Should I Clean The Egr...

[CharlieFarlie]

likely the last question you would expect from me.. But please bear with me....

My T180 has done around 20K miles on its replacement engine now and it is running absolutely spot on.... It pulls like a train (Lindop chipped) and gives very good economy. Its fuel figures are way above what is oft reported here on the forum for other T180s.... It has been thus far oil changed every 4 or 5K miles but with Toyota brand oil over the counter from the dealer plain 5W30 not the now suggested low ash stuff.. Or lately Morrises Multivis.. It has been run 95% of the time on Shell V Power fuel...

I have never ever yet stripped the EGR on this car in 2 1/2 years of ownership and 45K miles. Car now has 76K miles on the odometer..

So the question is should I leave well alone or strip it for a look ? I understand its a simple job and no parts are needed ?

My instincts tell me to to leave it alone but on several threads running at the moment there is much talk of cleaning EGRs.....

[three5]

likely the last question you would expect from me.. But please bear with me....

My T180 has done around 20K miles on its replacement engine now and it is running absolutely spot on.... It pulls like a train (Lindop chipped) and gives very good economy. Its fuel figures are way above what is oft reported here on the forum for other T180s.... It has been thus far oil changed every 4 or 5K miles but with Toyota brand oil over the counter from the dealer plain 5W30 not the now suggested low ash stuff.. Or lately Morrises Multivis.. It has been run 95% of the time on Shell V Power fuel...

I have never ever yet stripped the EGR on this car in 2 1/2 years of ownership and 45K miles. Car now has 76K miles on the odometer..

So the question is should I leave well alone or strip it for a look ? I understand its a simple job and no parts are needed ?

My instincts tell me to to leave it alone but on several threads running at the moment there is much talk of cleaning EGRs.....

Hi Charlie,

I can understand your dilemma, you have a car that for a period you lost all faith in. Now it's spot on you're loathe to do anything that could upset it!

( Question: can we start referring to it as "she"? )

My view is that cleaning the EGR is a maintenance job that needs doing, just like changing the oil. My new engine has done 14k and I'll be stripping the EGR when it gets is half-yearly oil change in the next couple of weeks. If I remove the valve and it's clean compared to before the engine was changed I'll be very happy as the engine change will have been a cure for the problem, if it's dirty then it stays on the "6 month maintenance list" if it's clean it will move to the "annual maintenance" list. My car has been faultless since the engine was changed. It uses maybe 0.2L of oil every 6 months, which seems about right to me.

[Davrav]

Charlie, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Knowing how fastidious you are about your vehicles I seriously doubt you would drop any potential carbon into the manifold but it could happen...............

[three5]

Charlie, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Knowing how fastidious you are about your vehicles I seriously doubt you would drop any potential carbon into the manifold but it could happen...............

Hi Dave,

I don't think we are a million miles apart on this one - my "maintenance" approach is to find out "if it is broke", i.e. if the Toyota fix for the problem is totally effective and I don't need to worry about it anymore or if it's a partial solution that I can make more effective by keeping the EGR system clean and working as it is intended.

Incidentally, my OH went off on one when she caught me using the vacuum cleaner to suck out any loose carbon. Do you know if this is a common problem and am I being unreasonable? :(

[Big Kev]

If I can do it Charflie, you will find it dead easy........just watch you remember to fit the gaskets back, one at each end.....my only ever limp mode. Gaskets are stainless steel so nae bits to replace, min. I would deffo clean it, and ah bets you whatever little carbon is in it will be soft sludgy stuff due to fuel you use......

Prove me wrong.

[Big Kev]

Charlie, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Knowing how fastidious you are about your vehicles I seriously doubt you would drop any potential carbon into the manifold but it could happen...............

Hi Dave,

I don't think we are a million miles apart on this one - my "maintenance" approach is to find out "if it is broke", i.e. if the Toyota fix for the problem is totally effective and I don't need to worry about it anymore or if it's a partial solution that I can make more effective by keeping the EGR system clean and working as it is intended.

Incidentally, my OH went off on one when she caught me using the vacuum cleaner to suck out any loose carbon. Do you know if this is a common problem and am I being unreasonable? :(

Get yerself a Henry, Chris.........magic for sooking away the manifold carbon.

