As I said in the page for this car, it had the yellow Engine Management Light on..I did the “Pedal Test” (see the page), and it flashed out a code of 0400. P0400 is an EGR failure.
The EGR valve is nothing more than a glorified electromagnet with a plunger on the end that blocks or opens passages in the inlet manifold to introduce exhaust gasses into it as the ECU dictates. It’s also well known for buggering up, at £80-odd a pop.
Firstly I ordered an EGR Blanking plate from EBay for £2.50. I then unbolted the EGR valve (2 torx bolts) and took it off the car. It was carboned up and seized solid. Applying 12 volts to it did nothing. That’d explain the warning light then!
On went the blanking plate. Why a blanking plate? Simple. On the Z16SE engine, with manual gearbox only there is an updated ECU map available that writes the EGR valve out of the system. It’s only for manuals though.
Bugger THAT. It’s the same damn engine in the automatic. If it’s not needed in 1, it’s not needed in the other. But I can’t update the ECU, as I have the automatic gearbox. So..whip the valve off and blank it. Job done!
Erm. Not quite. No EGR valve plugged in still results in a fault code. Hmm. I then took the valve in to work, clamped it in a vice and took a big pair of stilsons to it to try and unscrew it. This DOES NOT work.
In the end I used a pin-punch, a lumphammer, WD40, carb cleaner, the blowtorch mode of my soldering iron, and a 12v battery to heat it, cool it, hit it, soak it and pulse it until it freed up and started working again. Good fun.
Then once I’d got it working 100% reliably again, I connected it back up and bolted it to the outside of the engine, using one of the bolts that holds the blanking plate on.
Hey presto – valve working, never to get carboned up again, fault cleared, car happy, engine smoother.
Not sure how many EGR valves have been thrown away, but they don’t seem to be anything much more than a glorified electromagnetic plunger. If it’s seized, twat it to hell and put 12v down it until it frees up. If you choose to keep it on the car, I’d follow a “remove every 6 months and clean/test” schedule.