How-To clean your 1st Gen Mazdaspeed 3 EGR

[RichB]

So you bypassed yours in a previous mod? Thanks for the clarification!

[Raider]

Yup. I am in FL. No need for it. Lowers temp at the throttle body. I got eleventy bajillion hp gains from it.

[RichB]

ha ha....sounds like alot!

[Raider]

Yeah, I can time travel now.

[socks]

You could just move the throttle body out of the way with the coolant lines still attached to avoid the mess.

[G Sp33dy]

excellent write up. reminds me of the EGR in the ford escort days. PITA lol. I've only got 12k on my 08 but I think a seafoaming is in the near future

[RichB]

Originally Posted by socks You could just move the throttle body out of the way with the coolant lines still attached to avoid the mess.

Thanks for the tip!

[Raider]

Yeah, did not pay enough attention to it to tell that can be done.

[Raider]

Well, just an update for you. After 11,000 miles, I got a CEL the other day. It was slow to start earlier this week when temps dropped in the low 40's. As soon as temps rose, started fine. Got the code read yesterday. P0401. I gave it an Italian Tune-Up on my way home last night, and this morning, started with no CEL on at all. My next step is to do some direct-seafoam. I am going to get some vinyl tubing, and use one of the syringes we used to give me kid Tylenol with, and just try squirting Seafoam directly into the EGR valve by way of taking off the EGR pipe. I think if I can get it in there, it can clean off whatever mung is possibly causing it to stick when cold. Fun.

[wankular]

Dumb question maybe - does coolant flow through the EGR hard pipe? Would I still need to drain it if I was only doing the EGR delete?

[Raider]

If you are taking the valve itself off, yes. Coolant goes through the valve only.

[wankular]

Thanks. I bought a used block off kit and the bung came with teflon tape on it, that's why I was wondering.

[lazn]

I was getting all ready to do this on Saturday since my car threw a P0401 on Tuesday.. That was after 3/4 of a tank of ARCO gas. But yesterday I filled up with Chevron and added some Techron Concentrate and within 10 miles (and 3 short trips) the engine light was off.. I didn't expect it to work but figured it couldn't hurt. We shall see if it stays off or not, but 5 more trips and still good so far.

[Raider]

Yeah, my CEL did ome back a month or so ago, when it first got cold. It went away after 4 trips out, but comes back once in a while. If I jump on it, the CEL comes on quick, but goes away 4 trips later. It is just gummed up, and I need to either take the pipe off, removing the buildup, and then feeding Seafoam or brake parts cleaner into the EGR and soaking it to get rid of the crap. Otherwise, I will just clean it again, but more in depth.

[ms686]

are you guys having rough idles with dips and bounces, kinda like when unmetered air is present (leak)? I threw a P0300 and have these symptoms

[RichB]

A clogged EGR causes slow cold start issues and a rough idle. Since you have a P0300, I'd check the spark plugs. One or more might be fouled.

[obijack]

StreetUnit EGR Block Off Plate: MAZDASPEED 6, MAZDASPEED 3, CX-7
What would be the consequences of putting this in the EGR system?

[Raider]

Cel constantly on. This thread is for how to clean the egr system. I would do some searching for the egr blockoff plate or post a new thread to better serve your question, rather than take this thread off topic.

[kilik2]

got the P0401 cel a couple weeks ago, this how to was very useful to me this weekend.
My egr valve was mighty clogged and the pipe was even worse I went through a whole can and a half of brake cleaner. I also used a hanger wrapped in gauze to clean out the pipe. I also used some brake cleaner on the throttle body since I had some buildup on there also, not sure if that was a good idea but it seemed so at the time, lol.

Immediate impression after buttoning everything back up was the car seemed much more peppy and I wasnt getting the weird stutters at part throttle anymore.

I also had to clean my engine bay because my dumb ass spilled half a quart of coolant when I undid the egr and tb...

[Raider]

Glad it worked. I have gotten it recently in sub-freezing temps. Goes away comes back. Might reclean it soon. Even if I have 2 hours of work every 6-9 months, it beats the $450 anal raping for a new one.

