Troubleshooting p0401 (EGR restriction) on 80 series Land Cruiser

[@gregorygehrke1850]

Thank you for posting, kudos to you for doing all that work. For the next guy, you can check to see if the EGR passages are unclogged by applying vacuum directly to the EGR valve (with a handheld vacuum pump). The engine should stumble and die. If nothing happens then you have to check for clogged passages.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Solid diagnosis method!

[@robertclark2714]

Super Video. Same issue. EGR code 401. Changed EGR. Reset light. It came back on. I think my spirit guide is an engineer because I woke with the premonition that the port was carboned up. Your video encouraged me to go ahead and do it right. I am ordering the vacuum hoses right now. THANKS A MILLION.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

That’s awesome! I love when I have premonitions like that too! Yup for 90% of the people with that problem it’s just that clogged port. Glad I could help

[@dfox344]

I just bought a 95 FZJ80. I'm going through the upper engine now. I might as well remove, clean parts, and replace hoses. Thank you for sharing.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

That’s the first part of troubleshooting I’d say. I always start with whatever is free. I’ll be completely honest though- since there’s several culprits for this check engine light, I’ve had it come back on multiple times. I ended up getting so sick of it I ended up buying the huddexpo kit. huddexpo.com/1995-1997-fzj80-egr-temp-sensor-test-plug-kit/ I’m not affiliated or sponsored by them but I can say once I cleared the code and installed their kit it went away for good. It will never show ‘egr readiness’ in your obd2 ecu diagnostics and If that prevents you from passing emissions that could be frustrating. But what you’re doing right now by taking apart and clearing (especially the port that runs from the throttle body to the egr) is hood due diligence. That port ends up being clogged with carbon for most people and runs better when purged. Tip: Get some pipe cleaner brushes and wd-40; it helps break it down and makes it easy to remove!

[@dfox344]

@@Austin_SaintOnge thank you. I've decided to pull the head off and have a machine shop in Tucson go through it completely. If you have an email, I'll send you pictures of my prospecting rig... triple locked LC. Again, thank you for your time.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

@@dfox344 cool! I ended up doing the head gasket on mine too. Blew the thin part of the gasket in between cylinders 5 and 6. email is [e-mail]

[@jailbreakoverlander]

well Done Austin

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Bro! Thank you! Im a huge fan!

[@jailbreakoverlander]

@@Austin_SaintOnge Nice

[@hlyangel1]

Lots of great information there. Nice job

[@goneballistic]

Great video and thank you for the links!

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

You got it! It’s crazy that such a small problem has so many possible solutions !

[@ervingritzeriii1360]

Austin, Hello... I'm Max. I have had the same code on my wife's 97 Lexus LX-450 since I bought it 3 years ago. Changed the EGR valve (with new studs) and EGR modulator and all the rubber hoses with OEM parts and nothing. Did the Dorman "Vacuum Switching Valve" trick and it actually cleared the code, but then a few weeks later it came back:( Under the plenum, there is one more component I have not replaced (not the VSV though). In order to get to that part, you have to remove the plenum. In all honesty, the code does not do anything to the engine's performance. However, I might just go ahead and take apart the top plenum and have it cleaned at a machine shop and change the part. While the top plenum is off is when you service the fuel injection system too. The vehicle only has 180k on it and is completely cherry. I will probably rip it apart when I have more time and basically restore it. I did the valve cover about 6 months ago and that was a big eye opener, but different story. Here is the reality though, all that EGR crap is just that.... It was an add on Toyota added to get the vehicles through emissions with the EPA. I have a 96 LC 80 Series that had no check engine lights, but then a few weeks back, I was traveling back from Bend, Oregon and blew out my exhaust right before my CAT about 100 miles from nowhere. Had to limp back home at about half the horsepower and loud as hell. Funny thing with that... my CAT was apparently plugged and bad. Ended up doing a straight pipe from the exhaust manifold to the muffler and eliminating the CAT and everything else. Gained probably 20 horsepower and the engine sounds like it should unrestricted. Thinking about doing an EGR delete and just doing away with all the emissions crap. Yes, it will throw codes, but I am curious what the outcome will be? That hot pipe going into the EGR valve that melts the engine wiring harness. I'm not sure yet, but I think that is coming from the exhaust.

