A couple of days back, a hissing noise developed in my engine compartment. I thought it was a vaccum leak but the car doesnt idle unusually or anything like that. Well today I finally isolated the hissing from the rear of the engine. When I pushed the throttle, I could smell a slight exhaust smell in my engine compartment. Any ideas? Could the EGR be going out? Is it a bitch to replace?

 

It's not that hard to replace. You just have to work a little blindly. Use a vacuum tester like a Mightyvac to check the vacuum lines and EGR operation. If you are smelling exhaust, maybe the valve is just loose or the gasket is blown.

 

How can I check to see that it is working properly? I dont know if it means anything, but when I stab the throttle, the hissing goes away and then comes right back. It kinda seems like there is a loss of power.

 

Might even be your intake elbow. When you open the throttle wide, you lose most vacuum. Closing it at high rpm, creates lots of vacuum.

The EGR valve should operate smoothly when vacuum is pumped up to it and it should hold the vacuum. The EGR solenoid is probably working if you are not getting any specific codes for it.

 

I can tell that it is coming from the back of the engine. And like I said when I give it some throttle, I can smell exhaust fumes in my engine compartment. Could it be that it is leaking? If I take it off, is it ok to reuse the gasket if it looks ok?

 

Also- is it ok to take off the vaccum line from the EGR valve to see if maybe the valve has a vaccum leak? Will this harm it in any way?

 

That won't harm anything for testing purposes.

If you pull the EGR, I would replace the gasket, since what you are chasing might be a leak.

 

Well at idle, there is no vaccum at the EGR valve. What does this mean? There is vaccum going to the silonoid, but none after it. If the silonoid was bad, would an SES come on?

 

Ok this is getting very annoying. I checked all vaccum lines and even disconnected them while the car was running to rule out any missed leaks. The hissing is still there. I pulled off my intake elbow and sealed the end with my hand and blew into it and there were no leaks. I disconnected the EGR line, and hooked a tube up and sucked on it while the car was running and the car started to shake and almost die. It does hold vaccum. Could it be leaking from the plunger? I do not feel anywhere it could be leaking.

 

TTT

Someone please give some insight to my problem. I did a search and nothing has helped me out

 

TTT~Absolutely no one wants to help someone with a real problem but would rather post on what the best CAI or catback is?

 

Have a little patience.

The EGR only works in part throttle situations when the car is moving, so you won't see any vacuum past the solenoid at idle. When you pulled vacuum on the valve at idle, it did just what it would normally do-cause the engine to try to stall. You say it held vacuum and when you released it, the engine idle returned to normal-that's all good.

You problem may lie elsewhere. Any way you can isolate the hissing further? Did you check the brake booster hose, PCV?

 

I do need to check the brake booster hose. As far as the PCV part, what do I need to check on that?

I appreciate your help shoebox

 

Just check to make sure the PCV is in tight in the grommet and the line to it is ok. You might as well take it out and check to make sure it rattles freely and is not gummed up.