How To: EGR Removal and Cleaning for Rough Idle Fix

Good write up! Just finished after 4 hours... tedious is an understatement!!

My car(automatic) was bucking like bull when I hit the gas!! And near stalling at stop signs/traffic lights... So, I did everything to solve the problem and now she runs like new!!

Here's what i did:
1. Replaced PCV Valve
2. Cleaned EGR Valve
3. Cleaned MAF Sensor
4. Repaired leak in intake hose.

I don't know what the problem was but its running perfect now. I didn't have the proper Torx bit to remove the IAC and clean it but I will do that this weekend.

P.S. Seafoam's Deep Creep is amazing at loosening rusted bolts!! Highly recommended! Definitely worth $11...
 
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so last nov i go an intermittent p0140 for the egr valve...i kind of ignored it until last week i get the a new flashing cel p0300 and the car goes way lean and it's almost un driveable...i shut her down restart it, runs fine...so after it doing it a few more times i said screw it, once i cleared the code and the car was running fine i disconnected the elect connector and the car runs fine again...i'll leave it off for now and replace the egr this summer after i take her off the road.
 
Got a 2000 Protege DX here. CEL is on (will pull codes tomorrow) and I have a sneaking suspension it is the EGR. While I don't get a rough idle with stall, I am definitely getting some serious "bucking" in first gear. In order to avoid this bucking, I need to let off the clutch very slowly while giving it a lot of gas. There also seems to be a loss of engine power when this happens. Is this the clutch or is it that damn EGR valve?
 
cryptic said:
Got a 2000 Protege DX here. CEL is on (will pull codes tomorrow) and I have a sneaking suspension it is the EGR. While I don't get a rough idle with stall, I am definitely getting some serious "bucking" in first gear. In order to avoid this bucking, I need to let off the clutch very slowly while giving it a lot of gas. There also seems to be a loss of engine power when this happens. Is this the clutch or is it that damn EGR valve?
Click to expand...

Does the engine run any warmer could that could be the converter also.
 
Hi all,

I'm new here, just been having some idle problems in my 323.. I figured it might be my EGR, but upon inspection, it seems to have been removed by the previous owner? can someone confirm to make sure I'm not crazy?
I guess it will be time to consider other possibilities, it drives fine, but at idle it sounds terrible and really rough...
 

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I took the EGR valve off of the valve cover to clean it, since I had a rough idle and an occasional stall. I soaked it in carb cleaner, and since there were no broken parts, I put it back on with no issues. After cleaning the EGR valve, the car just started running smoother, and I could notice a very big difference in its idle.
 
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I removed and cleaned mine today and reset the PCM and it made such a big difference, just be careful with the 4 phillips head screws on the top b/c one of mine striped out and had to use vise grips to get off. This job is simple and easy to do!! Now I don't have to play with the gas pedal to keep the rpm's up. Great post and very informative, I suggest doing this to anyone with the same prob with rough idle b/c you'll definately tell the difference. Thanks 122 Vega!!
 
So a little over a year ago I had extreme issues with my EGR (car completely died at every stop). I took it to my mechanic (this was before I knew about the EGR issues) and he had it fixed in no time. On his report it said EGR was stuck open so he cleaned it. (Unfortunately, he has gone out of business and I have moved to a different state. )

It had been running fine ever since - until last month. Whenever I let off of the gas at 50-60mph with 3k RPMs my RPMs would drop quickly to 2500 and the car would lurch. Then when I put my foot back on the gas the tach needle would quiver and the car would shake a little bit. All I did to make it stop was give it a little extra gas. Then one morning the check engine light came on, so I got the code read and it was EGR. Thankfully my boyfriend's a huge car man and he decided to take on the challenge of cleaning my EGR. It appeared that the main issue was that the spring was sticking. We finally got it to stop sticking and he reassembled my car. I took it for a spin and have been driving it a lot and everything seems to be working fine.

Now a month later it's starting to do the same lurching at higher speeds. Today my check engine light came back on and it's EGR again.

The boy thinks I should just sell the car, but I just can't bear to part with it.


So basically my questions are, is it worth it to completely replace the EGR? Or will I be having the issue again? Also, are there any other parts I should have cleaned or replaced that might be causing this issue? And in the future, how can I stop this from happening?!!

(I know that these questions are probably answered throughout this thread, but I really don't want to read through 73 pages to find them!)

Thanks!
 
When I start my car, sometimes my engine idles really rough. Sputters but never dies. I have an auto. Could this be egr needing cleaned? Could it also cause my CEL of a cylinder 3 misfire?
 
thats what i kept getting when mine went bad. usually got it after engine was hot and i suddenly pulled up to a traffic light at a highway exit. never really had a problem cold. my code was multiple cylinder misfire. but that could have been the odb2 code reader difference. it sounds like egr if its fairly consistent regardless of which brand of gas you use.
 
Yeah I use 89 octane and it happens no matter what. Replaced everything ignition related. It's prevalent when motor is warm and started up, my bad on the typo. Sitting at a stop light, the idle will bump around between 100-600 rpm, usually rests at 400 eventually. Hoping to clean this maybe tomorrow if possible. And hopefully it fixes my problems.
 
ya sounds like it. also seeing that your car is 2003 you may also have a cracked intake hose (the fat one going to the air filter box) as i have recently discovered that caused my car to rough idle too. I did the original egr valave cleaning few years ago and early on in this thread i posted my not so great results (rough idle returned after 1100 miles and had to buy a new redesigned egr valve which til this day outlasted my original one by about 25K). but your cleaning may succeed so i would try that as new egr valves now are about 150$ and gasket about 15$
 
I have a custom metal intake so the tears wouldn't be a problem :p and an AEM dryflow filter. I'll try the cleaning first. Anything other than brake Kleen that you'd recommend? Btw what is the function of the egr valve? As I have heard of ppl doin egr deletes so I was just curious. I don't plan on doing the delete by any means.
 
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