2001 F-150 Check Engine Light (EGR Flow Excessive)

Hello, I'm new so bear with me! The check engine light just came on in my 2001 F-150 4.6L V6 (roughly 53 K miles). I stopped by a local autozone and they hooked it up to one of their meters and said the code was "EGR flow excessive". The guy said it wasn't a major problem and offered to reset it. He did and it has not come back on (although it has only been about 100 miles... knock on wood!). What is the EGR.. what does it do. Am I in any danger of doing any damage to my truck if I do not drop what I'm doing to have it fixed? Could this be caused by a tank of bad gas? My truck seems to be running fine. I filled up on Sunday at a local Thorton's (for $1.72 for regular gas) and my check engne light came on Wed. I've filled up there a couple times before and never noticed any problems. My wife has a 2000 Mazda 626 and used to get gas there..... We noticed her check engine light would come on also.. although I believe her car was diagnosed with a cylinder problem by Mazda. Could this be cause by a bad tank of gas? Any ideas... recommendations? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

EGR is Exhaust Gas Recirculation. It allows some of the exhaust gases to mix with the air/fuel entering your engine. This is done to help lower combustion temps, reducing pollutants. The higher the combustion temps, the higher the polutants. Sounds like your EGR valve was temorarily stuck open. Like the guy at Auto Zone said, no big deal, unless it happens again. If it does, it's not to hard to put in a new one. A Chiltons manual will tell you how. As to whether the gas was the problem, it's a possibility. Are you useing cheap "no name" gas or "name brand" gas? Although gas is gas, the major resellers do add some chemicals to their gas to help it burn cleaner. That means less soot and deposits to gum up the things like the EGR valve.

Fritz,
Thanks for the info. I purchased my last tank of gas at a local "Thorton's Food Mart". I think I might stay away from from there inthe future to see if that helps. If you are not familiar, these places are fairly common where I live and really aren't "no name" places... but they are not "Shell" stations. I guess I'm trying to say that they aren't the best around here... but there are some that are worse.

How much skill would it take to replace the EGR Valve? Is it a couple hour job or a weekend project?

Thanks again for the info!

Shouldn't take more than an hour, according to the pic's I've seen, you have easy access to it. However, I would not recommend you try it without having a Chiltons manual with you when/if you do it. Either buy one or check one out from your local library. Good luck!

Since I have been in and out of town the last several days, I didn't feel like messing with it my self. I ended up taking it to the dealer. I found that there was a recall on the "Sensor Assembly for the EGR Pressure Valve" (PN FMC 2F1Z 9J460 AA). I was not aware of the recall! It was covered under warranty. Glad I was too busy to mess with it. Cost on the bill was $65.07... but since it was under warranty... didn't have to pay! It is a good day!