How to clean clogged EGR cooler?

That's one lucky other member's daughter!

 

How many miles will she be at toward the middle of next month?

We’ll see if we get any other members out here interested in the process for their own undertaking .

Knowledge and experience is power .

 

Should be smack dab at 100k, or thereabouts. . Clinic time for BA turd gen peeps!

 

This is great info! I'm wondering if I should clean my EGR cooler and valve on my 2013 Avalon Hybrid as a maintenance item. I can't find much about the Camry/Avalon hybrid engine EGR cooling systems. I'm at 72,000 miles, but am doing 2,000 to 3,000 miles per month, with a lot of short trips in cold weather (20,000 miles more than when I bought the car last August.)

 

Never looked at the scematics on the Avalon, but I’m sure it plugs like the Gen3’s do.

But if / when you do, let us know the results.

 

After doing this on my 120K mile Prius, I've done the same with my 140K mile 2012 Camry Hyrbrid with 2AR-FXE 2.5L engine. It is much easier in the Camry. There is more space to maneuver around the EGR cooler and valve. The hardest part (though not as hard as the elusive nut on the Prius) is removing the stud that is right under the exhaust manifold. I had to remove the 4 exhaust manifold nuts and lift it by an inch to give room for my E8 socket to remove the EGR cooler stud. Don't forget to unplug the A/F(O2) sensor first as the wires may snap by the weight of the manifold. Carbon build up is much much less in the Camry Hybrid, i.e. mostly powdered carbons easily blown by compressed air, unlike the coked/hardened deposits in the Prius.

 

I get the sense Toyota thought along the lines of "we'll never need to remove that item again"...

Was there enough room to get just the socket on? If so maybe grind a couple of flat zones on the socket, opposite each other, , and then try to grab it with a box wrench?

This looks interesting, pricey though:



Swivel head would be better still.

 

I'm really interested in this as we have 3 Camry hybrids in addition to our 2 Priuses (Is that how you spell that?).

 

I've yet to figure out which nut/bolt is supposed to be difficult to remove.
Maybe I was fortunate I guess that everything came apart easily. Or maybe I had the right
tool?

 

On the Prius a lot of people had trouble with the nut on the bracket under the cooler, hard to reach, impossible to see, tricky to get a wrench on.

 

mm Really? That was easy. Actually, the whole job was easy. I used a Snap-On 10mm swivle socket on an extention.
1/4 inch.
If I can get it set up, I'll have to video it the next time I do the cooler.
Maybe I was just use to working in such tight spots, the Prius is easy?

 

Yeah rub it in, lol.

 

I’ve done the job about 9 times and while it isn’t difficult, access is an issue.

It’s more challenging on a CT200h.

But not as challenging if you leave the windshield wiper cowling in place.

Give that a shot the next time and see what you think.

 

How bout no? LoL

 

I choose EASY over hard! Taking the wiper assembly off is a 5 minute job.
Everything has been easy to do no the Prius. I suspect some of that will change
if I have to replace the head gasket.

 

Just want to give my 2 cents. I just cleaned my EGR cooler. This cooler had 200000 miles and was never cleaned. If you have one with this many miles and was never cleaned you have to use a pressure washer to clean it out. I soaked my with oxy-clean, dawn dish soap for about 5 days with marginal results. Once you pressure wash it then a cleaner is a good idea to complete the job. But the initial cleaning must be a pressure washer to blast out all the baked on crud.

 

Maybe depends on the miles: mine was easy with just Oxi, but that was at 70K kms which translates to something like 45K miles...

 

2 cents isn't any good anymore. You have to give your 5 cents!
What type of driving do you do? Mostly highway or city? What speeds do you drive?

I cleaned my egr system at 138745 miles, along with the intake manifold.
I could still see through it, so it had not clogged much. I used walfart brand of easy off oven cleaner($2.00).
It soaked for 30 minutes and cleaned easily with a garden hose.
I do have a spare cooler that's in about the same shape as mine was that I'm going to try to use
only my pressure washer to see how that works. "IF" it doesn't clean it good enough, I'll let it dry and
use the oven cleaner. I used it one many 2 stroke engines to clean the carbon off the pistons and rings.

80% of my driving is highway. Minimum 1 hour, but usually 2 or 3 hours, at 65mph. I think this keeps
the cooler hotter for longer and it keeps the carbon from building up. With the city stop and go driving, I think it has
a chance for the carbon to cool off some. Or if only short trips the carbon cools and starts building up.

At least that's what I notice with those that have a lot of build up or clogged coolers. NO scientific tests.....

 

I bought one on Ebay.......completely clogged......this does work

 

Can't really read the label, too small.