The cel on my 98 lx recently came on so I took it to majestic honda to retrieve the code for me. They say the egr ports are carboned up and need to be cleaned out. They will also install a bypass tube kit that will prevent carbon build up in the ports in the future. The estimate to perform all this work is $514! Does this sound reasonable? Is it something that I can do myself? Please advise! Engine is 2.3 I4 with 180k mi on it.

Never heard of a bypass thing???? :dunno:

I think there's a instruction on how to clean them out yourself here somewhere... I've posted several for various years. If you look & can't find it, I can do it again.

it shouldn't cost you more than 200 i think for the egr port cleaning..... had mine done last winter (engine missing at highway speeds, and during light accel)......

bypass?? never heard of that either??? :dunno:

I asked about the "kit" thing.... they DO have one for the V6's in your year range. They drill out a little bigger & put a stainles steel tube.

What was your car's code?

I asked about the "kit" thing.... they DO have one for the V6's in your year range. They drill out a little bigger & put a stainles steel tube.

What was your car's code?
This is what they wrote on the invoice......"80-1 low erg flow due to carbon build up Recommend install egr port kit and performing egr port cleaning $560"

By the way they charged me $99.95 to retrieve the code!

80-1???????????? :dunno:

the codes usually are a P+4 digits.... P0401 & P1491 are the common ones for EGR. Was this a dealer or an independent shop? The generic codes are different (& I don't have access to most of those)

I did find the old warranty extension. Although it doesn't apply for your's with the mileage, it tells you what needs to be done if it's a clogged EGR port.

The P0401 is the code for low flow...

The bulletin does talk about the tube they can put in....I've never noticed it before. Just goes to show, if you're not looking for something.... :paranoid: See, what further research can do.... :D

The reason they extended the warranty is that there was a rough surface in there & the carbon caught on it in some models. So the tube would help it from coming back.

I'm thinking the money they charged was actually for diagnosing the problem, not just reading the code. Unless you didn't have symptoms, just a check engine light on. Then it's excessive. Some shops DO have a minimum when any car comes in. In general, it's not a bad practice since it gives the tech a certain amount of set time to find what's going on. I think where my prince works has a 30 minute charge as a minimum. MOST of the time that's enough time to get a clue, but not always. But it seems a bit pricey for the repair & I'd call around to see if somewhere else is more resonable.

Keep us informed!

Always get your check engine codes pulled for free at AutoZone or the like unless under warranty!

EGR Cleaning you can do yourself if you're up to it... shouldnt cost you more than 10 dollars for the cans of carb cleaner stuff and probably a couple hours to clean it...

You DO need to drill out the carbon though....squirting carb cleaner isn't going to clear it out. :) But yep, you CAN do it yourself!! :thmsup:

would seafoam work?

I got some seafoam for my mom's car, but I'm afraid to use it.. :paranoid: It should work to some extent.

carbon is hard....that's waht makes diamonds! :D I doubt if ANY chemical would clean it out. Scraping (drilling through it) is the only way I know of to do it.

I'm not sure what effects chemicals would have on the Cat. :dunno:

Princess...I did a search through the forums and all I could find on port cleaning was for the V-6. Is there one for the I-4?
The dealer is Majestic Honda (AKA hondaautomotiveparts.com)

I don't think I need to have the retro kit installed.....It took 180k mi to become clogged this time and I seriously doubt I'll have the car for another 180K.

BTW the car still has all of the original exhaust system...Is that common?
How much longer can I expect it to last?

very very rare in rust belt, unless they are using different stronger materials now....

EGR Cleaning you can do yourself if you're up to it... shouldnt cost you more than 10 dollars for the cans of carb cleaner stuff and probably a couple hours to clean it...


Hi Guys/Gals,

This is my first post at this site. I just did the port cleaning this morning, as the old P0401 came on last week. I have had to do this before, So the second time is less than 60min...

Go to Home Depot and get a couple pipe cleaners in various sizes. Get a can of carb cleaner and a can of Seafoam (funny name, but it works great!)

Go home, pop the hood... Egr is on top of engine on the passenger side. It is round, about three or four inches in diameter, with an electric plug on top, and two 12mm bolts on the bottom. your gonna need a 1/4 diameter extension to get along side the egr to the base and remove the bolts. One of those cheap little pickup tools is invaluable if you drop the nut on the manifold. remeber to remove the bolts before the egr, as not to accidently drop a bolt in the port hole... :-(


Remove the egr, spray the hell out of the port holes. there are two, one oval,one sqauare. take the appropriate size pipe cleaner and ram it back and forth through the port holes. spray liberally inside the egr valves port openings and flush out with an air compressor if available. Now spray a bunch of cleaner in the throttle body (through the "butterfly" and push a pipe cleaner around the inside there also. Things are going to start looking a bit dirty, this is all the crap your loosening up, but will blow out when you fire up the engine.


Put it all back together and start it up. It's going run rough at first, while it blows all the cap through the engine.

Put the can of seafoam in when you fill up with gas next time. This combination of less than 20$ does the trick for me.\

Don't perform this task if your worried about breaking a nail... ;-)


P.S. getting a code reader at autozone/pepboys/shucks etc... runs around 70$ and pays for itself on the first read. One you get the code, you can set out on the internet and track down the problem. The dealers going to charge you 100$ just to read the code. You can also reset the code with this tool too.


Be Well, and good luck


Joel

Autozone will read the code for free too so save the $70 if it's only for reading codes.