[three5]

Get yerself a Henry, Chris.........magic for sooking away the manifold carbon.

Totally agree BK - I thought the OH's Henry was great for the task - but she disagreed!

[voyager t180]

Dont see how it can do any harm to take a look Charlie.

And if its clean then you have back up that your engines running nice n sweet,with no carbon build up.

FYI you don't have to take the convoluted pipe of the head,just remove the 4manifold bolts for the EGR then loosen the two bolts at the head slightly and swing it out of the way to 90 degrees,dead easy... You do need to bend the stud for the plastic engine cover out of the way slightly to do this,but they are only a soft ally so easy to bend back in position afterwards.

Just out of interest guys what harm does losing some built up carbon down the manifold do,cos even with the greatest care its almost impossible to clean the 3 port holes without some dropping down?

[anchorman]

Get yerself a Henry, Chris.........magic for sooking away the manifold carbon.

Totally agree BK - I thought the OH's Henry was great for the task - but she disagreed!

If you think your mrs is bad, mine won't even push up in the bath while I swill out my EGR. I even offered to run a bit more hot water through it.

Charlie. If you pass this way, call in and I will do it with you first time. It really isn't bad. Like Chris I get Henry to suck at the inlet manifold while I remove any carbon. You can drive an SR too.

[CharlieFarlie]

Thanks Guys And thanks Don !

I think doing the job will be within my grasp its just whether or not I should meddle when all is well... I have a henry hoover which is the best hoover for cars ... So would have that handy...

Don I have driven an SR as my old neighbour in Scotland had one.. Im sold on the car no problem its just finding the right one.. But as said before I have plenty of time to find one so no hurry.

[crustyclam]

Cleaned mine three times since the engine change, and each time it had a fair bit to remove. For me this is definitely a regular maintenance task. It did seem less than usual the last time I cleaned it. The second time I cleaned it i removed the three hex bolts and was able to give it a much more thorough clean.

[Davrav]

Charlie, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Knowing how fastidious you are about your vehicles I seriously doubt you would drop any potential carbon into the manifold but it could happen...............

Hi Dave,

I don't think we are a million miles apart on this one - my "maintenance" approach is to find out "if it is broke", i.e. if the Toyota fix for the problem is totally effective and I don't need to worry about it anymore or if it's a partial solution that I can make more effective by keeping the EGR system clean and working as it is intended.

Incidentally, my OH went off on one when she caught me using the vacuum cleaner to suck out any loose carbon. Do you know if this is a common problem and am I being unreasonable? :(

Just make sure you bleach her toothbrush when you've finished with it - they hate black gums.................

[voyager t180]

Don't like admitting it, but once tried blocking the holes with kitchen paper and lost a piece down the manifold.

Got really lucky being able to retrieve it with a piece of wire coat hanger.

What would have happened if I'd left it??

[three5]

Don't like admitting it, but once tried blocking the holes with kitchen paper and lost a piece down the manifold.

Got really lucky being able to retrieve it with a piece of wire coat hanger.

What would have happened if I'd left it??

I think that the chances are that it would have burnt to a very fine ash just about indistinguishable from the carbon. Can't see much possibility of any lasting effects. I'm generally an optimist though Paul

[Big Kev]

Don't like admitting it, but once tried blocking the holes with kitchen paper and lost a piece down the manifold.

Got really lucky being able to retrieve it with a piece of wire coat hanger.

What would have happened if I'd left it??

I think that the chances are that it would have burnt to a very fine ash just about indistinguishable from the carbon. Can't see much possibility of any lasting effects. I'm generally an optimist though Paul

LOL Chris....says a lot for our aspirations of the general system of EGRification and DPNRiment......"ach gubberit.....let's feed it kitchen towel and see if it likes it.....!!!!"

[three5]

Don't like admitting it, but once tried blocking the holes with kitchen paper and lost a piece down the manifold.

Got really lucky being able to retrieve it with a piece of wire coat hanger.

What would have happened if I'd left it??

I think that the chances are that it would have burnt to a very fine ash just about indistinguishable from the carbon. Can't see much possibility of any lasting effects. I'm generally an optimist though Paul

LOL Chris....says a lot for our aspirations of the general system of EGRification and DPNRiment......"ach gubberit.....let's feed it kitchen towel and see if it likes it.....!!!!"

