engine light Options

[6strngs]

ok. wow. I'm stupid. So, I thought the vacuum module and VSV were the same thing. so, I replaced the vacuum module, but not the VSV. BUT, at one point in time, only shortly before my CEL came on, I had unplugged the two hoses from my VSV for a while (I was trying to disable my EGR some more power... when I reconnected it was when I had problems) so, some thought occured to me today, what if I mixed those two little vacuum hoses up and plugged them in wrong? so, I switched them, and reset my ecu. I did what the BGB said to do after resetting the ECU to clear a CEL. which was to jump the TE2 and E1 terminals in the diagnostics box, start the car, turn off all accessories, and let it warm up all the way and then idle for 5 minutes. well, the car was already warmed uo, but I let it idle for about 7-8 minutes. and the CEL never came back on. so, I can't say for sure until I drive the car around for a day or two. but I may have fixed it (though, I've said that before and been wrong). So, it may be that the VSV has gone bad for you and all the other people on here that are getting the code 71. or they just mixed up the hoses like I did. i don't know for sure yet though.

[6strngs]

didn't work. nevermind. I have no idea. I think I'm going to go buy that resistor to put into the sensor so that the engine thinks everything is ok. at least so I can get smogged to buy time until I can figure out what is really wrong.

[alltracman78]

Have any of you bothered to see if the EGR passage in the head/intake man is blocked?

*Or the pipe, if it isn't part of the valve. I can't remember which 5SFEs have which...*

This post has been edited by alltracman78: Mar 17, 2007 - 4:15 PM

[6strngs]

Have any of you bothered to see if the EGR passage in the head/intake man is blocked?

*Or the pipe, if it isn't part of the valve. I can't remember which 5SFEs have which...*

I'm not sure what you mean. on the 5s, the EGR valve is bolted straight onto the intake manifold and has a pipe that comes from the bottom of it. and yes, I did try to clean the pipe passage-way with engine degreaser. then rinsed with water in a sink.

btw, I should really try to learn what the parts are before I call them something. so, basically the two hoses I swapped last night were on the BVSV for EVAP. but yet, the vacuum hoses from EGR and EGR vacuum manifold connect to it? and, I don't know where the two hoses from the actual VSV lead to... so, tomorrow hopefully I'm going to rip out the entire EGR system and check all the vacuum hoses, and clean out any passages I can. I might also seafoam the engine and see if that also clears carbon out of any EGR passages. I'll report back with my findings.

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Mar 18, 2007 - 12:49 AM

[alltracman78]

Some 5SFEs have the valve and metal line as one piece IIRC.
Others [such as apparently yours] have the metal line separate.
If you already cleaned yours out, that pretty much rules it out.

There is a passage in the head from the #4 exhaust port[s] [educated guess, I've never actually probed to see where it goes] to the fitting that metal hose threads to. If this is clogged it will cause that code.

Also, the hole in the intake manifold where the EGR valve bolts to can get clogged. It's not as likely, but if it does, it can slow/stop flow.

I am a big proponent of Seafoam. I've used it many times on my cars.
The only thing I stay away from is using it in the oil.
Anyways, unfortunately it won't do much for the EGR. Not unless you directly soak the passages with it. They make another product called Deep Creep that is basically a spray version of it [think PB Blaster]. You can try sourcing this and soaking the area. But a screwdriver [be careful with it] and a rifle brush is probably best for this.


Your 2 EVAP vacuum lines have nothing to do with EGR. They happen to be grouped with the EGR vacuum lines [think of it as a vacuum line harness instead of a wiring harness].
One goes from the canister to the BVSV, the other goes from the BVSV to the TB. This one has a check valve in it I believe. Very small brown plastic piece in the line.
All of your vacuum lines are marked [as long as they are OEM], so you can tell which is which. Look at the length of them. They will have a number and/or symbol next to it. Like #4 or *3. The other end of the line has the same symbol.

If the EGR vacuum lines aren't routed correctly [which I think you already pointed out] you can get a code.

Also, one more thing.
5SFEs tend to leak oil from the rear of the valve cover and HG.
This oil can get on electrical connectors and distort/block signals.
So if your EGR VSV and connector are covered in oil, this could also be causing the problem. I assume you know where they are.
Don't clean them with brake cleaner. It dries plastic. Use a plastic cleaner, or a quick disconnect cleaner. It will tell you on the bottle if it's safe for plastics or not.

and EGR vacuum manifold

It's actually a vacuum modulator. AKA the EGR modulator.
If you still have the emissions sticker under your hood [on the underside] it has vacuum hose routing info.

