Trying to remove the EGR tube from the driver side of the motor in order to remove the driver's side valve cover and it is threaded in with a massive nut.

How in the world does this come out? The only thing I can think of would be an open ended wrench but even then there is no room to pivot the wrench once it's on the nut.

Anyone? Bueler?

 

Not sure how EGR pipe is connected on your Montero. Can you get a socket with an extension onto the nut, so that you can have space to turn ratchet? That's what I have to do on my engine.

 

This is the pipe, the rusty one attached with the big nut (which is part OF the tube).

Problem is, I cannot get a wrench in there to turn it because there is virtually no room. (May look like it from the photo, but there is not.)

 

Different setup. Is there a bolt (or a pair of bolts) at the top of the EGP pipe? It might be easier to disconnect those and proceed with disassembly. If you are determined to go after the big nut on the pipe, your options are a box end wrench or a crowfoot wrench. Something like this might work: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=crowfoot+wrench
Soak the nut and the pipe threads with the penetrating oil several times before trying to break the nut.

 

Yeah, I read on a different forum that the entire tube must be removed from the big nut in order to remove the driver's side valve cover. I cannot for the life of me figure out what size it is though.

I went out and bought a set and the largest wrench was 25mm and it was still not big enough!

 

Hate when that happens, but now you have tools for next job

 

What year and engine size is your Montero?

edit: nvm 3.0l v6 from your other thread.

As HunterD stated, you can remove the 2 12mm bolts that hold the egr tube to the intake manifold. You should then be able to remove the valve cover as the egr tube has a bit of flex in it once the bolts are removed.

 

I'm sure this problem has been resolved by now but nowhere did I find an answer to the original question as to how to actually remove the nut and it's size. I have a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport ls with 3.0 engine. The nut size is probably metric but a 1 1/16" open end wrench fit perfect for me. The Battery has to be removed as well, I sprayed Penetrating oil on the nut over several days while engine was hot. You will have to take tiny turns with the wrench until you get it loose. Be careful not to damage A/C lines. You just have to be patient. Once you break to nut loose it moves along quickly. ( I will tell you that my car had over 213,000 miles on it and the tube had never been cleaned. It did not have any blockage in it so I would not recommend going to all this trouble.) One other warning I will offer is do not over tighten the two top bolts that fasten the EGR tube to the intake manifold or you will strip them. The intake is soft metal. I am still getting the P0401 code and I'm just going to live with it. I hope this helps someone else as I could have used this information before I started.

 

100% correct info for how to deal with this nut. Several times, when I had to remove intake, I just unbolted the top part and moved it slightly out of the way. Another time I did not have a choice and had to remove the entire tube due to removing exhaust manifold. I was able to use a medium crescent wrench to get the nut moving. After that it went easily just by hand.
As far as dealing with the P0401 code, have you checked the EGR solenoid? Make sure to use OEM one. Aftermarket ones go bad fairly quickly. Also, check your ERG valve to make sure the diaphragm is intact and double check the vacuum hoses and their routing.