Over this past weekend I though it would be a good idea to check up on the fuel injectors to see what kind of condition they were in after 240K miles...While everything was apart, I decided to clean out the EGR manifold cover and ports. Here is the DIY.
If your EGR system becomes clogged with carbon build up, it can cause issues with IDLE, and BOGGING...so catch it early. (Dealerships charge $400+ to do this cleaning)
Difficulty Scale: 1-10 2
Time: 2 Hours
Tools: 10mm socket short & long, 14mm wrench, pliers, brake cleaner, paper towels, empty box, gloves
1. On a Cold Engine...Start by disconnecting the negative cable from the battery. Remove the gas cap to relieve the pressure in the fuel system.*if you don't, the fuel will continue to pour out of the fuel rail during the cleaning*
2. Disconnect the (3) 1/4" black rubber vacuum lines from the Fuel Pressure Regulator and fuel rail.
3. Remove (2) 10mm bolts holding the plastic fuel wire cover to the fuel rail. Next, loosen the (4) injector clips from the injectors as shown. I used a screw driver to pry the clips open.
4. Once the injector clips are removed and out of the way, remove the 10mm bolts holding the fuel rail to the manifold studs, and use a paper towel to soak up the dripping fuel.
5. Carefully pull the fuel rail assembly off the manifold. Take caution as fuel will drip out of the fuel rail when you disconnect it. Use a towel.
6. Then remove the studs. 14mm Wrench
Should look like this:
7. The fuel injectors will just slide out of the fuel rail. The rubber o-rings on top is what holds them in place. Inspect all o-rings for worn, cracked, split etc. If is not perfect, replace with new Honda o-ring or they will leak.
8. Using a 10mm socket, remove the bolts holding the EGR manifold cover in place. The gasket will also come off when you do this.
Place the cover into a box for cleaning. Liberally SOAK the parts with Brake Cleaner to clear away the carbon build up. I used a small flat screwdriver to "scrape" away the carbon chunks. Note, DO NOT SCRATCH THE METAL.
Gasket:
9. When the cover, gasket and injectors are clean, they should look like this:
I also polished the top of mine with wet-sanding 400 grit sand paper to clean it up.
10. Next, Clean the manifold ports and fuel injector holes. Note, do NOT allow anything to fall into these holes. DO NOT SCRATCH THE METAL.
11. I used a vacuum hose to suck away carbon particles as I scraped the chunks off the manifold. Good idea. I also used Brake Cleaner and a towel to clean all the grime off the manifold and ports. Remember not to let ANY of the carbon chunks fall into the manifold during this step!!!
12. When finished, should clean up to this. Use additional brake cleaner to clean off any grime from these areas.
13. Note, on the fuel injectors, I used brake cleaner to clean them off. I also removed the TOP and BOTTOM O-Rings to get the grime behind them.
14. Once everything is clean put it back together!
It may take a few times to start your car since the fuel rail will be "empty" at first. Check for any fuel rail leaks after startup.
** Note, If you have leaks coming from the fuel rail after you do this cleaning, you probably have a cracked o-ring on your injector. 1 of mine split when I reinstalled it (due to age). They are $2 at Honda...Likely it will be the TOP rubber o-ring, it just slides on and off.
Cleaning fluids won't really get up into the EGR chamber that well.
Mostly they just clean the intake manifold ports, lower throttle body and the intake side of the head.
Now, had the original owner of my van done some cleaners during the regular checkups it would have not been so badly caked up in there...Preventative maint. is the best solution always.
A great help. My Canadian 1998 Odyssey is different, but I took off the intake plenum and cleaned a totally clogged port. Now I have idle surging in park and neutral and a high idle. I am throwing a PO113 code ( IAT sensor voltage high). Could throtle body spray during cleaning cause this?
followed exactly & did exactly as you posted but forgot about the carbon falling in hole part. should i go and take the entire intake manifold and cylinder head off to clean everything out? :frown:
Use a vacuum hose to suck the carbon out if possible.
If not, spray a small amount of brake / carb cleaner into the manifodl where the carbon fell. Be sure to let it air dry for at least 20-30 minutes before starting the engine.
Thanks for the info yakuza. I cleaned mine out over the weekend and omg was it full of crap. I purchased the orings and seals for the injectors, which came out to $40 or so but all the orings were flawless, now to return those and get my money back
D
