that the valve was probably stuck and I never checked it...
so I took it off again and when I pushed the valve in it just stuck open until I pulled it back. I cleaned the hell out of it with more carb cleaner and PB blaster while pushing the valve in and out until it would close on it's own and move pretty smoothly. Lubed it up with some oil and put it back. It's been perfect since.
 
I have auto p5.
recently, I was having problem with misfiring and found out that one of coil pack was malfunctioning. replaced the coil pack, plugs, and wires today and test drove them, it was great until my car stalled when I was at stop sign.
I was checking out the idle, it was really low, it stays on 500 rpm and drops close to 100rpm.
I guess it's time for me to clean EGR valve and PCV valve.
I will let u know if this solves my low idle problem

Update ***
Replaced the PCV valve
Cleaned the EGR valve but I don't think mine can be cleaned...there were alot of carbons build up in there(70000miles on my car) it was hard to remove them.
Seafoamed fue tank...no luck
I did everything but still gives me low idle...
let me show you guys picture... I think it's pretty low..
 

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Chris, that's actually where the idler is set for the automatic. I asked my dealer about this as well - 600-800 rpm idle is the norm for auto's after being warmed up.
 
Lord_Zath said:
Chris, that's actually where the idler is set for the automatic. I asked my dealer about this as well - 600-800 rpm idle is the norm for auto's after being warmed up.
Click to expand...

really? that relieves me little..but my rpm is at about that level when it's parked and when it's in drive mode it drops 1 line below.
:( if it was just low idle then I wouldn't really mind but my engine tried to stall when I was at parking lot and when I was at stop sign...
do you know if EGR valve is covered under emission warranty(80k)? and how do you read rpm below 1K?
 
Bijou-MP5 said:
really? that relieves me little..but my rpm is at about that level when it's parked and when it's in drive mode it drops 1 line below.
:( if it was just low idle then I wouldn't really mind but my engine tried to stall when I was at parking lot and when I was at stop sign...
do you know if EGR valve is covered under emission warranty(80k)? and how do you read rpm below 1K?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the answer to that question. I would think since it's part of the emissions system that it was...

My idle is lower with the car in drive than with the car sitting in park as well. If it's trying to die, I would seriously get that EGR valve looked at.
 
Lord_Zath said:
I'm not sure about the answer to that question. I would think since it's part of the emissions system that it was...

My idle is lower with the car in drive than with the car sitting in park as well. If it's trying to die, I would seriously get that EGR valve looked at.
Click to expand...

thanks, I will be in chicago this week and probably drop the car at dealer for egr replacement(any recommendation for dealer?).
btw, when I looked at my egr valve, two holes were all black and one of them were covered with about 1/6 of carbon stuff. but I couldn't get rid of all of them.
 
Lord_Zath said:
Chris, that's actually where the idler is set for the automatic. I asked my dealer about this as well - 600-800 rpm idle is the norm for auto's after being warmed up.
Click to expand...

But 500-600 on a manual tranny car... and if I rev it when the RPMs drop they drop too low and it stalls.

*crosses fingers* it hasn't done it in the past week after re-cleaning the EGR.
 
Great write up- I'll be doing this tonight and will post results afterwards. (60,800 miles on car-this will be the first cleaning) My symptoms are spot on with most of this thread.
Thanks Britt :)
 
scott42 said:
Great write up- I'll be doing this tonight and will post results afterwards. (60,800 miles on car-this will be the first cleaning) My symptoms are spot on with most of this thread.
Thanks Britt :)
Click to expand...

Is your idle rough? If it's still smooth it might not be worth doing. Mine was smooth at 66k before I cleaned it. It's a simple job but that doesn't mean it's easy. The bolts are sorta a pain in the ass to get to.

If you go ahead and do it make sure you spray down the 4 screws holding the two pieces together with PB blaster. I ended up having to use vice grips on 3 of them because they stripped so easily.
 
*rod roddy from the price is right voice* "A New CAR!"

It worked and worked well. Took around an hour from popping the hood to starting back up with 2 people (one holding light)
Symptoms prior to taking anything apart:
-poor idle, low, weak, rough
-poor acceleration, dropping rpms @ shifts
-terrible mileage (approx <20mpg)

What we saw when we opened it up:
-spring completely dry and getting stuck in either up or down position
-what looked like awful corrosion (like a decintigrated (sp?) gasket) around the base of the spring, but i figure is the carbon buildup referenced here
>>cleaned the crap, lubed the spring, reset ecu - didn't see too much 'stuff' in any of the tubes, just surrounding the spring
Results:
-better, VERY stable idle
-faster/smoother/quieter throttle response
-greatly improved mileage (I think I got about 20-30 miles out of the last quarter tank before doing this)
-smoother, more powerful acceleration

Another donation for the forum is in order!
 
122 Vega said:
EGR is covered under an extended emissions warranty. If it is bad then put it back together and go get a new one. They apparently were on backorder for awhile because they were being replaced so often.

Britt
Click to expand...

I tried to clean EGR but it didn't last long for me and finally I have CEL code P0401 (insufficient EGR flow),
also, another forum member imjustagirl told me EGR valve is covered under emission warranty too, but when I asked service he said it was covered under normal warranty. can anyone confirm this? or should I call mazdausa?
btw, nice write-up, what would I do without this forum? (thumb)
 
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Sorry to mention the one word people hate sometime, awesome

Well I was afraid I'd mess up a screw up, but decided to just use chanel locks, but it seems I was fortunate and my egr must have been cleaned previously before I bought it. Bought the 1999 1.6L ATX for a good price, with nice rims hope to have a sig pic shortly. Anyways did a tuneup & did the egr cleaning she feels new, considering 96k miles. What I love is the gas mileage before the egr cleaning, cant wait to see the improvement more... 1/4 inch socket wrench with 12mm socket was pretty easy for me, but I do have smaller hands, lefty loosen righty tighty, like previously said...
 
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Glad this is working out for most of you guys. I seem to need to do mine again already, 32,000 miles now, and no racing this year just six round trips a week to the hospital for work which is only about eight miles each way. I plan on doing mine again when I put in a downpipe.

Britt
 
what type of oil should I use on the spring? I can verify that White Lithium is a no go. Seems to create the problem. I previously had a low idle, about 550. So I cleaned the egr and now I have an irratic idle which gets worse after warm up. Any recommendations?
 
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