i took my car in to get it smogged they tested the egr valve and told me it was bad and that its not gonna pass smog. the car runs fine i see no diffrence. no light on or anything. i beleive i got the double egr valve. my question is should i clean or replace it with a junk yard one? is it hard replaceing?

 

Is this a 4 cylinder?

What emissions standard was the car built to California or 48 state. There is typically a sticker under the hood stating this?

What state are you in and who tested the car?

Were the emissions high?

How did the tester identify the EGR valve as being bad?

 

it's a 4cyl. yes in california. they had a gauge with a vacume hose to test the egr. it wasnt reading at all. the sticker on the hood says ca. but my car has new cali plates so im not sure if its originally a cali car. they didnt smog the car at all. they tested the egr first. im takeing it to another smog shop when i get a chance. a new egr valve is 145.99 from autozone and orielys.

 

try to update your egr valve, I'm not sure why they didn't run smog test since its the main problem ...

 

tell me about it i dont know why they didnt wanna run one either. i found a new smog place no pass no pay. i need to still need to replace the egr valve. thanks

 

If the sticker states CA then it is a California emissions car.

The actual EGR valve controls the exhaust gas bypass into the engines intake air system. The EGR valve is controlled by engine intake vacuum via a diapragm on the valve.

If the shop detected no vacuum this may be a bad VSV valve. This is an electric controlled valve that turns the vacuum (from the intake manifold) on and off.

A non-working EGR typically does not cause the engine to run much different but will raise exhaust emissions.

Suggest a Google search on changing the VSV on the 5SFE engine.

The Autozone website might have diagnostic info in the sites vehicle repair section.

 

i did notice a gas smell can this be part of the issue?

 

The gas smell may be something different.

If the EGR is not working and closed you may not find much of a difference in engine operation except for emissions. If not working and stuck open the engine idle would be rough, hard starting, etc.

This is burned exhaust gas being recycled thus unless the engine is running too rich for some other reason it will smell like exhaust.

Where did you smell the gas, engine compartment, by the gas tank, etc?

 

right by the drivers rear door. its only once in awhile.

 

If you look on the firewall there may be a plastic canister with hoses running to it. This is part of the cars fuel tank emissions system.

It stores gas fumes routed to it from the fuel tank in charcoal. When the engine is running, a valve is turned on to route the fumes to the engine.

The canister has a vent on the bottom to allow air flow when the fumes are being drawn out to burn. I thought there was a one-way check valve to allow air in but not out.

Might check this area, the hoses for damage, etc.