How to clean clogged EGR cooler?

Is the degreaser some sort of hydrocarbon solvent? I really hate to see stuff like that being used outdoors, where it flows into storm drains, then on to streams. Consider just using hot water with the pressure washer.

For chemical assault, I found hot/concentrated Oxi-Clean solution soaks work good. You can do it in the laundry sink, bare hands, and it drains into the regular sewer system.

 

Its labeled as "phosphate free, environmentally friendly" & its sold in California. The pressure washing companies use it to clean oil off of parking lots.

• Smog and Ozone in accordance with AQMD Rule 102, this product contains 0% photochemically reactive ingredients to contribute to smog or attack the earth’s ozone layer.

 

Flame thrower...?

 

I actually tried sticking one in our bonfire hoping to reproduce the VW intake manifold fire YouTube video. The flames licked through the center but all it did was cover the cooler with more soot.

Pixel XL ?

 

How did yours look after 50k at the second cleaning?

 

Dirty.

Nothing a pressure washer couldn’t handle though.

 

Wire from utility marker flags is helpful.....

 

I pressure washed the house, driveway, and sidewalks the last 2 days.
So I decided to try in on my spare cooler. It wasn't clogged, just very sootie.
I only have an 1800psi washer, but it did clean out most of the soot. Not shinny clean,
but good enough. I'll spray the oven cleaner in it and let it soak and that will make it
shiny clean!
It wasn't too hard to hold with the one water pipe sticking out and it held it with my feet
when I did the other side.
I imagine if I have 3500psi washer it might have been enough.

 

I wouldn’t hold the equipment I’m cleaning with any body part .

Even 1800 psi can make your day a bit painful.

Higher pressures than that can ruin your day.

Find something to brace it (grating at a car wash or a lawn chair at home as examples) so you can remove yourself from the equation .

Nothing worse than the pressure shifting the cooler and now you’re in the line of fire.

 

I had the nozzle in the hole, it wasn't coming out.... And I wear shoes.
I just sprayed and rotated it around.

 

Really.........?

 

Ok maybe wishful thinking. Haven't done the encore yet. I figure you know all the tricks and gotchas, gotta help.

 

Upon disassembly this afternoon, I found nothing remarkable in the EGR tube or valve, so I reassembled it without taking any action. I did pull the plugs for inspection and found their appearance disagreeable. I still had the OE plugs from the 2016 engine, so I installed them. We shall see how that goes. Number 1-4 from bottom to top as I removed them.

 

You only did half the job. The cooler is the biggest problem....

 

I had the valve off completely. Nothing significant in the cooler. And it’s only been together 18k miles. I’ll do a complete tear down in the spring around 30k miles.

 

Chalk me up for another who encountered a stubborn EGR Cooler. It took two trips to the car wash, $15 for the pressure washers, numerous chemical soaks including oxyclean before it started to clear out and it's still not as perfect as I'd like.

What a stupidly designed system.

 

And Toyota, in their Warranty Extension letter for the EGR, says:

While the majority of vehicles will not experience this condition

Just like that, italicized and underlined.

That statement is rubber-stamped in all their notifications, not that that excuses it. I'm sure it's there on the advice of their lawyers.

Maybe other lawyers could take them to task, for lying?

 

Did you use oven cleaner? And let it soak?
You can get a pressure washer for $100.00, less if on sale and/or you have a "coupon".
Do a search for "EGR Cooler", you'll find they come up from junk yards. Mine was $45 I think, free shipping.
And it was clearish. Just sooty. The pressure was more or less cleaned that up. But I'll use the oven cleaner
to clean it out completely.

Since yours was so clogged, it will take a while to clear it out.

 

With either oxi solution or oven cleaner, if your cooler's near-completely clogged:

Cork the bottom, add as much liquid as it'll take, then take a thin/stiff wire, work it down through the passageways. Hopefully this'll allow the fluid to percolate through, and just keep adding solution. After a few sessions thus, corking the other end (different diameter) and repeating the process might be helpful, if it's really bad.