99 mazda 626 es egr vavle

Hey I've got a 1999 mazda 626 es v6. Check engine light came on and when i had it scanned i was told i had an egr valve malfunction, most likely being that it was stuck. i bought the haynes manual for the car, but i cannot find the egr valve for the life of me. I've had a few people look and they say most of the time its right in front of you and easy to find. I would like to be able to find it and clean it so i dont have to spend a few hundred on a new one. If anyone knows where it's located, or even somewhere i can go to see a picture of where it is, that would be extremely helpful. I'm not even close to being a mechanic, but i'd sure like to try and clean it before going out and paying for a new one, as well as the mechanic charge to install it. Thanks in advance for help or advice.

Tom

do you not have a vaccum hose diagram under the hood that you can follow! Probably going to the dealer's parts dept they would be able to show you were it's located and what it looks like! Although you seem bound and determined to avoid that at all costs. I doubt cleaning it will be successful because you could have a vaccum problem with the solenoid and cleaning it won't fix it. If you can't find it Im skeptical about how successful you'll be in your endeavours but good luck

i know, im not very smart when it comes to cars. i went to auto zone to get it scanned and they are the ones who told me i probably just need to clean it. i was looking for an easy fix although thats most likely not going to happen. I was able to pass emissions and all before this happened a little while ago. thanks for the dose of reality though!!!

It is an easy fix for someone with more experience thats all! Im Just saying that you could be wasting your time by cleaning it! The kids at Autozone shouldn't be your first source for diagnostic advice, drivability related reapirs require troubleshooting and expertise not too mention the tools and electrical equipment that can be necessary. The valve might very well be stuck, but it might also have an electrical circuit problem to the solenoid, plugged ports, vaccum leaks etc. Just cleaning it and hoping it repairs it although sometimes works often results in good parts being damaged after cleaning that then require replacement unnecessarily. If you don't know anything about cars then the smartest thing you can do is find a good dealer or repair centre that's familiar with the Make and model of car you drive and are equipped and compentent enough to perform thorough diagnostics. If most people would compare the price of a vaccum pump, a dvom and a code reader which would be the bear minimum of tools require just to troubleshoot that system the cost outweighs the price that a diagnostic would cost. Plus what do you with the tools after the vehicle is repairred? Not trying to berate you just making the point that I don't understand peoples reluctance to pay for good diagnostic skills, You don't have to have them do the repair should you choose but changing 3 parts and spending 3 weekends working on it instead of one is hardly an economical and effective way to go about it. People do this all the time and tell themselves the parts had to be changed anyway or it was good preventative maintenance. Sorry in my eyes my time and money is worth more then that and better spent other ways then getting in over my head trying to fix my own car when I'm not familiar with the mechanics of an EGR system let alone how to find it when the manual doesn't have a picture. Get it checked by a pro and let me know what they think!

my main reason to save money is that i'm a recent college grad who is kinda limited financially. i got loans and bills so i was just looking for an easy fix so i dont drop farther into debt. i'll let you know when i get it looked at.

and from a few different sources an egr valve runs about $350 for my car so obviously i would give up some weekends to clean it myself it that was possible.

Like I said the easy fix is the proper fix, anything else is just practice!