[Nikolai]

I noticed the Mazda manual does not say to remove battery/tray/IC to get the EGR out... Anybody try doing it this way? I might make a stab at this over the weekend, thx for the write-up.

[Raider]

Yeah, go for it. You will probably need micro hands and arms. I way I was gonna fit. Takes 10 minutes to take all that crap off.

[Night Wolf]

Just got the P0401 code. I guess I know what to do this weekend. Too bad that I have two papers due on Monday and I didn't want to waste any time this weekend. =((( What can be the consequences of driving like this for one more week (in my case around 500 miles)???

[Raider]

You will be fine.

[lazn]

Originally Posted by Night Wolf What can be the consequences of driving like this for one more week (in my case around 500 miles)???

none at all. well perhaps a slightly cleaner intake because the crud is stuck in the pipe and not going into the engine.

FYI: I cleared my CEL by just switching to Chevron gas.

[Raider]

Oh. it will come back. Trust me.

[lazn]

Originally Posted by Raider Oh. it will come back. Trust me.

Been off longer post switch than pre.. (that is, I hadn't owned the car long when I got the CEL) I have stuck with good gas since then. I would not be surprised if it does come back, but I am avoiding ARCO for all but emergencies now. (my last car didn't care it'd drink anything)

[akias]

Just got the CEL on today. Took it to the local dealer. What a fucking mistake, and I knew better too. Anyway the local Mazda store quoted me $704.97 to replace the EGR. I started laughing at the service writer. So I immediately called Mazda Cust Serv to vent my frustration, they told me to eat a dick and that I should go fuck myself and if I'm not mistaken before I hung up the guy at Mazda CS whispered something about me shoving the EGR up my own ass. So long story short guess I'll have to clean it myself and lose an hour or so of my wonderful life. Thanks for the instructions.

[soccerballz]

Anyone try to use the egr block-off plate yet?

[Raider]

Yup. Lots of threads. Not in this one as it is a how-to on cleaning it, not modding it.

[soccerballz]

Originally Posted by Raider Yup. Lots of threads. Not in this one as it is a how-to on cleaning it, not modding it.

thanks ill have a look

[telopyros]

Just did this yesterday, took the egr and pipe off. Since it was carbon build-up, I used "easy off" oven cleaner to get it all out, looked perfect and took it down to bare metal with nor carbon remaining. i would suggest this method, easy and that stuff only cost 4$ versus trying to scrape it all out. Alos 75+ miles since then and no CEL.

[Raider]

Thanks for the tip. I have been slacking on redoing mine again more thoroughly. Question though for those who did the cleaning. What do you think would happen if I just removed the 4 screws from the top with it installed, and pulled the top off? I am thinking of a "Lazy Guy EGR Cleaning, and it might take less time to clean the valve. Mine is just sticking, the piping is fine.

[lazn]

For what it's worth, I have gone over 6000 miles since switching to good gas and the CEL as not come back. Nothing else done but stop burning cheap gas.

[Raider]

93 octane Shell/Chevron only. 66,000 miles total though. Lots of short driving, too.

[wankular]

Originally Posted by lazn For what it's worth, I have gone over 6000 miles since switching to good gas and the CEL as not come back. Nothing else done but stop burning cheap gas.

Where did you find good gas in phoenix?

[Raider]

Arco...lol

[lazn]

Originally Posted by wankular Where did you find good gas in phoenix?

Lol, good is relative I guess. I only use Chevron or QT now.

[Langy]

wow, amazing write up.

[WhoKnowsWho]

Did all the disassembly this past weekend but the CEL came back after 2 tanks of gas. And the sad thing is, all I have been using is QT for gas for years now so I don't think I can improve the gas I am using. I didn't do a scrub down cleaning though, I sprayed everything with brake cleaner, actuated the valve, and blew compressed air through the pipe. Could the actual mechanical actuator be bad? Or was my cleaning too lazy? Oh yeah, it's an '07 with 86K miles, mostly highway. Maybe I'll have to try the easy off oven cleaner.