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good write up, although it would be easier to just delete the egr
Hi Crusher -- thanks for the positive feedback -- some people get annoyed and then choose to remove the EGR altogether -- I discuss that option in my Question & Answer post
Marktab this is great infomation ! I will be tackling the task in the near future as my max has over 200,000 miles it.
I can only imagine how much crud is built up in that tube right now and making my car ping. My question for you is after all this cleaning you have done did you clean your throttle body ?
A clean one will help smooth out your idle and give you more torque off the line.
I noticed this immediatly.
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1996 Nissan Maxima SE AT
Spoiler Delete: Complete
97-99 Rear end swap: Done
I dont know if the 5th gen maxima egr tube will fit the 4th gens...
Hi -- I studied the diagrams, and though the tubes are in the same location with the same part numbers, the picture indicates that the parts are slightly different for 5th generation. I can only speak to 4th generation.
Marktab this is great infomation ! I will be tackling the task in the near future as my max has over 200,000 miles it.
I can only imagine how much crud is built up in that tube right now and making my car ping. My question for you is after all this cleaning you have done did you clean your throttle body ?
A clean one will help smooth out your idle and give you more torque off the line.
I noticed this immediatly.
Thanks for the feedback -- I believe your pinging will reduce if not eliminate by cleaning the tube (and for that reason, I don't know that blocking the EGR system is an optimal solution without other engine adjustments).
I did speak about cleaning the intake area by the IACV assembly, and when you see how much crud might be in there, it's amazing. I even need to scrape some of the carbon. I'm not surprised at the amount of carbon, but it's sad that this much builds up between the filter and the cylinders.
To answer your question: I did not clean the throttle body at this time since I had cleaned it when I last cleaned my K&N filter (I replaced the factory filter with a round K&N). However, it would be a logical concurrent maintenance since the parts are in the same area.
I had the CEL on with a code 400, however I didn't want to tackle the cleaning myself. I had a local shop do the job, and I ended up paying $240.00 to have the job done. Did I get ripped off? I am having a hard time finding a good shop now that my mechanic of many years (at least 20) has retired. The shop that did the work claimed that they worked on my Maxima EGR tube for about 6 hours.
Well i dug in there tonight but couldn't complete the job that damn egr tube is a huge pain in the *** !! I took everything apart to clean the IACV since I cleaned the TB one week earlier and noticed big improvements.
That is a job for one with power tools, I dont see how its possible for someone to clean the egr tube with hand tools alone, I might have to get a mechanic for this one.
I dont have a CEL for it yet so i still have some time tear it all down again.
Im gonna have to take another stab at it cause theres no freakin way im paying a mechanic 100 - 500 bucks to do it.
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1996 Nissan Maxima SE AT
Spoiler Delete: Complete
97-99 Rear end swap: Done
Well i dug in there tonight but couldn't complete the job that damn egr tube is a huge pain in the *** !! I took everything apart to clean the IACV since I cleaned the TB one week earlier and noticed big improvements.
That is a job for one with power tools, I dont see how its possible for someone to clean the egr tube with hand tools alone, I might have to get a mechanic for this one.
I dont have a CEL for it yet so i still have some time tear it all down again.
Im gonna have to take another stab at it cause theres no freakin way im paying a mechanic 100 - 500 bucks to do it.
Hi Defiance
My EGR tube was completely blocked, and I was able to use a small screwdriver and fuel-injector-safe carburetor cleaner to clean it out (and my only expense was the single can of cleaner).
Because of the twisty angle, I believe it would be hard to find a correct power tool fitting to get the rest. I have a Dremel, and I suppose some of the extensions might be OK for the tube opening, but since I made good enough progress with a screwdriver I did not use power tools. It might be possible to soak the whole tube (which is all metal, once the gaskets are removed -- I reused my gaskets) in solvent. I have cleaned some metal parts in the past with Simple Green heated to below boiling on a regular stove. Soaking is a more patient route, but might produce better results inside the tube body.
Also, I'm with you -- there is no need to pay someone else. Appropriately lubricating the nuts and bolts during installation will make removing them easier (next time).
I had the CEL on with a code 400, however I didn't want to tackle the cleaning myself. I had a local shop do the job, and I ended up paying $240.00 to have the job done. Did I get ripped off? I am having a hard time finding a good shop now that my mechanic of many years (at least 20) has retired. The shop that did the work claimed that they worked on my Maxima EGR tube for about 6 hours.
Thanks,
Zack
Hi Zack -- the fair amount to pay depends on the market hourly labor charge in your area. I believe an experienced Maxima mechanic using my directions can complete this job in three hours. I am NOT surprised that it took them six hours because neither the official Nissan repair manual nor any of the other commercial repair manuals cover this topic well. In other words, I do NOT doubt that this job actually took them six hours. Hopefully they were able to additionally clean the IACV assembly and port opening (as I recommend on this thread).
