EGR Valve On/Off switch

BosnianLanos · Post by **BosnianLanos** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:14 pm

Well, when my car started having symptoms of a vacuum leak, I though it could be the EGR valve. So, I made a blocking plate and blocked the EGR tube where it enters behind the TB and it improved. There is a lot more vacuum to the point that it actually makes the butterfly in the TB close so tight that it can make pushing the gas pedal harder. So, to cure that, I had to adjust the butterfly screw to a little more open to make pushing the pedal easier, which cause the car to idle higher, but this in turn made the car a little more jittery at the red light and made it use more gas. So, while it helps with my speed demon like ways, it hurts the practicality of my small, calm, fuel efficient car and I would like to be able to control it, not just have to take off the plate every time I want to have a nice, calm car.

So, I was thinking about adding another "POWER" button, when On, it would disengage the EGR and help with speed, and when Off, it would allow the EGR to work freely and have my car use less gas, pollute less, and be less jittery. I have a bunch of toggle switches that I bought and I was wondering, what would be the best way to wire a switch into the EGR wiring so that it is able to disengage and engage on my command? I need the help of one of our ELECTRONIC GURUS. Basically, it is one of those NOS style toggle switches with a positive and negative pole and a chrome toggle. Where would I attached the positive and negative wires to the EGR harness to be able to control it better?

Help!

Thanks!

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:58 pm

i am confused... first you mentioned that your EGR is vacuum controled yet you want to make an "electrical" control switch for it... is your EGR vacuum or electrically controled??

MMamdouh

BosnianLanos · Post by **BosnianLanos** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 10:59 pm

EGR is electronically controlled, but since the 1.6L tube leads from the engine head directly into the intake manifold if you have a fault with the EGR vavle and it is maybe stuck open, it will register like a monster vacuum leak because it will basically be an open hole in your intake.

So, if you plug the hole and bypass EGR you might notice a spike in vacuum (I did), but the actuall EGR valve is controlled by the computer and has a wire harness coming off of it.

Now, I like the extra vacuum it gives me because the car responds quicker and starts better and makes the engine noise of the CAI quieter, but I don't like that I had to adjust for higher idle to have a better pedal feel because I use more gas and the car is shaky from being in neutral and having a high idle.

I fixed the EGR so it will no longer stick, but I like the extra pickup it gives me because it blocks exhaust gas from entering my intake.

So what I am basically asking is how can I integrate a simple switch into the wiring of the EGR so that I can choose when it is enabled and disabled. It is sort of like an extra POWER switch that the AT has, but with the EGR.

I just want to know how I should wire it into the EGR. It may as well be the headlights or something simple, but just what wires should I hook up the switch to? Power and negative? Etc? Help!

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:18 am

now i got what you mean with vacuum here... you got the newer electrically controled EGR.

mine is a simple penumatic valve (just like the advance valve on old distributers) that is operated by the vacuum in the intake. i got a pipe linking the intake to an electrical valve ands out of that valve another pipe to ther EGR.

when things get hot, the ECU sends a signal to that valve to open the passage to the vacuum and accordingly trigger the EGR. in your case the EGR is an electromagnet or so... i recon you can put the switch in the hot terminal of the valve so that you control the operation of the valve.

OK the ECU will still call the shots here but with the switch you can regulate when it should be working.

MMamdouh

panther · Post by **panther** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 2:30 pm

The ecu controls the idle revs so if you've altered the butterfly screw your ecu will need to learn the new idle position. I had a sticky throttle butterfly and opened it about half a turn. That made my revs go high but I followed this procedure and my idle purrs nicely at a stable 850rpm.

Ignition On
Disconnect Idle Speed Control Valve
Ignition Off
Re-connect Idle Speed Control valve
Repeat 4 or 5 times
Start Vehicle - SHOULD NOT IDLE UNASSISTED
Keep vehicle idling on throttle to initialise self learn process
Check idle speed is within parameters.