About 3 weeks ago, both my Engine Light and ATTS light came on together. I tried disconnecting the battery to reset it, thinkin that the sensor just malfunctioned, and after i reconnected, they came on again at the same time. Ive read past posts on this forum about the problem and saw that mainly its the O2 sensor that makes this light come on. Well I took my car (2001 Honda Prelude SH) to a dealership to run diagnostic test, and told me that it was the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve) valve that needed to be replaced. They quoted me at $500 total to fix! Ive read up on the EGR valve and found out its sometimes due to carbon build up of passages to the EGR Valve. Ive considered going to Jiffy Lube to get an fuel system cleaning to see if that helps. Any other alternatives ?...


Thanks in advance

 

Take your EGR valve off and clean it out by hand with a metal brush. You probably just have some carb built up inside of it....Take your negative battery cable off for a little while, then hook it back up

 

Where is the EGR Valve located?

Also will a fuel system cleaning help?

 

Stay away from additive based treatments, they offer little help.

 

egr is located on the intake next to the passenger side it has a 5 or 6 wire connector and its big.no a fuel system cleaning would not help(it will only clean injectors and fuel line and not very good).egr (exhaust gas recirculation)so it recirculates exhaust into your cylinders to lower emissions(less fuel burned less emissions).ya so remove it and clean the passages put it back. if it comes back replace the egr its probably full of carbon in less some one has a cleaning procedure.

 

It's located on the passangerside right behind the valve cover in front of the IM...This is what it looks like

 

Ok, will try cleaning it today. Thanks for all the help guys, ill let ya know how it goes.

 

Damn, those 2 nuts at the bottom are hard as hell to get too. Tried a 6 point 1/2in swivel socket, too loose.....Tried a 12 point 1/2in swivel wrench, wrench doesnt fit over nut due to the EGR being too close to nut.....I need a 12 point 12mm or 1/2 swivel socket...cant locate anywhere. Any ideas?

 

try a 6 point 3/8 drive swival socket

 

There are 2 sepparate codes for EGR issues - 401 is "Low exhaust gas recirculation pressure", and 441 is "Exhaust Gas Recircualtion valve failure"

If you have a 401 code, there is about a 90% chance a full EGR valve and hose cleaning will work. I had it done on my car and no check engine light since (been about 6 months). My mechanic said that older Honda 4 cylinder engines (over 150k miles) tend to have that problem. Now, he did more than just clean the valve.... he took off all the vaccum hoses from the valve to the solenoid and the intake and exhaust manifolds (and there are alot of little hoses) and cleaned them too. Basically he cleaned out all the plumbing in my car. Cost about $190.00, or 2 labor hours.

So, before you go spending $500.00 to replace an EGR valve that may or may not be bad, ask the service tech for the code number when he runs the diag. Obviously, if it is 441, then you do need a new valve. But make sure he does the system cleaning while he's at it.