EGR delete on 99 3rz?

Anyone done the EGR delete on a first generation 3rz?

My truck's throwing that code as well as the TPS (which is new) and from all research I have read so far I come to one of two conclusions.

One is to keep it on and replace it. I have cleaned it but to no avail...

Two is to get rid of it. I live in Oregon, emissions isn't something I have to worry about. From what I read, all the egr does is recirculate a small portion of your exhaust back through your motor. Half a dozen guys say you don't need it and it's fine and don't see how recirculating exhaust through your engine can be any good, upon further research other half dozen say you risk blowing your motor because your valves, pistons, rings will be subdued to extra heat. Some have even experienced a dramatic loss in MPG, some say it helped.

My main problem is my truck will run fine one day and next will lose 90% of its power and just won't go. Gas does nothing, motor does nothing. Doesn't matter if the tps is plugged in or not, matter of fact seems to do much better unplugged which I know can't be right. Replaced it and still throws the code.

I've had several people look and check everything possible and it's beyond them. Everything is checking out voltage wise, air/spark/fuel is all good, grounds, sensors...

I just don't know what else to do or replace without taking it Toyota and getting bent over...who knows if they'll even fix it..its gotta be something simple as motor/tranny/clutch is good and starts, runs, shifts fine. Just seems like it gets to a point where the computer decides to not want to read and run. Had truck 9 months and just started doing this in the last month.

 

And I get 24mpg highway on 33x12.5s the way it runs now which is pretty good, but I also know it could do better if the motor was actually not throwing codes and running in the correct mode and not at a high idle since the tps isn't plugged in. Would like the problem to be fixed one way or the other without sacrifing milage anyway.

 

Why must you make Al Gore and Ed Begley Jr. cry?

Though seriously, your EGR is a serious component of your engine management system, and is in direct control from your ECU. There is no good reason to want to disable it, and every reason to diagnose your issue to make sure the engine is running as efficiently as possible. Your EGR has the purpose of reducing displacement volume ONLY at cruise and low load conditions where you do not need the full power abilities of the engine. It also has the function of reducing engine temperatures in certain applications by reducing again the effective displacement of the engine.

If your EGR system is functioning properly, it will NEVER limit the potential of your engine when you need it. It activating when you dont want it to may indicate another issue with the engine's function.

First off, you need to tell us what symptoms are causing you to think you should remove the EGR. You said some days its fine, some days you loose all your power. Im thinking its possible you have an exhaust obstruction or maybe a vacuum leak.

The nature of the EGR system will result in carbon buildup in a valve and transverse tube. Might need a cleaning.

Any OBD codes? Do you have a good vacuum gauge? I would be interested in the reading you are getting from the manifold at idle. As well as the pressure readings from the EGR tube.

 

Simplicity, one less thing to go wrong and replace, is why I was asking to get rid of the egr. I think it should probably be left on there though as well since I'm still getting 24mpg and afterall, Toyota engineers are no duummies.

This is the 1 and only problem I've had with this truck and no one seems to know what is wrong...had 2 pretty damn good mechanics leave scratching there heads and one even had the privilege of driving it when it was acting up since I barely made it to his house, so I had him hop in and he looked at me like I was crazy when he saw what it was doing haha.

I'm not sure it's an exhaust obstruction, more so then what the codes read and that's a PO120 which says faulty TPS or ECM and a PO401 which says too little flow on egr or blocked or number of stupid sensors that I've never even heard of. I cleaned the egr and hoses so I don't think it's blocked or dirty anymore. You could hear that float thing in there working as well.

I should tell you also, I only notice it to happen when I'm on a 20-30 mile trip, at a steady 65 mph or so. It has never done it in town. Just seems like after a while, it will cut fuel off. Go to give it gas, just bogs all way down, doesn't die, but you have absolutely no power. At the same time, you can idle or give it maybe 1/8 throttle just to coast or idle in whatever gear your in. Downshift, the motor revs like normal, yet when give it gas just falls flat on its face again.

I will ask and see about the numbers you're asking for. It might be this weekend until I can get ahold of one of my mechanics.

Thanks for your help

 

if you had an '03-04 V6 I would say limp mode, but you're not drive-by-wire

but it usually is the TPS or TB when that happens, determines how much fuel gets sent into the mix, hopefully someone with more knowledge can chime in

 

Did you ever solve your problem?

 

Just do it its like less than $100 on lcengeneering, if it works great if not just put it back. I would say that you need to keep up with the maintenance and log everything and only use oem. Dont take it to toyota lol theyll just park it behind the lot and leave it there for 4 hours and theyll suggest you change the coil packs etc etc etc. Do all the work yourself, ive become a tacoma mechanic just off utube and here.

 

Oh yeah, for sure, I plan on deleting it. I was just curious if he ever figured out why his truck was running like that. Just in case I ever have that problem.

 

these kind of threads happen everyday the usual culprit is non oem parts, bad maintenance and no logging of maintenance. If you keep up with the scheduled maintenance it will purr for 100s of thousands of miles, the problem is people put auto zone junk and only fix stuff when it doesnt work. Enough of my rant, gl op.

 

If you have a ghost in the machine and confident mechanics cant find it.....and rule everything else...
especially true for intermittent stuff....ECM....never hurts to score a salvage one on the cheap for future...

I would rule out bad grounds first......electrical auto probes....about $50...good ones $100
And replace any non oem engine sensor.....that only makes cents.....some even report probs with non oem thermostats.....

A live data scan shows everything......

 

I've heard of the fluid pump inside the tranny being bad and not pumping the fluid or even doing it whenever it feels like it, maybe that was the problem, guess we'll never know...