# How Do I Locate and Clean the EGR Valve?



## alternate8 (Feb 7, 2004)

Here I am again  
OK, so we've determined that my EGR Flow is malfunctioning and os is the O2 Sensor. I'm trying to take one thing at a time here so I'm going ot try to start out by cleaning the EGR Valves. I'm not really sure where this is located at although psulemon has been helping me out earlier.

I own a 1996 Nissan Sentra GXe 1.6L. Please visit this link where I have a few pics of what I think might be the EGR Valves or at least something to do with them. If you could tell me what picture actually has the part in it or if I don't even have it in the picture, that'd be great. From that point on I'll just need to know how to remove it (which I'm assuming is simple) and also what I should be careful not to do while cleaning and reinstalling the part.

Earlier today a diagnostic was run and I had the error for the EGR Flow come up as malfunctioning (P0400) which is part of the reason why my check engine light is on.

Go here: http://digitalstar.com/alternate8/?Album=1996+Nissan+Sentra+GXe

Thanks for any and all help in advance.

-Dave


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## Centurion (Sep 5, 2002)

No, that thing is your fuel filter...
This is the EGR valve. (The air intake has been removed.)
Odds are that a rubber vacuum hose going to the valve is rotted which is quite common and is an easy fix. The valve itself rarely goes bad. To test it, put a hose on the nipple (hose remove in this pic) and suck hard on it. The engine should gasp and die if the valve is good and the passages are clear.


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## alternate8 (Feb 7, 2004)

Damn, don't I feel like the dumbass.

Thanks for the crisp picture, Centurion. That is actually what is in one of my pics...the one with my hand pointing to it (I know, the pic was marred and bright - crappy digital). I have what appears to be two of those. One is closer to the engine....?


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## alternate8 (Feb 7, 2004)

But I also heard that carbon build-up is extremely common and that I should clean out the vavle every 50k or so..


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## alternate8 (Feb 7, 2004)

Yeah, as I was saying there appears to be two of those valves, but I guess only one is the true valve. So, to clean out any possible carbon I've been told a few times that I can use a clothes hanger and a soft paper towel to scrape off the carbon, then a vaccuum to pick up any loose carbon particles left over by the scraping. Is there anything special I need to do in order to take off and clean the valve? Like unhooking the battery cables, etc? Keep in mind this is obviously the first time I've attempted to do all this.

And as for the hose on the nipple thing...is the nipple the silver pin-looking thing that is sticking out of the topside?

What kind of tools do I need, just a crecent wrench? I'm guessing so b/c I see two bolts in your pic underneath the valve. Or is it just a lid that I need to pop off and scrape out...as well as replacement of the gasket.

I know in order to get to the EGR valve that I'm going ot have to clear out some space by taking some hoses off, etc. And maybe even some wires. I dunno, I guess I'll see tomorrow when I have more of a chance to relook at the situation.


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## alternate8 (Feb 7, 2004)

Check this pic out










Is that silver the gasket or is that like that b/c the valve is new?
I don't see how the valve could look like this after having seen the image you posted, but, hey..
I'm guessing this is a egr valve for a different model vehicle...so are those holes to the left and right the same holes that you would find in your pic that I was mentioning about the bolts....just a different setup?

Thanks, I know I'm spamming my own topic here, but I've always wanted to learn about vehicles, unfortunately, the chance I'm getting is to fix-up my own vehocles, but I guess that's how many of us learn, especially when we can't afford to pay out of the ass.

So :cheers: for the help


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## alternate8 (Feb 7, 2004)

Alright, I found out yesterday from our mechanic, who is also a friend of the family, that the saucer closest to the front is the egr valve and the one behind it acts as a sensor for the egr valve, so that's cleared up. AAP didn't have the gasket but AZone did. I went ahead and bought some carb spray and now I'm just waiting for my wife to get back so I can go out there and tinker around with it. I'm guessing I should hope to find some decent amounts of carbon so that when I clean it the engine light goes out. My mechanic told me that just b/c the O2 sensor and the EGR Flow malfunctions showed up when AZone metered the engine that that doesn't necessarily mean that the O2 sensors are bad or going bad, he told me that it could just be the EGR Valve needs cleaning to restore a sense of normalcy to the flow.

He pointed out to me that the front O2 sensor was already new because the previous owner had gotten new wires for it and you can see where it was crimped. So, hopefully that's good news b/c I want to save on money. I just really hope that the valve itself isn't bad or I'd need to pay around 90 bucks for a new one. And from what I've read around in these forums I really shouldn't need to worry too much about the egr valve b/c all it does is pollute the engine with recirculated gases. Well, I won't say ALL it does is that, but I see that it isn't really all that important, but that if the O2 sensors are actually bad that that would not be so good b/c the O2 sensors regulate how much the gas is to be fed to the engine.

So, one gasket, one clothes hanger and towel, some carb spray and then to touch the neg. and pos. battery cables to reset the chip and hopefully when I reconnect the battery the light is no longer on.

Our mechanic told me that even with an OBD2 that the chip can be reset by touching the cables together. I hope he's right, he's seldom wrong.


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## philb00 (May 17, 2008)

So did ya fix this p0400 egr issue yourself ?


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