> honda evidently didn't anticipate the very low quality gas we have since
> federal detergency standards were decreased, and they welded the inlet
> manifold back up after drilling the egr ports. [these days, the egr
> ports are blanked with a removable plug.] the only way i can see to
> clean the port is to drill the welded section back open - a giant pain
> to re-close.]
>
> getting back to the egr, to make the game a little more interesting, you
> can't just disconnect the egr system from a california vehicle without
> tripping a code on the ecu, so the easiest thing to do is simply get an
> out-of-state ecu that doesn't look for the egr or operate it if present.
> instantly, you then have a vehicle that runs much better, shifts more
> smoothly, and maybe even gives better gas mileage [although i haven't
> tested that bit yet]. i know the first two bits because i scored a
> non-ca ecu at a junk yard today [$35], and have been driving it. all
> the usual egr activity has gone and no code trips when the egr is
> disconnected.
>
> interestingly, the new ecu also immediately set a code for my lockup
> solenoid that had been causing some concern, so i swapped that out too,
> the code disappeared and lockup is completely back to normal. i'm not
> sure why there would be no code with my old ecu - maybe there was some
> funky degradation in the output transistor. it was doubly confusing
> because regardless of the ecu, the solenoid appeared to test ok, but it
> just wouldn't work right. anyway, all is now back to normal and life
> without egr is great.
>
> ps. it's useful to have a backup ecu just in case of weird diagnostics.
> it's extremely unusual for one to actually malfunction, but it seems i
> have one that has, partially at least. current pricing being what it is
> for this older generation ecu, a spare is a handy, affordable tool.


Jim, would this actually apply to all pre 1991 model year vehicles? Or
is it year specific?

JT

(Don't know why I even asked as I'm in TX)