What is an EGR valve...?

Question

I have a '97 Mazda Protege. The dealership was supposed to fix this valve, but when I picked the car up up, it ran worse than when I took it in!!! Came close to stalling at every stoplight, & then the 'check engine' light came on before I even got home!
Yes, I know...I will call them!
BUT---I would like to have a little info on this before I call so I don't sound like I'm completely clueless. LOL!
(Yes, I'm one of those "dumb female-types" who knows squat about vehicles. But that's gonna change this fall---I'm signed up for a class @ the local tech college, for 'basic auto'.
I made it through nursing school, & specialize in cardiac ICU care...so this shouldn't be much harder! LOL!!)

Thanks in advance for your help!

Peace...

Would I be safe in assuming, then, that the service dept. needs to fix this, free of charge?
I spent $379.00 to have that work done this morning. Then the car shakes, shimmies, & most likely would have stalled if I hadn't put it in neutral & gassed it a little at each stoplight! grrr!
I'm not really the aggressive type, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of. I can't afford it! LOL!!

hsueh, I sent a note to your 360, as I couldn't access your e-mail.
And Ironhand---thanks! I certainly won't be confrontational. Just not in my nature. :-)

And thanks to you ALL! :-) I appreciate that you responded.

Answer 1

It's the Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve.

The purpose of it is to reduce what is known as Nitros Oxide Emissions (NOx) for short. It does this by taking some of the gas that comes from the exhaust side and feeds that gas back into the intake side.

Because it's recirculating exhaust gases, the gases are typically dirty and full of carbon which does eventually clog the EGR Valve up. The EGR valve is typically run with a diaphram to regulate the valve opening and closing.

It sounds to me that your EGR valve is not moving freely. Since you are a Nurse, you should be able to diagnose many of the simple things yourself.

Here you can find instructions on how to diagnose the problem.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/14/46/b7/0900823d801446b7.jsp

I don't believe in any "dumb female types", everyone is as smart as they want to be. Those that don't want to learn, or prefer someone else to do it pay for the specialization. You're a nurse you specialize in human health. I would hope I'm smart enough to take care of myself, but glad people like you are around. Educate yourself on you car and learn to take care of it yourself for the easy things. Mechanics are there for the things that are too complex for yourself.

Good Luck!
E-mail me by clicking on my name if you want further details or more assistance.

Answer 2

The EGR valve or Exhaust gas Recirculation valve is placed on the exhaust gadget. those commonly get hung up with rust and different exhaust deposits. The vehicle might want to be less than production unit assure being in uncomplicated words 3 years previous. i'd verify with a broking to work out if the vehicle and/or area remains less than assure. A defective EGR valve will reason the computer to make the incorrect settings to the gas and air mix causing the engine to run too wealthy or too lean. Its no longer too unfavorable in the couple of minutes period, yet your gas mielage will conflict through, and also you may fail a state inspection so get it repaired formerly then.

Answer 3

I work with the public, and I am a licensed smog tech in California, and allow me this observation: The best questions I get are from the "dumb Female" types. They really want to know, and there is no "Macho" posturing.
That said, about your EGR valve.
It is a device that is designed into your engine to help reduce oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust stream of your car.
When your engine runs, the combustion of the fuel and the air (nitrogen and oxygen primarily) produces Co2, Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and Nitrogen Oxides (known as NOx).
Computers and progressive design in engine management have reduced most of these pollutants and that is good.
Your EGR valve is designed to allow already-burned exhaust gas to re-enter the combustion chambers under certain conditions to reduce engine combustion temperatures. This helps to reduce the NOx.
If there is a poorly seating valve, or if the control of the valve is faulty, the valve may remain open all of the time and cause poor performance at low engine speeds.
You should return to the dealer and ask them to re-inspect and repair the fault.

TIP--> be kind to the service writer. Most likely HE didn't perform the repair and probably won't know what you are talking about.
Take ALL of the paperwork you have relating to this repair and present it to him.
He should take care of your concern in a timely fashion.
You will get a whole lot better service from him if at first you allow him to help you rather than putting him in a corner where he has the sense that this has become an adversarial matter.
Good Luck

Answer 4

This is a typical scenario for a female taking her car to the stealership. I really feel for you women. Stealerships see chump written all over you as soon as you come into the door.

An EGR valve (nicely described by others in this post area) does the things they describe, however, it is one of the cheapest and easiest parts to replace on a vehicle. You can even get them at Walmart for about $5 for many cars. Most often, they don't need replacement, just a little cleaning or repositioning. You can replace them yourself with one or two hose connections in about 20 seconds.

The EGR valve is also another ploy for stealerships to fool people into paying craploads of money because most people think they are some magical item.

99% of your car's problems are caused by the last bozo that worked on it.

Sorry to say, but not only did you get grossly ripped off, they most likely intentionally phucked something else up under your hood that is making the car run worse so they can give you a new line of crap to charge you outrageous money for.

Answer 5

EGR stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation. The EGR valve feeds a little bit of the exhaust back into the car's intake so that it gets burned again, mostly to lower hydrocarbon and NOx emissions. It's been my experience that they are more trouble than they are worth but the car should run fine once everything is set up properly.

Answer 6

Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve. It opens under specific operating conditions to admit a small amount of exhaust gas into the intake manifold, below the throttle plate. The net effect is to lower the temperature of the combustiion process, this will help control detonation.

Answer 7

Emission Gas Recycle---It puts some of the exhaust gases back through the intake to [supposedly] make them run cleaner.

Answer 8

EGR stands for exhaust gas recirulation blends small amounts of gases back through intake to reduce NOX emissions. also reduces combustion temp.

Answer 9

Have you cheked the MAF sensor (mass air flow) or the TPS that typre of car had a recall notice on their TPS i think. and those two may cause a poor iddle.