EGR Valve replacement for $188?

[bazingo]

Noobie here..

I was late to work one morning and was driving my 92 Acc LX (~170k miles, AT) pretty fast, took a sharp turn and for the first time in almost two years my engine light came on. I stopped, turned the car off, waited 30 sec, and away I went with no light on but a frightened look on my face. I took it to my local gas station mechanic who checked out the system and said I needed to check my spark plugs, replace the valve cover gasket and service my throttle body - for $200. Fine I said, it's due anyway.

Then he hit me with $188 for a EGR valve. This being my first car, I didn't quite know what that was. Upon reading my Hayes manual, I saw and still didn't get it. My car surges right after turning over, up to 1500RPM nad back down to 1000. Up and down for a good few minutes. The car drives fast, the brakes are harder to push and the check engine light goes on way more often than it should. By fast, I mean I'll go 10-15mph idling. I know it's not normal, but is this really what I need to replace? Any help would be great!

[Kabuki]

That's not your EGR valve that's faulty. Generally that's your FAST IDLE VALVE. Check your coolant level, as that can make the F.I.V. freak out too. The other option is that the Idle speed is set too high, which sounds like a good possibility, with your other symptoms. What code came up with the CEL? I don't think I would take it back to this guy... EVER... It's sounds like he doesn't know any more than you do about your car. Look for a shop with ASE certification, and preferably one that specializes in Hondas.

[bazingo]

Thanks for the input.

This morning I started the car, drove maybe 1/2 mile and then the check engine light came on. Nothing major happened in that 1/2 mile, the car's RPMs just ran high (~1100-1300) as "usual". I turned the car on this morning and let it idle for a bit...it started to surge again. I noticed there was a white-ish (not white) smoke coming from my exhast. It rained last night, but I know white smoke is never good. And I'm still on the lookout for a local ASE shop. Anything I can do in the meantime?

Thanks for all you help!

[accordztech]

what code are u putting up...!! thats what u can do...then we can help u from there....if u have a helms, look on how to diagnose the check engine light

white smoke is i think carbon, black is oil....if ur burning carbon then thats good lolz...correct me if im wrong.

[BlackAndTan]

the car is supposed to rev a little high after starting it from cold, but if it still runs high after it warms up something is wrong. from my experience, most times the engine light comes on, it was the o2 sensor. you may also want to check the catalytic converter at this time.

[bazingo]

You all have been great...

However, on the way home tonight I had some trouble. The car started fine, then the engine started to act strangely. It would idle at exactly 1100RPM - it was about 6-700RPM a few months ago. I also noticed that while accelerating was a little sluggish, decelerating proved to be very difficult. When I came to a stop, the engine almost "jumped", feeling like I had just passed over a small bump. When I accelerated, I would feel a second "bump" and then go.

Another issue is also during decel. I would get up to 40mph in third gear (I think - it's AT) and just let my foot off the gas. Instead of dropping down towards idle (like it always did) it would stay up in the same range. So if I was around 3000RPM I would stay close to that range, and then slowly come back down. Then when it would near 1100RPM, the engine would shoot back up, downshifting in the process, but producing a very serious jolt to the entire car. I tried to break quickly and slowly, and each time the same thing happened.

I know something isn't right, but I don't know quite what to do. Should I not be driving it? Should I increase/decrease the fast idle thermo valve? Get the IAC cleaned? And it turns out the mechanic I went to was ASE certified...well, he at least had signs. Thank you all so much.

[Kabuki]

unplug the IACV wires, start the car, and then turn the Idle down to 500 RPM. Turn off the ignition, plug in the IACV again, and restart the engine. That should bring your idle speed back to normal.

[accordztech]

u can clean the IAC urself...its very easy...

[bazingo]

Might as well wrap this up...

I visted two mechanics on Monday afternoon and they both looked at it. When I went to the first shop, the car was surging a bit, and the check engine light was on. He said to turn it off for a second and he went inside. He came back out with a hammer and a $225 estimate for a new EGR valve. However, he "tapped" the EGR housing and the IAC housing and told me to do that if it happens again. Otherwise, I'm out $200.

I drove down the street to another mechanic and he wanted to keep my car overnight, but my friend talked me out of it. To make a long story short, since I got home from the little excursion, my check engine light has not gone on an the car has been absolutely perfect. Still a little bit of surging, but nothing more.

Thank you so much for all of your help. I couldn't have gotten through it without you. Thanks for saving my credit card!

-Ryan

[bazingo]

Hey everyone (again),

Believe it or not, I am still having the same problems I was having before. So I guess softly hitting the valve really doesn't work - darn. Anyway, I went to my local Japanese Automotive Performance shop (the J.A.P. Shop) this morning because I needed to hear what was wrong from someone who regularly works on Hondas. So he told me the same thing: Code 12 EGR valve malfunction. He said he replaced my valve with one he used to test cars and he said that when he was driving it around the CEL did not come on and the car was fine. Okay I asked, how much to replace it? After install and taxes: $312. I of course didn't have the cash on me to pay such a high price for such a small part, so I left. I drove happily around with my car's idle back down to about 700RPM and no major problems - except a blaring CEL.

So my guestion is, should I look for a replacement EGR valve online, buy it and find some mechanic to put it in for $20.oo? Or DIY? And if so, where could I find a good deal online? Or should I just go shell out the money and just get it done? Any thoughts would be a help. Thanks!

[accordztech]

this is a thought i had in my head. if you are putting out a faulty egr code then it may be the unit or the egr ports....someone posted this earlier

http://home.comcast.net/~em-engineering/T2T013.pdf <---need adobe reader

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...&threadid=1757

iono i just have no clue for you cause i never had that problem but maybe that would help.

kabuki is smarter than me =)

the thing i dont like about our obd system is that one thing can cause another to show an error...hehe.

[blazen_accord]

I also drive around with the check engine light throwing cel 12.
EGR valve rarely fail in our car, they just get clog up and the ECU will throw a cell since it does not detect air flow. The valve is easy to clean, can be done in 15minute, that will make the cel code go away. But the cel will come back in couple day, since it will be clog up again. The reason is the EGR port in the intake manifold are also clog and they are PITA to clean. depend on the year of your car, you might need to drill into the manifold to clean those port. I don't have the time to drill and clean my EGR port and shop charge me $300 to clean it. so I stil ldrive around until it near emission time.

IF the ECU see an cel code, does it go into safe mode right away? any problem since I'm driving with boost with the cel 12 on all the time...

[HondaFan81]

blazen: I don't know if I agree that a EGR valve will get clogged up that quickly. I have two CB7s and they both have well over 200K & never had a EGR problem yet or check engine light that wouldn't go away.

so it don't make any sense to me that if you clean it, it will clog up again so soon.

It's not a common thing for Hondas to go around with check engine lights 24-7, otherwise people wouldn't know them for their high quality.

[HondaFan81]

bazingo...maybe a junkyard EGR with low mileage on the engine would do or be cheaper & you install it urself. You can clean it out before installing it.

I'd have to look into mechanism(s) behind this EGR valve to determine whether your better off with a brand new part or junkyard....just giving you options.