This cleaning is straightforward, but it is not obvious how to best accomplish the goal. Thus, I would advise anyone hiring a mechanic to print out this topic (hopefully in color if possible, but black and white will be OK too) since there are removal tips in this thread which might easily save even an experienced mechanic several hours. You can multiply my three hour estimate by the hourly rate to see if the total makes sense for you. This job is almost completely pure labor, and I spent only about $5 for a can of cleaning solvent. However, my hands did get dirty.
Is it absolutly required to hackthe one screw to get it off ?
other then alot of twisting and turning the hacksaw part seems
like the impossible part to me.
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______________________
1996 Nissan Maxima SE AT
Spoiler Delete: Complete
97-99 Rear end swap: Done
Is it absolutly required to hackthe one screw to get it off ?
other then alot of twisting and turning the hacksaw part seems
like the impossible part to me.
Hi Defiance -- Bolt hacking is the most patience-testing part of the process. Without doing it, that one nut on the EGR tube bottom cannot slip off beyond the silver color exhaust pipe (in the pictures). I did not hack much off, and if you see in my pictures, I took off only what I call the "tip" of the bolt. It took a while for me to do it (maybe 1/2 hour?), but once done, it never needs to be done again. Putting plywood on the engine helped my body position for this step.
One alternative solution is to remove that silver-color exhaust pipe. If you have ever removed exhaust parts before, they somehow seem to attract rust and therefore nuts which will not move. I do not know what it would take to remove that pipe, but perhaps removing other parts before getting to perhaps rusted-on nuts. A third solution would be to cut the pipe, but then it would have to be fixed. A fourth solution would be to melt the pipe, and bend it out of the way. These last two alternatives seem to me more difficult than hacking the bolt.
Because of the angle and position of this bolt, I do not believe it is wise or advisable to try to use power tools to hack it off. If you had the correct clamp and regular drill bit it might be equivalent to hacking, but I was not willing to put a power tool at that awkward angle. Perhaps an advanced mechanic would have a power tool trick, but I am NOT advanced and I do not have any tricks. If the bolt were more accessible, then I know -- for sure -- that I could use my Dremel with my current fittings to cut it. However, that specific nut is too physically embedded into the engine and too close to the silver color exhaust pipe, and my Dremel skill is not good enough.
I can, however, patiently hack -- hack -- hack....
... but thanks, OP, for posting this. I'm gonna try to tackle this job on my wife's car in a couple days.
Question: what do you think would happen if I *accidentally* sawed off more of the bolt than was necessary?
Hi -- it's never too late to do this maintenance, and I will be doing it myself again. However, next time I will not need to hack the bolt.
To answer your question: I do not see how you could cut off too much bolt if you were using a manual technique (like my hacking recommendation). My method can be done within 1/2 hour, muscle force only on one bolt. It is possible to loosen the nut without removing it (and if you could then slip it off without hacking -- which I believe is not possible -- then good for you). The hacking is done best with the nut on, not even loose, since a nut in place helps prevent cutting off too much.
It is possible to take too much off -- and do more damage around the area -- if you were using power tools. I do NOT recommend using power tools because there are other metal parts there which could be damaged and potentially expensive to replace. The bolt is in an area deep within the center of the engine compartment, and to either replace (or repair) an overhacked bolt or any other parts will be expensive if you pay someone to do it. Forceful solutions -- perhaps including knocking off the bolt with force, or even heat solutions -- could easily damage the EGR tube or other parts in the area.
If the nut is still on the bolt, that's the best time to do the hacking. I only had to hack the flanged area at the tip of the bolt, and that's enough clearance to slip the nut off. I could have gone deeper, but I didn't. The point of the hacking is to allow the nut to slip off the bolt.
That all being said -- it's your car, and if you decide to experiment with other solutions, let us know what happens (no matter what the outcome).
Correct, it's not possible to get the nut (or the thick washer [??]) out if the bolt isn't hacked partially off. Also, one thing I have to add... MAKE SURE YOU BOLT THE IACV BACK ON COMPLETELY. I had a bad whistling sound and a vacuum leak because I forgot the bottom bolt.
I just cleared the code a few minutes ago. I'll have a final verdict later on, but thanks once again for the tutorial and pics.
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2001 Pontiac Bonneville SLE, "the Cruise Missile"
1999 Nissan Maxima SE Limited, "the wife's sport-handling daily driver"
Mine first threw the code just before 100K. Incidentally, it was not long after my wife started putting cheap, low-octane gas in the car. Threw the P0400 code and blew the KS at about the same time.
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2001 Pontiac Bonneville SLE, "the Cruise Missile"
1999 Nissan Maxima SE Limited, "the wife's sport-handling daily driver"
and then choose to remove the EGR altogether -- I discuss that option in my 
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