I just had my '98 in the shop because of the check-engine light. They replaced the EGR valve thinking that would fix the issue. The morning after (this morning) I turned the car on and the light was back on. The shop is now telling me I need a new lower intake because of carbon build up and quoted me $750. Trying to avoid the expense if possible... My question is whether a fuel additive like BG44k or Seafoam (both seem to be almost universally praised) would possibly burn off some of that carbon build up. I apologize in advance if this is an ignorant question- love cars just don't know how to work on them myself Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

 

what in the world are they trying to sell you.... a lower intake? Is that like an intake manifold because of carbon build up? Sounds like horse pucky to me! Is that the exact terminology they used?

 

The 6th gen accords have the port going through the intake manifold to feed the EGR valve. That is what gets plugged up. I can not find a procedure for the 4 cylinder engine.

Seafoam will not remove that carbon buildup.

I attached a pic of the line that is likely clogged. It is circled. You can try to remove the EGR valve and try to clean out the port using brake cleaner and a pipe cleaner. You may have to take of the resonator chamber and clean out the passage from the top.


[IMG]local://upfiles/5767/81787F7F8F334B5CB2F6BB4F27045576.gif[/IMG]

 

They actually already replaced the EGR valve and the light came back on. The shop is reputable and reliable (I and my father have been using them for a few years) so I don't expect they are bs-ing me, but I believe the exact terminology was "lower intake".

 

The shop also "cleaned" the intake ports as much as possible but could not remove all of the carbon. And this is a 4 cylinder- forgot to mention that.

 

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Hello There Member..WheelBrokerAng here...
email this member and see what he can offer up for you on that problem.He's 18 years certfied ASE Honda... Chiovnidca

WheelBrokerAng

 

You could easily do this yourself. Remove the top half of the intake manfilold and get some pipe cleaner or wire brush and throughly clean the inside of the manifold and the EGR port.Just make sure you put some rags or tape across the runners so you dont drop anything down in there.

You don't need a shop or a new intake manifold to fix this. If you need me to I can take pics of a spare manifold I have laying around to show you exactly what you need to clean.