EGR tube replacement

[BlackVX]

I brought my VX to the dealer this morning and it needs a new EGR Tube. Total cost $500.

I took the extendented warranty when I purchased the vehicle. It covers the EGR part only.... So it's going to cost $400 for the labor that includes cleaning the carbon on the injectors that are apparently really plugged. I have 55k on my 99 VX. The dealer told that I should have the injectors flushed every 20k. I never read about that from the other VX owners. They did tell me the same story the first year I purchased the vehicle back in 99.

What could cause to plug the injectors like that? I put injectors cleaning fluid from Chevron every 3000 miles.

Anyones faced the same problem or could comment on this?

Thanks,

Michael

[Dallas4u]

I remember being out of warranty, and the dealer wanting to replace the EGR tube... only they told me it would be $80... not $500!!!!

I guess a good $420 cleaning should make the VX run better.

[AREA 51]

Sounds like a hose job. What's wrong with your EGR tube? Stripped fitting? Rusted tube?

I recently read that Isuzu is shooting for 30K vehicle sales/ year . The other income is to be from service.

Why did you bring it in, in the first place? What was your reason/ complaint?

[BlackVX]

By the way Service guy was explaining to me - It sounds that the whole thing was clogged with carbon monoxide residue and the EGR became...eeer... crap.

I brought the truck in because the engine check light came on. It was on and off for several months.

I am guessing that the dealer is right about the EGR tube but the cause of the problem it is doubtfull. I never heard anyone here saying that they have a special service every 20k for flushing the injections.

The VX is being repair at the dealer right now. I can't go back there and just be mad without arguments.

Oh, one more thing. The dealer strongly suggested to change the serpentine belt. It is cracked at several places. So the whole thing would cost $75 part and labor.

Thanks,
Michael

[Zu4two]

I think your dealer's taking you for a ride (and I'm not talking about in their shuttle van).

The EGR tube is a 14" long tube running from your passenger side exhaust manifold to the EGR valve. It costs about $50. Maybe your problem is really the EGR valve, an electric motor looking thingy that's located at the back of the intake manifold on the passenger side. I'd think one of them might run a few hundred bucks to replace.

As for your "injector flush". You said that they told you there was carbon build-up on them? Carbon is a by-product of the combustion process. The fuel injectors are actually located in the intake manifold and are not even exposed to combustion. If they were, your engine would blow-up! More likely, the injectors could be clogged with fuel sediment, that might make them not perform as well. If you run over-the-counter injector cleaner through regularly, you shouldn't have any build-up. When I took my injectors out at 50K to put in the supercharger, they looked pretty good! The bigger question is, are you having performance issues (hesitation, stalling,etc) that would indicate a problem with the injectors?

As for your serpentine belt, I'd get that changed. Seventy five bucks is about right for that service and it probably is cracked.

Good luck!

Kirk

[BlackVX]

Kirk,
What you're saying makes so much sense. I probably misunderstood what the service guy was telling me over the phone. It has to be the EGR valve. I am pretty sure now that the guy was talking about fuel sediment and not carbon monoxide residue. As you can see, I am not too familiar with this.
My VX hesitated once in a while during accelerations. Maybe once every month.
I'll let you guys know tomorrow what happened exactly.
Thanks for the technical details.

I will also ask for a written document for maintenance where they state and recommend to flush the injectors every 20k.

[BlackVX]

Check Engine light came back on this weekend after spending $400 at Brown's Isuzu Fairfax VA last week!

I am about to make a scene when I'll return to the dealer tomorrow. I'm really upset! They changed the EGR valve that was probably working fine (at top needed to be cleaned). I didn't find that it was running much better after I took it from the dealer.

I feel so frustrated because the service guy was still arguing over the phone yesterday that the part needed to be changed.

Is there a law to protect the consumer from vultures like them?! What can I do now beside yelling? I'm sure they won't refund me the useless work they did from last week.

AAAARRRRRGGG!

[Dallas4u]

I see you still paid the $400. Sorry it had to end up like this.

Isuzu service sucks. You've been around long enough to know that, but it still hurts to go in and have it happen to you. Are there any other dealers close enough to take it to, besides this one? It seriously sounds like they are bending you over.

[AREA 51]

Try to find out and post the code(s) that are setting.

Are you experiencing any drivability problems?

[BlackVX]

I got the codes! I just check it out with a local garage and here they are:

P1171 -O2 B2S2
P0137 -O2 B1S2
P0157 -HO2S Circuit Voltage Low Bank 2 Sensor 2


O2 sensors Bank 2…. a classic problem for our VX.


Dallas4u,
There was a time where I was happy with the Isuzu Service. That's when the best Isuzu dealer in my area was in Woodbridge VA but they drop out the Isuzu service this summer.

There is another one in Gaithersburg MD near by but I heard bad stories about those guys.

The Isuzu dealer in Fairfax is supposed to be fair but I don't know why they are picking on me. Maybe it's because I'm Canadian. Yeah that's it... Americans are always picking on Canadians. I bet this is part of a master plan to kick me out of the country.

I want to call Isuzu America but what can I say. I have no proof that the part was defective.

Area51,
I experienced once in a while (meaning rarely) hesitations on sudden acceleration.

Tomorrow I will not say a word about this and ask them what code they got from the computer. Now I'll know if they are lying to me or not. Any other recommendations?

Thanks for your support and listening to my complaints. I feel better already.

[Raque Thomas]

Black VX - I just looked up the EGR valve in the parts book that I have - it costs $158.82, and installation should take 36 minutes. Their labor rate must be $400/hour if it cost you $400 to get this done! I'd go back and talk to the manager, they usually like to maintain their reputation with Isuzu and the BBB; threaten to take it there, or talk to the owner of the dealership. Hope it works out for you!

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Circuit voltage low? Check your ground connections, especially the ECU ground. I think someone here had a problem caused by a bad ECU ground.

[BlackVX]

Oh cool!

I made some research and DeerMagnet got the exact same problem as me (Well, it looks like it).

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...ighlight=P0157

[MrCrowley]

at least try to replace the serpentine belt yourself. all it takes is a little pressure on the tensioner, and you can undo the whole belt, reroute new belt and untension again, get aligned, and then relax the tension. voila. I did this once on a vehicle with absolutely no tools at all on the side of the road in an RV (GM product of course) The only brain part needed is the routing of the belt. However much the belt costs is all it will run you.

[BlackVX]

Mr. MrCrowley, Thanks. I'll know better next time.

The dealer called me and found out that the air flow was lean. He said that they replaced a leaking gasket near by the manifold. It's under warranty and the total cost is $0.

I have a feeling that they looked further than just the O2 sensors problem codes. We'll see if they really took care of the problem. If not, I will buy a new MAF sensor and install it myself like DeerMagnet did.

Here are the details of the invoice of the $450 of last week.

----------
Found EGR Valve sticking open

EGR valve $172.50, Gasket $7.52
Labor $43.80
----------
Emission Work- Cleaned and decarborned EGR port and pipe

Labor $82
-----------
Clean Fuel System Service - Performed fuel system and induction service. Clean Throttle plate, adjust minimum air rate and throttle. Postion sensor (Postion???). Decaron Engine (Decaron???). Install Full Conditioner.

ESC600 Emission JB 54.99
Labor $100
---------------
Serpentine Belt
Part $29
Labor $41

-----------
Misc material charge 28.14
------------

Total a bit over $500 - Extended Warranty ($100 deductible) on EGR part

Any Comments?

Thanks for caring,
Michael