Well it works with a steam engine - no sense of adventure BK!!!!

[firemac]

I saw this Wynn's stuff advertised recentty:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BKC9LHA/ref=asc_df_B00BKC9LHA15023803?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=shopdc163737-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B00BKC9LHA

Is it any use as a preventative measure?

[Tech01]

This is what's in the Wynn's product:

http://www.wynns.uk.com/pDocs/23381_EN_MSDS.pdf

and instructions for use:

http://www.wynns.uk.com/Product.aspx?p=23381&g=GRP_CONS_DIESEL

The propane and butane are just the aerosol propellants. Other items include types of ether, acetone and ethanol. All solvents, but I am doubtful whether any of these will remain in contact with the EGR residues long enough to dissolve what can be baked-on deposits. The aerosol solvent-vapour will pass very quickly through the intake/engine/exhaust, I would have thought, diluted by huge quantities of induction air.

Stand to be corrected, of course.

[voyager t180]

This is what's in the Wynn's product:

http://www.wynns.uk.com/pDocs/23381_EN_MSDS.pdf

and instructions for use:

http://www.wynns.uk.com/Product.aspx?p=23381&g=GRP_CONS_DIESEL

The propane and butane are just the aerosol propellants. Other items include types of ether, acetone and ethanol. All solvents, but I am doubtful whether any of these will remain in contact with the EGR residues long enough to dissolve what can be baked-on deposits. The aerosol solvent-vapour will pass very quickly through the intake/engine/exhaust, I would have thought, diluted by huge quantities of induction air.

Stand to be corrected, of course.

According to Toyotas cleaning / servicing guide you shouldn't use any solvent based cleaners on the EGR.

Chris's post above pretty well answers my Qst.

[CharlieFarlie]

I'm not sure I would be inclined to add anything to the diesel or spray anything down the air inlets on any of our cars.....

Sceptical to say the least on all these snake oils as my mate Timuffy calls them..

[Cyker]

The most fun thing is taking it out and blasting it with some carb cleaner; It turns what would be a horribly tedious scraping job into a dead quick swill-it-around-and-rinse-it-out job

It's like magic the way that stuff just washes out the carbon deposits! I still had to jab at a chunky blockaged bit with a screwdriver to unblock the hole, then it was back to spraying

Only issue is you do have to dry it out quite thoroughly! There must have been a bit pooling in the valve somewhere as when I last put it back together and fired it up the engine made some quite scary banging noises as presumably the carb cleaner was ignited , but after shutting it off and restarting it, it seemed fine... :D

[Gav rav]

I was just driving home and the car went into limp mode and the dash lit up like an Xmas tree, I called out the aa and the guy diagnosed it with po400 egr flow , so to be fair he took the valve off and it was full of soot, he gave it a clean and it's fine now. I had my engine replaced in February and it's been running great since, but don't think they cleaned the valve as part of the work! Hopefully will keep me going until next May when I can part ex the car!

[ravman180]

I was interested to read about the illuminations when in limp mode. My T180 started to crawl a couple of times & both times i just managed to get it into the office car park. However, how disappointing there were no flashing lights ! After it cooled down it drove ok - until it happened again. Mr T charged £125 to clean egr after refusing to do it under warranty. The cars done 50k and no engine probs so far.

Incidentally, the last 2 fill ups show 40 & 43 mpg so I'm not complaining (too much).

[Dippy]

Six months ago I put up a stressed post about my engine stopping due to a dirty EGR. Mr T charged me €400+ to fit a new one.

Is there some point at which an EGR can't be cleaned and is better to replace? With all these comments about carb cleaner, I wonder if/why a new one was justified.

Thanks :)

[Big Kev]

Six months ago I put up a stressed post about my engine stopping due to a dirty EGR. Mr T charged me €400+ to fit a new one.

Is there some point at which an EGR can't be cleaned and is better to replace? With all these comments about carb cleaner, I wonder if/why a new one was justified.

Thanks :)

Sorry Dips min......royally humped you have been, mucker......quite digustfully so. They could have cleaned it.