Fixing my EGR Valve issue ????

[Wishes527]

Hey there,
I had my check engine light on a bit ago, prior to that I noticed my car was idling terrible at low RPM's, well I had the code checked and they told me it was an EGR valve.
I honestly don't know where this is, if its easy to replace or if I can just clean it.....could someone help me out by telling me first where to look. I have heard that you can try soaking it in carb cleaner to see if it cures the problem.....that true? Or would I be better off just buying a new one all together?
Thanks Much guys

 

[AP1995V6]

Try the carb cleaner first.

Hell of a lot cheaper than buying a new one.

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

Not sure about '99 model years and up but on '94 - '98 the EGR Valve is located just behind the upper intake plenum.The intake plenum is the part of your motor that has the words "3.8L Fuel Injected" on top.Just for location purposes...start where your air filter is located and move up towards the motor (follow the large black air hose).It stops at the throttle body.About 6 inches to the right of the throttle body and bolted the the backside of the intake is the EGR valve.The EGR looks like a shiny metallic disc about 3 inches in size and has 1 vacuum hose coming out the top.

It has 2 nuts that attach it to the intake.There is also a length of pipe (about 1/2" in diam.) attached to it.This is the exhaust flow tube.It can be difficult to remove.It is possible to clean EGR valves out by spraying carb or brake parts cleaner into the port holes but isn't reccomend as cleaning solvents can deteriorate the internal diaphragm.However if the EGR valve is at fault then it won't hurt to try.

After cleaning..make sure the valve is completely dried out then reattach it.

On a related side note - Another possibillity is the EGR system is malfunctioning but the fault could instead be the DPFE circuit.DPFE (Differential Pressure Feedback EGR).Your EGR valve is electronically controlled by yet another set of sensors which vary the ammount of vacuum applied to the EGR Valve in various engine running conditions.

So...make sure it is a faulty valve before spending big bucks on a new one.Cleaning these parts doesn't always help out the problem.

The procedure for the EGR on '99 model years and up is very similar except for the location of the valve and DPFE circuit.