I saw someone else had posted an EGR cleaning post in the Legend forums. I did this on my 96 RL and am including how to remove and clean the intake manifold. The dealer wanted $400 to do this job and I am no longer under warranty to get it done. I despise the dealers and this is by far the biggest undertaking I've ever done. I didn't have to buy any parts per say, just the gaskets to rebuild the manifold. This is one of those seldom maintenance things but I thought I would post it to share.
This job is quite difficult. It involves disconnecting and removing the fuel injectors, throttle body, water passage, vacuum solenoids, and the manifold itself. There about 50 little vacuum pipe connections that have to be removed and it can be easy to mix them up.
So here’s how this whole thing started:
I received a P0401 code from the ECU. This is the same as 8 short blinks from the MIL. The code is for insufficient EGR flow. This can be from either a clogged EGR pipe or a faulty EGR valve. I took the chance that the valve was fine (That costs another $150) and that the pipe was just clogged. I could have done a cheap job and just cleaned the pipe, but I saw some other pics and that the intake manifold chamber gets just as bad as the pipe. I decided to go all out and take the entire thing apart and do a good job. So far its taken me, a novice, one day to just take the manifold apart. Tomorrow should be cleaning and hopefully back and running by tomorrow night. Here goes:
Items required:
Good mechanics tool set
Metric sockets and wrenches
Lots and Lots of WD-40 (This stuff is amazing)
Torque Wrench
Lots of clean shop rags
Plastic bags
Tape (It helps to label the vacuum pipes with tape so you know were they go)
Parts and Materials:
Carb Cleaner
“Permatex” Instant Gasket
Gaskets (I went to acuraoemparts.com to buy all the required gaskets)
A couple of tricks I learned from other people. First after each step, place bolts and nuts in a labeled bag. Second, use the tape to label all hoses, especially the little vacuum ones. There are so many and they all look alike. And last if you don’t know what goes through the tube your disconnecting, place a rag under it. Air tubes and coolant tubes look a lot alike and you don’t want to have engine coolant all over the place. Not good times.
1. To help yourself out and your back, move the hood to its vertical position. Remove the 2 screws on both struts and reinsert one into the lower hole. You don’t need to tighten these, just make sure they’re in good.
2. Make sure you know your radio code. Disconnect the ground wire from the battery.
3. Next, we remove the strut brace. That’s the black tube going from the left to right side. There are 2 bolts and 4 nuts to remove. Toss that thing and the bolts aside cuz you got a long way to go before that goes back on.
4. Remove the engine cover. There are 4 bolts holding the top on. The manual says there are 2 more on the front side…but I didn’t have any. The dealer probably jacked them and that was that. O well, 2 less to get lost. You can also toss that aside for the same reasons as above.
Part 1: The fuel Injectors
5. We have to relieve the fuel pressure before we can play with the fuel injectors. Start by removing the fuel fill cap. Leave that off for the duration of the project. Next, place a wrench on the banjo bolt at the base of the stem. Use another wrench to hold on the service bolt. Place a shop rag under/around the filter as fuel WILL shoot all over the place. Turn the top wrench at least one turn. If you like me, you’ll lose count at to where 1 turn is. Don’t worry, just turn until the fuel plays Old Faithful for half a second and you’ll be all set.
To be con't