EGR Oil Leaking

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I drive a 1995 3.1L V6 Pontiac Grand Am SE.

My mechanic told me that my EGR valve was throwing a code, so I took it off and cleaned it out and tried to fish out some of the carbon in the air intake tube. I used carb cleaner on the valve and the tube and I sprayed a little bit of air duster into the tube, but it made a funny noise so I stopped after about 1 second of spraying.

When I put it back on, I forgot to snap the wiring harness back onto the top EGR solenoid. I reconnected the negative battery cable and started my car. The gauges red fine. I revved my engine a few times and everything seemed okay. Then I turned off my engine and then turned it back on to listen for any rough idling (that’s why I decided to clean the EGR in the first place). Then I turned it off.

When I got out of the car, I realized I forgot to reattach the wiring harness to the EGR. I disconnected the negative battery cable and it sparked a tiny bit. I reconnected the wiring harness to the EGR. Afterwards, I noticed that it had leaked some fluid (I’m guess oil?) into my engine. There was a very small amount of light smoke or steam (not sure which), but it stopped a minute or two later. I’ve attached a picture for reference.

Is it safe to reconnect my negative battery cable and try restarting my car???

2

There is no oil or other fluid that is normally in an EGR valve. I would guess that it is either the cleaner that you used, or something leaking from the hose in the picture.

3

Yeah I know that the leak did not come from the EGR. This is about 12 inches toward the front of the vehicle from the EGR.

4

I’m not following why it wouldn’t be safe to just hook it back up and go, or why you’re thinking of that wet spot as being related if its not right near where you just cleaned the EGR. But you’ll want to find out what is leaking there. Maybe it was from the cleaning or maybe it is leaking coolant from that hose - in which case you’ll want to fix that.

5

It was coolant. I tightened the hose clamp and drove it for about 30 minutes and it doesn’t seem to be leaking anymore. Thanks guys!