DIY Intake Manifold/EGR port cleaning

[PILOTHEAD]

Originally Posted by isrb710

Glad to hear you're back in business. Can we get a link to the video on how to do that? Also, is the Seafoam carried by Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts? Thanks, Ron

Yes all those places but I think it is cheapest at Walmart.



Let us all know how it works for you

[isrb710]

Originally Posted by isrb710

I just cleaned out the upper intake manifold, gasket, and cover plate on my 2004 Pilot EX....... I was getting the P0300, P0301, P0302, P0304, and P1399 codes on my scanner, which are all misfire codes...... I'll let you know if this clears the CEL/VTM-4 lights after a few test drives!

I finally figured out where the EGR was. I was looking around the throttle body - wrong place! It's at the front of the engine on the driver's side. I figured it out based on a picture on a parts website.

It's been about a week and 150 miles and NO MORE codes, no VTM-4 light, no vibrations at 50-55 mph, and the car seems MUCH more responsive. I haven't had a chance to check mpg yet, but I bet I get better fuel economy too!

[PILOTHEAD]

Originally Posted by isrb710

I finally figured out where the EGR was. I was looking around the throttle body - wrong place! It's at the front of the engine on the driver's side. I figured it out based on a picture on a parts website.

It's been about a week and 150 miles and NO MORE codes, no VTM-4 light, no vibrations at 50-55 mph, and the car seems MUCH more responsive. I haven't had a chance to check mpg yet, but I bet I get better fuel economy too!

Was this all you had to do?...

Did you do something with the EGR valve and/ or the passageway from Upper intake plenum maze channels area to the EGR valve?

Did you do anything else?

[isrb710]

Originally Posted by PILOTHEAD

Was this all you had to do?...

Did you do something with the EGR valve and/ or the passageway from Upper intake plenum maze channels area to the EGR valve?

Did you do anything else?

I sprayed a bunch of throttle body cleaner in the EGR valve and let it soak for a couple of hours while I cleaned out the ports/channels with a small-blade flathead screwdriver and my shop vac constantly sucking up the crumbs.

The EGR valve was easy, after I finally located it. I sprayed throttle body cleaner down the tube while the EGR valve was attached. The EGR valve wasn't in bad shape from what I could see, but I still soaked it in throttle body cleaner.

The cover plate channels were easy, since you can clean it out over a big trash can. After physicall removing as much crud as possible, I sprayed it generously with throttle body cleaner and let that soak for awhile. Then wiped it dry with paper towels to get out as much crud as possible.

The plenum was more of a challenge, since I didn't want any crud chunks to fall in the ports. So I did the channels first and vacuumed all that gunk out. THEN I cleaned out the portholes, vacuuming the entire time I'm digging with the screwdriver. Most of them were 100 % blocked. In fact, you couldn't even tell some of them were ports. (The clue to where they are is when a channel ends in a round holde bigger than the channel.)

It's now been almost 3 months and it's still running great! (Except for an ignition switch issue, but that's another thread.)

[PILOTHEAD]

June 2011, All was well since my winter of 2010/2011 post and spring has sprung, but the same symptoms appeared once again on a single unseasonably cold morning. I am going to try to a full blown EGR valve remove and clean before winter as well as get deeper into the manifold/try trimmer string cleaning trick. Hopefully this will nip it in the bud for a longer time period. If anybody knows of a good DIY on how to soak/clean a removed EGR valve I would appreciate a link or search terms.

[isrb710]

IIRC, I loosened 2 or 3 bolts and a wiring connector to remove the egr valve from the engine. To clean it, I sprayed a LOT of throttle body cleaner down its throat and laid it down so the fluid stayed in it. I left it alone for an hour or so while I was cleaning channels and ports in the plenum and cover. I think I also ran some rolled up strong paper towels and twisted them down its throat after it soaked for awhile. My egr valve port (the large smile-shaped black area in the first picture in the original post of this thread.) was in good shape compared to IBMJim's, so I suspect my egr valve was also cleaner than his.

A mechanic friend of mine is repairing a 2003 Pilot with 183,000 miles on it. (The timing belt broke and bent some valves. He disconnected the throttle body to remove it and said there are some bolts inside the plenum holding it to the engine.) He took both the plenum cover and the plenum off of the engine. He'll clean the ports/channels in both while it's off the engine. That way no chunks can fall through the ports. Heck, you might even be able to power wash both of them!

[gjbeck]

First, I would like to thank everyone for this information. We are the owners of two 2004 Pilots. We were having the check engine light issue with one of them. I would reset it by pulling the fuse, but it gradually occured more frequently. I pulled the intake cover and found the channels and ports were plugged. I used a small screwdriver to scrape everything loose while I had my shop vac running right near it. I also pulled the EGR valve, but it wasn't plugged. This was a very simple job and seems to have solved the problem. I also did our other Pilot. No check engine light problem, but it also had a lot of bulid up. These both have about 100k on them.

[Im2c0oL]

wondering if we need to do this on 06-08 Honda Pilot, I believe the Intake Manifold/EGR port is at the same location on the newer model! My car ran fine and smooth, I did came across a random misfire code from cyl 1-6 but it seems to goes away after I cleared it 2 days ago. But I'm looking at this thread because basically I get about 15.5mpg now, I want to improve it, i'm at 81k 2008 Pilot. thanks...

[carguy07]

Originally Posted by gratefuls1n

wondering if we need to do this on 06-08 Honda Pilot, I believe the Intake Manifold/EGR port is at the same location on the newer model! My car ran fine and smooth, I did came across a random misfire code from cyl 1-6 but it seems to goes away after I cleared it 2 days ago. But I'm looking at this thread because basically I get about 15.5mpg now, I want to improve it, i'm at 81k 2008 Pilot. thanks...

I'm pretty sure that it was redesigned by 2008 to make it not clog up like that. You might be looking at a valve adjustment soon.