[6strngs]

Some 5SFEs have the valve and metal line as one piece IIRC.
Others [such as apparently yours] have the metal line separate.
If you already cleaned yours out, that pretty much rules it out.

There is a passage in the head from the #4 exhaust port[s] [educated guess, I've never actually probed to see where it goes] to the fitting that metal hose threads to. If this is clogged it will cause that code.

Also, the hole in the intake manifold where the EGR valve bolts to can get clogged. It's not as likely, but if it does, it can slow/stop flow.

I am a big proponent of Seafoam. I've used it many times on my cars.
The only thing I stay away from is using it in the oil.
Anyways, unfortunately it won't do much for the EGR. Not unless you directly soak the passages with it. They make another product called Deep Creep that is basically a spray version of it [think PB Blaster]. You can try sourcing this and soaking the area. But a screwdriver [be careful with it] and a rifle brush is probably best for this.


Your 2 EVAP vacuum lines have nothing to do with EGR. They happen to be grouped with the EGR vacuum lines [think of it as a vacuum line harness instead of a wiring harness].
One goes from the canister to the BVSV, the other goes from the BVSV to the TB. This one has a check valve in it I believe. Very small brown plastic piece in the line.
All of your vacuum lines are marked [as long as they are OEM], so you can tell which is which. Look at the length of them. They will have a number and/or symbol next to it. Like #4 or *3. The other end of the line has the same symbol.

If the EGR vacuum lines aren't routed correctly [which I think you already pointed out] you can get a code.

Also, one more thing.
5SFEs tend to leak oil from the rear of the valve cover and HG.
This oil can get on electrical connectors and distort/block signals.
So if your EGR VSV and connector are covered in oil, this could also be causing the problem. I assume you know where they are.
Don't clean them with brake cleaner. It dries plastic. Use a plastic cleaner, or a quick disconnect cleaner. It will tell you on the bottle if it's safe for plastics or not.

and EGR vacuum manifold

It's actually a vacuum modulator. AKA the EGR modulator.
If you still have the emissions sticker under your hood [on the underside] it has vacuum hose routing info.

thanks for the info. I never checked the hoses for markings or anything, but I don't think they have any.

I found a diagram in my hayne's manual that shows all the vacuum lines for 92 and up 5sfe's, and the way it looks, the hoses from the EGR and vacuum module route to the BVSV for the EVAP. but, it could be just confusing in the diagram, cause it's not easy to see. I will find out where they really go today because I'm going to pull the entire EGR system off, inspect all passage-ways, check and replace as necessary all the vaccum lines, and possibly replace the VSV. if that still doesn't work, I bought a 4.7K ohm resistor yesterday so I could make the CEL go away the cheating way. lol

[alltracman78]

Haynes is only good for so much.
Check for that sticker.
It will tell you what hoses go where.

EGR and EVAP do NOT share hoses.
If Haynes is telling you otherwise then they are wrong.

IIRC one of the 3 on top of the TB goes to the BVSV. It's not part of the EGR system, but because of location you might be confusing it as such....

[6strngs]

yeah, you're right. EVAP and EGR don't share hoses. lol. it kinda confused me because there's a bunch of hoses that all run into one big hose and then that big hose splits into smaller sections and stuff. hard to explain. anyway, I pulled the entire EGR system off, except the VSV, which I couldn't find. I was using the underhood label to follow hoses to find it, but the way it looks, it's so deep in the engine bay I might need to removed the intake manifold to get to it. anyway, so after pulling it all off, not finding anything wrong, and I cleaned the port from the exhaust that goes to the EGR valve using Q-tips. I put it all back together, reset the ECU again, and started driving. well, I was out and about, drove for about 75 miles, stopped and started the car 3-4 times, and drove for over an hour and a half and the CEL never came back on (usually it comes on way before driving that much) I'm not gonna get my hopes up, but I'm saying it may finally be fixed, even though I didn't really do anything really.

[6strngs]

so, another day of driving and the CEL still has not come back on! woot! perhaps all I needed to do was clean that port from the exhaust, even though I really didn't clean it all that thoroughly, I just took a couple Q-tips and shoved them in there, they went it white and came out black, so I must've cleaned something. either that, or the seafoam I used helped clear something out. I only used seafoam in the intake, not the oil or the fuel.