Bad egr valves/ports???

[hatredbob]

I recently failed smog and the smog guy told me that it was the catalytic converter possibly but he said he wasnt sure. Suggested to take it to a mechanic, which i did. The mechanic told me its the egr valve and that the intake manifold has a crap load of carbon deposits. Told me it will cost 309 for a new oem honda egr valve and will take 5 hours of labor to fix it. For a grand total of 850$. I paid 400$ for my car and i dont think its worth it. Ive also tried the denatured alcohol trick and i still failed. Was wondering if i would be able to clean out the egr valve and ports without replacing the actual valve. Also if there is anything i can do to clean out the intake manifold without removing it. My car is a 1992 honda accord lx. Ill post my reading from the smog test below. And help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

15mph- co2% 14.5- o2% 0.0- Hc 116max 63mea- Co% .74max 1.16mea- No 791max 391mea.

25mph- co2% 14.4- o2% 0.0- Hc 91max 144mea- Co% .62max 1.11mea- No 730max 389mea.

[wed3k]

nope, your nox would be skyrocketing if it was the cat or egr. looks to me like you are having a combustion problem.

first things id do is check spark plugs and timing.

have you done an oil change yet and any maintainence?

[phantomcow2]

But for the record, you most certainly can clean your EGR valve/ports; it's a very commonly done thing on this forum, and is mentioned frequently. Check out the "DIY" section of this forum and you'll see pictorial instructions for all that your mechanic quoted you for.

[hatredbob]

I changed the spark plugs about a week ago. Also changed the oil and put in some stp oil treatment. Put in a new o2 sensor and i havent done anything with the timing. Didnt think the timing would have any effect on the readings. I guess the timing is at 17bdtc. Also what other type of maintenance do you mean? Distributor cap and wires? I checked the air filter and its pretty clean. but didnt replace the distributor cap or wires.

[Losiracer2]

removing the EGR takes no more than 5 min. Its only held in place by 2 12mm nuts. You can access them by using a 12mm socket, extension and swivel joint since the top part of the EGR valve usually gets in the way of those nuts.

Then take some carb cleaner and spray it out. And you're done.

If you're going back, I would also recommend possibly seafoaming your car before you go....that gets rid of all the carbon deposits.

[hatredbob]

Ok. Just got my car back from the mechanic and i will try that when i get back from work. Btw whats seafoaming? And how would i do that? Will it loosen all the carbon deposits from the intake manifold and clean it out? Or should i still try to go through the labor of removing the intake manifold so i can clean it out with a solvent and wire brush?

[phantomcow2]

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=2495

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?p=1791022

[wed3k]

proper timing is actually at 15.

like i said, your nox isnt the problem...

[accordscientist]

5 hours wtf, that guy is shady it sounds like, at honda we charge 1.5hours for just about all of them

[hatredbob]

Ive replaced the spark plugs like a week ago, and gapped them to 1.12. The mechanic quoted me 5 hours because he was going to take off the intake manifold and soak it and scrape it to remove the excess carbon build up. He said he believes that is the reason for high co reading due to a clogged or blocked port to the intake manifold and he stated the only way to fix it is to remove the intake manifold and clean it out. If you think it may be a combustion problem then its either the spark plugs or the fuel injectors?

[SleeperSEDAN]

you do know factory gap is like .044 thousands right...

[SleeperSEDAN]

IMHO i would not seafoam your motor or any motor for that fact... keep up on oil changes and run clean fuel and do maintenance... seafoam cleans out your motor which will remove carbon that is helping sustain compression. you remove all of that stuff and you can cause headaches... burning oil. leaking valve seals. leaking compression. head gasket leak. IM leaks stuff like that.

you should clean the egr or complete IM by yourself if it needs to be done. it is very easy and the hardest part is removing it... use new gaskets and it will be fine...

[SleeperSEDAN]

that time frame was probably for everything including a scrape and solvent cleaning... typical time frame for a shop.. remember they are out to make money...

[wed3k]

that time frame was probably for everything including a scrape and solvent cleaning... typical time frame for a shop.. remember they are out to make money...

are you serious? even if you bought a new egr valve, it can be done in 10 minutes.

shit i should start charging for 5 hours to change the component, ill even throw the egr valve for free!

[hatredbob]

I checked the spark plug gap and its 1.12mm or .044. Im guessing the only way to possibly fix my problem is to remove the intake manifold and clean it out. Does anyone else have any other suggestions which will help me pass smog? Just cleaning the egr valve is supposed to reduce the nox emissions but im not failing the nox. Im failing the co emissions. Would a clogged intake manifold cause high carbon emissions? Or would it be something else like the fuel system or something?