I'm new here. A DIYer without a lot of mechanical expertise, but have been successful in the past repairing my vehicles by reading forums such as this. I appreciate the knowledge that is evident here and hope that someone here can help me.

As stated, 1998 Accord EX 6 cyl, egr code 1491. 72,000 miles. Idling a little rough. CEL on.

Removed egr valve, cleaned with carb cleaner and wire brush. Not sure if it had much effect.

Removed intake manifold, cleaned it and egr ports with carb cleaner and wire brush. Had CEL cleared.

Now idles smoothly, great acceleration. CEL lights up within 5 miles. 1491.

Anyone think that a new egr valve would solve the problem? I'm not qualified to test the electrical connections, so I might have to admit that the bast*rds got me and have to take it to a mechanic (no offense to you mechanics, I just like to figure out and fix these things myself if possible.)

Need to pass an emission test in April.

Thanks,

tstarr1

 

I recall a bulletin Honda Had on 98 v6 accords. I dont remember the code, but the intake manifold was removed and cleaned as you did. The difference, however, the straw size hole was drilled out and sleeved. The parts dept. supplied a couple of parts. I am a mechanic/technician. Unfortunate that it only takes one dumb *** to adversley develope a reputation for his/her peers. Good luck with your car. If you need more specifics that you dont find soon here. I can look it up for you a work the next day. Todd H.

 

Thanks for the reply, O H D.

Yeah, I have the records and the sleeve was supposedly installed at 39,000 miles under the warranty extension, but I couldn't see any evidence of the sleeve when I cleaned it out. The hole was pretty clogged, but I cleaned it very well, as well as the channel from the manifold to the egr valve, so it should have good flow.

I'm just trying to figure out if a bad egr valve could be causing the 1491 code.

I didn't mean to cast aspersions on mechanics/technicians. I did, however, mean to cast aspersions on the manufacturers that produced such a crappy design as the egr port system on the 98 Accords v6. The darn thing apparently clogs up every 30,000 miles.

Good luck to you, Old Honda Dude