2010 Prius - When Should I have EGR Cleaned?

I'm too old, and don't really care, if I spell things correctly anymore.
Lot's of mistakes eveyone makes, but usually you can figure out what they mean.

From what I've read just on Prius Chat, most people say they have seen an improvement by
using the epr stuff. Not everyone, but most. So I figured it was worth a try.
Me personally, I don't think it will hurt anything. Gunk used to have a quart can of engine cleaner.
It did work, at least for me it did. But I haven't seen it in years so maybe they don't make it anymore.

If someone doesn't know how to hook up a battery, they shouldn't be doing it.
Get a jumper box that has polarity protection. OR just learn to do it correctly.

I know, everyone makes mistakes, but with somethings, you just don't.

 

Yep, "half". It was about 18 minutes. I never hear the cooling fans kick in and was getting
worried about overheating the engine. I didn't use the moa though. Synthetic oil doesn't really need that.
Maybe it will help, maybe not.
The oil measures half way on the dip stick. So I'm going to keep it under 65mph so I don't have to use
the extra half quart before changing it.
Then I will try to force myself to keep it there so I can see if the 2nd treatment works.

 

Yeah, I haven't been able to figure out what exact benefit MOA has that good quality synthetic oil doesn't already have. Or that just changing oil more regularly might do for you.

 

I use MOA but it's maybe more for peace of mind than anything else. I've watched videos where it does seem to increase lubrication and in other garage forums folks have mentioned it being incredibly effective in machines to get rid of squeaking. But if using synthetic oil I think EPR and 44K might be the most effective and valued options of the trio.

 

I just got mine out @ 100,000 miles and I have to say it was dirty but not super clogged. I give it another 50-100K before it was totally clogged. Just 10 minutes of high pressure soapy water jet at the car wash and its clean. The hard part was getting it off the car. Hopefully getting it on is a bit easier.

 

That fits with what I've seen in other reports. It's at 150,000 or more that the trouble really starts. Head gaskets, related to EGR or not, also mostly start at 150,000 or above. Good news is that you should be good for at least another 100,000 miles.

As I've posted before, I'm following this closely because I also have a 2010 with 100,000 miles. Since it is now our secondary vehicle and is only getting a few thousand miles per year, I'm not touching the EGR circuit and will trade it sometime in the next 2-5 years. Thanks for helping to put my mind at ease.

 

That’s what I thought until my egr valve stuck open at 104k.

 

How did you know it stuck open?

 

I guess the amount of clogging really seems to vary based on the vehicle. It probably depends on a lot of factors. I'm no engine expert but I keep reading about people who cleaned their EGR system and still had a head gasget failure. My conclusion there is that cleaning your EGR system will save you from having a clogged EGR system or valve, but not prevent head gasget failure. To me just avoiding the potential to have a clogged EGR is worth it - it seems to be a common code and problem.

 

After getting mine off I can really see the potential for this to be the first thing to go wrong. The valve has to move around in a passage that is getting caked up with gunk. Even if your EGR passage is 80% clear, I could really imagine how the valve would get stuck. Again I dont really have any great expertise in this area but it seems plausible to me.

 

It ran very rough and shook to the point where it was undriveable. If you search my post history I have images showing the egr stuck open. Only way to fix it was to clean the egr system.

The car was driven infrequently with very small trips. That probably contributed to the build up.

 

Maybe OCD, but I think the detrimental effect develop gradually, as the EGR clogging increases. I’d put my money on a cleaning every 50k.

After the first (100k mile) engine coolant change, the subsequent interval is 50k, so might be good to sync.

 

Hmm. Seeing so many reports about intake manifold EGR passages being more clogged, I was wondering if it was the opposite. Intake first, then pipe, then valve and cooler.

 

Could be actually. Today after spending some more time cleaning the valve I take that comment back that i made earlier. It doesnt really look like the clogging of the passage with the push rod in it could make the valve stick easily. Hard to describe but the push rod is small and passage is large.

Regardless if you want to keep the car for a long time and are into a DIY project I'd get the EGR cleaned. If you are getting rid of it soon, and dont mind that it might have some EGR issues before or shortly after you sell it then you can probably put it off and take the risk.