Hi there. About three years ago I had the EGR valve on my mazda atenza 2005 cleaned as the check engine light came on. About a year ago the check engine light came on again and it was an EGR fault. The driving has never been affected by this fault. The diagnostic guy reset the computer and the check engine light turned off, he said it wasn't a biggy and could think about replacing it or leave it. About three weeks ago the check engine light came on again and the diagnostic showed the EGR fault again. A week ago the check engine light turned itself off. I took it to the mechanic and he said it's expensive to replace this part and he said if the driving isn't affected and the light has turned off, it doesn't seem to be a fault currently so wouldn't recommend bothering to replace it if the driving is fine and no light is on. Is this correct?

I actually purchased a new EGR valve as it was half the price to buy through a friend who works in automotive parts, rather than through the mechanic. So I have an EGR valve - I could potentially still just replace it, I may have friends who could rather than paying a mechanic. But is it worth it if it's not affecting the drive? Is there a possibility it's not even faulty if the light is on and off?

 

Welcome to the forum

The service people did not do a correct way to diagnosis your issue.
ll the one person did was turn off your dash check engine light. LOL
The second person gave you lame service information.

wow!

Ok so next time and before you start replacing parts that have not been verified as failed or failing find a shop that has an ASE sign somewhere on the building or just ask them. "do you have an ASE Mechanic or technician that can look at my Mazda! Trust me if they take offence and don't happen to have a auto manufacture trained auto tech working for them then they really are a form of service mechanic we like to call grease monkies or old school mechanics.
Its evident that the 2 places you mention neither even know apparently how to diagnose an OBDI let alone an OBDII or CANbus operating system.
I would have them service you Briggs and Straton lawn mower!

Also when asking for help please in the future provide more information about your car just like a service shop work order.

Model
miles
engine size
transmission type
emission type (see sticker under hood)
Last service done and what was it?

And for members asking questions and * not in the USA please post what country you are from. It really matters about service questions being answered!!!!!!!


*Location: Christchurch ????? I had to go look at your profile to figure out your country?? NZ=New Zealand

 

Hi Callisto,

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it! I think it's quite common here in New Zealand (not excusable) that many mechanics are as you put it 'old school mechanics' unless you go for the pricy end (which I guess is worth it when trying to diagnose a fault that isn't clear like this one). I've often had issues trying to diagnose things like this where they replace the wrongs things or spend loads just trying to figure out the problem so it's quite off putting sometimes which I guess it why I came here next. I shall see if we have these 'ASE' qualified shops here. It's confusing whether I should do anything or not when there is no symptoms at all and the light is gone. The mech said deposits can build up and just trip the sensor sometimes.

The error codes were P0401-FF (EGR system insufficient flow detected) and P0661-FF (Intake manifold tuning valve control circuit low (Bank1)).

Atenza
250,000km
2.3L
Automatic
Emission type: couldn't find sticker under the hood or don't know what I'm looking for... haven't heard this referenced before in NZ sorry.
Last service was 10/03/2024 just a general full service
Location: New Zealand

Appreciate you teaching me the ways of this forum

 

Ya sorry after I responded I then figured out where you reside. I have no clue what is offered in your country for Automotive certifications.
Honestly without you have a good quality Diagnostic scanner and little more experienced with using it and what you find you may just need to shop around and find a better service shop?

I will say that randomly guessing as they are to change a part based on a DTC without checking the part itself can get expensive and also may and often creates other issues aside from the first original unresolved issue and problem.

BTW the term "general full service" is defined by each and every shop the defines what that means to them. there really is no such thing as "general service" or "general full service".
You have to carefully read what they did and always read what the service you are agreeing to include. If you don't understand something, ask them. If they get irritated by the question, go find another shop to give them your hard-earned money! It's part of the service or at least I think it is.
Yes, I run a shop(s) and owned several automotive related businesses over the decades and answer questions all day long in the real world and on forums. LOL

 

Are you still having trouble with this issue?

 

Welcome to the forum