[@ervingritzeriii1360]

Oh... the reason why I say that it might be from the exhaust, is that when I blew out my exhaust in front of my CAT, it burnt a hole in my EGR Modulator. Melted under the bottom and destroyed the diaphragm inside. I literally inspected it two days before and it was working properly.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

I wouldn’t even worry about taking the upper plenum off for cleaning/servicing, unless your injectors need servicing but I’m guessing they don’t with only 180k. I purchased the egr delete kit from huddexpo and it’s been cherry since! I would recommend going that route. Of course, it is for off-road use Only 😆. That’s interesting about your cats being clogged and I totally believe you gained that Hp back. I’m planning on getting rid of mine as well and TIG welding a titanium exhaust into my downpipe so make sure to subscribe to check that out in a couple weeks!

[@ervingritzeriii1360]

@@Austin_SaintOnge The one thing with removing the cats is that they had heat shielding on them. Didn't really think about that until my wife stated complaining about the heat coming off the passenger side floor pan coming from the straight exhaust pipe. Probably not a ot that can be done there. However, I am going to put some exrtra sound deadener under the carpet right where the heat was. Yeah, I'm curious about the Huddexpo EGR delete... is it just electronics? To delete your EGR, you would need a plate for the plenum and a way to do away with the hot exhaust gas piping coming in by the wiring harness to the EGR valve. I need to research that pipe more, but all that EGR stuff is just taking up space amd probably hampering the performance. .

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

@@ervingritzeriii1360 that makes sense about the heat coming up through the passenger seat. Yeah you technically need to block off the head and the intake ports with a plate; but the huddexpo kit just disables it with ball bearings shoved into the vaccuum lines that draw the air from the exhaust but for all intensive purposes the kit works well

[@bsteimel]

The vacuum line off the back part of the egr valve goes into one of the vacuum switching valves underneath the intake not into that top of the intake. That may be a part of your problem. That is how mine is setup. Feel free to reach out I would be happy to do a video chat.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

I totally forgot to mention that after this video! I figured that out eventually but since have swapped in a Cummins so no longer have the gas engine!

[@bsteimel]

@@Austin_SaintOnge yes hence the name. Sorry. I just stumbled upon the video as I was putting mine back together after doing the valve cover gasket and all of the rubber underneath the upper intake.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

@@bsteimel nice!

[@arielmarin6968]

Cool video ..we're can I get the window trims for 94 land cruiser

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Ooo those are tough, I’d guess Toyota genuine oem is your only option unless you find someone parting one out. And the ones being parted out are probably cactus as well

[@CaptMaxADV]

Damn dogg! Hatin it dropping that part in there! 😬

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Bro it was the worst!

[@mikerosario9949]

I have a 1992 Toyota Lan cruise of 4.0 can't find a check valve or secondary manifold part for it help

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Only check valve I can remember in that vicinity was the pcv check valve🧐 secondary manifold? Do you mean the egr modulator? Mine is also the 4.5 so there might be some difference but let me do some research and I’ll get back to you

[@tikitronco]

What exactly is you do to unclog the port? Just spray carburetor cleaner through it?

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Yeah I think I sprayed some kind of cleaner through the port and used a pipe cleaner style brush the purge all the carbon

[@tikitronco]

Thanks, I just replaced all the lines, changed the egr and the distributor. Cleaned the port. Only things left are the VSV and the lines under the intake manifold, just going to replace the whole lot.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

@@tikitronco sounds like you’ve covered all your bases. I ended up going with the huddexpo kit eventually. Was one of the most frustrating error codes I’ve ever had

[@tikitronco]

@@Austin_SaintOnge just replaced everything I’ve cleared all the codes. And now I’m just waiting for the “catalyst module” to complete its test… I’ve driven it 175 miles in the past 2 days. Still won’t complete… No CEL or codes so far, but still it’s very frustrating 😅🥹. On the good side. she’s driving like a dream. Can’t really complain, only paid $2k for it (1996 tripple locked LC) 🙌🏻

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

@@tikitronco did you install the huddexpo kit ? That causes it to never show egr readiness. Mine didn’t either but deq didn’t check for that- only that there was no codes. I didn’t notice much of a difference as far as engine performance but just not having that annoying code was worth it🤣

[@NKPGarage]

On previous Land cruisers I have fixed EGR and O2 sensor problems. I have bypassed them electronically while still leaving them in place. But now that these trucks are old enough and in most states don't have to pass an OBD2 test anymore. My plan is to delete EGR on my current and any future 80 series. What are your thoughts on deleting the EGR system all together?

