OK, some of you may know that I have long been an advocate for the vacuum switch solution to the EGR check engine signal on California 7s, but I am proud to offer a second solutions that is easier than making your own vacuum switch.

12 volt switching relay You can use a 12 volt relay to fool the ECU. You can remove, or leave the EGR switching solenoid on the rack but you will need to wire in a 12 volt relay switch to the EGR solenoid switch harness.

Cut the wires and harness off of the EGR sensor and solder the two leads to the "Normally On" position poles on the relay switch. Plug the EGR harness into the ECU side harness.

When the ECU send the 12 volt signal to the EGR solenoid, the relay will intercept the signal and trigger the relay to the "OFF" position. That's it. No hassles, and no codes. The Resistor fix is not the solution. trust me, I know, but my vacuum switch works perfectly and so will this. I do suggest wrapping the relay with heat shield wrap, but other than that it should be fine.

Radioshack carries these things for less than $5.

 

That's sounds good! I think I will try that. Thanks for the idea.

(Much better than $100 EGR valve!)

Jeff

 

that's cool, no light, but I still want to know what evil (if any) is happening to my engine when this damn thing sticks open.

 

If you are talking about the EGR valve as valuable addition to the engine you should not worry. The egr valve serves no real purpose in a rotary engine. Infact, the 95 models don't even have one. Killing the EGR is nothing to lose sleep over. Just block that crap off. There is a 99.99% chance that it has already blocked itself off with carbon build up. My EGR passage ways were 100% clogged with carbon. The EGR passages are about 3mm in diameter and really offer no value.

 

I have a 94 (California emmissions) RX7. Everytime the car sits until cool (usually only when it sits over night) I will start it up and It will pour out smoke enough that you can't even see the car... Once you drive the car around the block and kick the turbo's in it will go away. So now I am forced to get in the car and the second I start it I have to race around the block (which is terrible for a car just warming up) Now I have my check engine light on and I did the diagnostic test and got code #16 which is the EGR valve (only on the California RX7's) My coolant light is also coming on and off and i see that around the coolant sensor there is a leak The only modification done to this car is the AST removal. (i don't think this leak or the AST removal has anything to do with the smoking problem) I'm guessing that the problem is just the EGR valve but I'm not sure... is there anyway of fixing this valve or should I just get a new one?

 

EGR no good.

Replacing it would be a waste of money considering it does very little for emissions and performance. $$$

I would remove it, clean it, and put it back on with either a block off plate, or back on by it's self and leave it dissconnected to the vacuum sytem.
Plugg the old line though.

I would check your smoke for a color of white. You don't want white. When it's cold out, the gaps between parts becomes greater and it may allow coolant past the housing seals.


My relay idea will keep the EGR error from returning.

 

alright...i need a little more help. i am about to do this since my rack is out and i plugged the solenoid. but i am not too sure about this step...
what is the EGR sensor...could you maybe go into a little more detail...i don't feel like doing this then it not work and me have to take all this crap back off!

thanks man,
mike

 

Mike,
If your car is a California model with an electronic EGR sensor and you are getting check engine light of "16" (EGR) code during the diagnostic procedure then this is something you may want to do.

If your car is not a California model then it is most likely that your car does not have a sensor at the end of the EGR valve.

The EGR stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation and simply put, it recycles a small amount of exhaust gas back into the intake to reduce hydrocarbons during extended and sustained speeds.

The sensor is protected by a heat shield, however, for what ever reason the two pole contacts become glazed with a nonconductive film. The result is a faulty sensor that is telling the ECU the EGR is bad. Most cases the EGR is fine, and you can test it by manually applying vacuum to it which will retract the diaphragm.

The EGR is located between the turbos and is mounted on the lower intake manifold. If your car is a cali car there will be a two lead, shrink wrapped wire that is about 7" long and has a blue plastic harness at the end of it.

Cut these wires at the base of where it connects to the EGR sensor and the solder the two leads to the "Normally on" poles of the relay.

Usually the relays have a diagram on the package that will show the normally off/on positions. There may also be a few words stamped on the relay that reveal which pole is which. If you have any doubts about which pole you want to solder to, just use an ohm meter and see which pole shows 0 resistance. That is the pole you want because that is how the EGR sensor works. Normally on.

Make sure you don't solder the EGR leads to the poles marked voltage input because these are the poles that get the 12 volts from the EGR solenoid harness on the rack.

Hopefully you see that the old EGR sensor harness just plugs back into EGR to ECU harness as it was in the beginning.

I hope this clears any issues up.

 

Anyone try eliminating the egr with a switching relay? If so, what relay switch did you use?

I went to Radio Shack the other day and checked out the type of switching relays they had. Here's a list of what I found:

Plug in Relays-
3A Relay/Skt 12VDC DPDT
3A Relay 12VDC 4PDT
10A Relay 120VAC DPDT
10A Relay 12VDC DPDT

I opted for a PC Relay 12VDC coil rated 10A at 120VAC/24VDC, since it had the highest operating temp of 149 degrees F, other than that I don't know if it will work.

Here are some of its other characteristics
Coil voltage: nominal 12VDC; maximum 15.6VDC
Nominal coil current: 30mA
Coil resistance: 400 ohms
Pickup voltage:9VDC
Dropout voltage: 0.6VDC
Contact rating: 10A at 120VAC/24VDC

Anyone have a clue if this will work?

 

bump

 

Passing on the info:

 

I waned to reiterate that the switch must be "Normally On". This means that the resting point of the switch (Without Voltage) is conductive between the two switching poles.