I took my car to get checked up as to why my fuel economy is so horrid.  Turns out the EGR valve was burned out and stuck open.  The guy wanted $400 to replace it.  I just wanted him to tell me what's wrong so i could fix it.  There's no way i'd pay a guy to $400 to replace a simple $100 bolt-on.

Well i got The EGR valve and replaced it, but....when i went to hook it up to the egr valve regulator it was M.I.A..  I was like wait...WTF!?  The jerk off at the garage took mine, It was gone.  I went back and bitched him out but he denied it.  I never took it off and honestly I had so much trouble getting the EGR valve it's self off i never even noticed it was missing.  Anyway it will take my GM dealer a week to get one and no auto parts places sell it.  So as i drive for the next week i'm wondering will not having this peice hurt or damage my car?

The peice in question is circled in red below and it sits in that little cradle just to the side of the throttlebody facing the fire wall (16v motor).



Another view point to give you an idea of what i'm talking about


Does anyone have an extra one of these???  name a price.  Or even a part number so i can see if i can find one for less outside of the dealer?  But really i'm just hoping NOT having one for a little bit of time won't blow up my poor Zuki.

Three words:

Hawks Strictly Suzuki

888 SAMURAI



Oh, and SuzukiJohn in Las Vegas ( http://suzukijohn.hypermart.net/parts.htm

Tell them Ack's FAQ sent you...

what kind of fuel mileage are you getting

Thanks Ack i had called rick as soon as i hit post.  He's got me taken care of...i just wanted to know if it's critical that i have one.  And as for hows my feul mileage?  Better than it was before i replaced the EGR valve...but still far below what a tracker should deliver.  Before i was lucky if i got 10mpg and that's no joke. 
I work 2 miles from my house a round trip to and from work would be about a quarter of a tank of gas...no joke.  It's much better now, but still not what i call "fuel efficent".

If I recall mechanically you don't  need the EGR.  Its just part of the emissions that reburns vapors to clean up things.  I remember with small blocks we used to just pull the valve and block it with a plate.  Of course I am a little more evironmentally conscience now.     So as long as your egr is in the closed position you should be fine and it shouldn't be a factor in your gas milage.  However, if you are missing parts you could have a vacuum leak which would result in poor fuel mileage and low power/bad idle.  My sidekick with the 8V and 5speed gets about 22-26 mpg with my 235 tires.  If you are getting under 20mpg then I would check for the vacuum leaks but then start questioning the oxygen sensor or a plugged cat. 

I was getting really poor mpg with mine but then I replaced the leaky gas tank and all was fine.     Amazing how much fuel can drip out of a tank leak over the course of a couple of days (vehicle is a weekend toy).  It evaporates quickly so it doesn't look like much.  Ha!

With an ECM I would think that you would want everything hooked up and working so the ECM will go into closed loop and start working to get the fuel mixture correct and get better mileage.

   The mileage in my 91 Sidekick,1.6 8 valve,3 speed auto has gone done a lot over the last few weeks.I usually do 25-26 and now it is mabey 20.Still runs well and no leaks.
  Sorry I butted into your post,but your question peaked my curiosity.

If the ECU detects that the EGR is not functional then it will retard the timing, this will cost you in terms of both economy and performance. The EGR is not related to the vapor recirculation. The EGR valve allows exhaust gasses to be drawn into the cylinder at part loads. This increases cylinder pressure and improves efficiency, it also reduces cylinder temperatures which reduces NOx emissions.