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Yes yes yes! You can buy the “keychain” 😂 from wits end and block free other okebung off then voila. I also purchased the huddexpo kit of you can shove a 4.7 ohm resistor in between the contacts on the hot wire for the egr temp sensor. I like the look of the huddexpo kit though. Only issue is if you live in a state where the require the egr readiness protocol to not be pending, it won’t pass because it’s looking for a certain value abs will never get it with the resistor in

[@NKPGarage]

@@Austin_SaintOnge That makes total sense.

[@davidalvarado3560]

Hey my engine stalls randomly. I checked the code and all it shows is the egr valve. Can it cause the engine to stall?

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Potentially it could. If it’s clogged it might be restricting circulation through the plenum. I’d take it off and check the port where the throttle body meets the upper intake

[@fromwatertowater]

Throttle control valve can go bad. Only buy factory replacement if you can.

[@robertclark2714]

I do not understand why they buried anything electrical under the plenum on any vehicle. Also, I just about swallowed my snuff when I saw the wiring harness right beside the EGR exhaust pipe. I am hesitant to delete the emissions on my vehicle because the rules can change and I might have to take it to an emission center some day.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Yeah it’s dip frustrating having all that junk back there. Heat wrap the harness! I used the huddexpo kit. No more p0401 but obd2 diagnostic test for the egr readiness will always show not ready so just get a mom and pop sho to do your emission test if that’s necessary

[@richdevito78]

I bought a delete kit for $35 fixed problem.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

I’m ordered one from bud expo just to try it out. From what I researched it will turn the light off but may never show egr readiness for the drive cycle. I’m pretty sure we have to have that cycle completed in order to pass emissions here in Oregon

[@davelassell]

@@Austin_SaintOnge What ever happened with you hudd expo experiment? I'm in the same boat with emissions here in Nashville and I've have 0401 for like 5 years. SOMETIMES if I clean out that one tiny pipe that goes through the intake plenum I'll get three weeks of no CEL.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

@@davelassell so I did end up purchasing the hudd expo delete kit and disabling the egr system. I moved to Vancouver (Washington) so I don’t have to test for emissions any longer. After disabling the system I’ve had no check engine light after 400 miles, but gas mileage seems to have gone down a little. The only issue you might have going with the guys expo kit is if they require your egr diagnostic test cycle to be complete. Since the end plug that caps off the egr sensor has the 4.7k resistor, the test will never show ready. As long as they don’t require that in your county you should be good to go.

[@ruggeddude1560]

HEARS ANOTHER FIX I SEEN ON YOU TUBE. YOU NO THE PLASTIC T THATS ON THE FIRE WALL THAT HAS TO DO WITH COOLANT? I THINK ITS TWO OF THEM AN ONE GOES TO THE HEATER CORE. THERE A GUY THAT USED AN BRASS THREE WAY FITTING INSTEAD OF THE PLASTIC ONE. IT LOOKS LIKE ITS JUST AN 3 WAY OPEN T FITTING. I THINK I JUST PASSED THAT ON. I SEEN THREE VIDEOS ON THIS FITTING AN IT SEEMED TO BE ON THE 80 AN 100 SERIES. ON THE 80 SERIES IT LOOK LIKE ONE HAD AN IN SIDE CHECK VALVE FROM THE FACTORY. CHECK IT OUT LIKE IT DONT LIKE IT HEY. CHECKS THIS OUT. THE 4.0 LITER MOTOR YOU HAVE IS AN COPY OF THE CHEVY 4.0 IN LINE SIX MOTOR. CHECK IT OUT.

[@Austin_SaintOnge]

Interesting I actually just replaced the heater t valve. Actually mine is the 4.5 liter