New Video: Toyota EGR Diagnosis Tips and Repair Tips

this is a fascinating subject. without watching the video, can anyone tell me if i should clean the egr circuit on my 2012 with 20k?
(a lot of that is just the engine warming up)

 

without watching the video, I could suggest asking the car for the value of its most recent EGR flow test, and seeing what it tells you

 

That might lead to more "carbonization".

@Mendel Leisk gave the garage queen a good cleanse early on.

Why not your PIP.

Be sure to give pics and details.

 

Yes

 

because i can't hold a candle to @Mendel Leisk

 

For perspective, we're all chasing you here .

You've got all the videos you need for success.

Give it a go.

 

videos are easy, physical limitations are hard

 

Last week on the day of July 4th, I replaced my 2011 has 210k+ miles with new EGR cooler, updated EGR valve kit (came with gaskets, PCV valve, PCV hose and the updated intake manifold, I drain out about 1.2 gallons of coolant and add back Toyota pink coolant, the whole job took me about 5+ hours from start to finished. I sometimes got the knocking / shake if I do NOT let the engine finished the run cycle, I do remember in the past 10+ years I DO experience the violent shake once or twice...!!!

My EGR cooler starting to clogged up to the point where the small EGR pipe at the manifold but those little holes did not clogged up badly yet, taking out the EGR cooler quite a challenge with the lower nut attached to the engine block which require unclip and move the orange high voltage cable in order to gain more room, long story short...just the parts total cost me almost $700.

The preventive parts replacement make the Prius drive so smooth and effortless, I do notice the engine warmed up faster in the morning and driving the ICE cut in and out less noticeable, overall I am happy I bite the bullet doing all this by myself with a almost a day of work, now my next big ticket item is the traction battery it's the original unit.

FYI...I am posting these photos just for observation / discussion.



The finished installation with new EGR valve, EGR cooler and updated intake manifold put everything back and start up normally, I didn't do the software updated as per the TSB since the car drives extremely well and normal. The old EGR cooler I used up 2 can of carb cleaner and 1 whole bottle of oven/BBQ cleaner, used the power washer to blast it I only cleaned it 85% clear, I soaked it in hot water with Dawn detergent still have black stuffs came out. Anyway...here are the finished photos.

 

Nice work.

You install an oil catch can while you were at it?

If not something to consider.

Looked like your egr circuit needed the cleanse.

 

I thought about it but I didn't, I believe it's not legal in California to add it so I skipped it.

 

Did you do the wiring harness modification that is also in the TSB for the EGR update kit?

It would be quite interesting for someone to do a close comparison of the old- and new-style EGR valves. I haven't seen anyone detail exactly how they were changed yet.

Like the tech in the video, I would recommend sooner or later getting the updated firmware, if you are using the updated valve, as we don't know just what characteristics of the valve were changed, and the car driving "well and normal" might not reveal enough.

 

I don't need to remove the tape to extend the EGR plug, it's the same length, the new EGR valve has a different part number compared to the original unit, it looks identical...it could be the middle plunger open shorter which I am thinking. If you read the TSB there's a section mentioned that if there are no P0401 code present that the TSB does not applied. When I buy the parts from Toyota they only sell you the new updated parts. I will consult with Toyota service see if they can do the firmware update alone.

 

It is possible that it’s the warm up cycle that deposits so much of this crud.

I had a 2010 which used to knock badly if I shut down the engine before it fully warmed up. Could be that the oil gets dumped into the intake then? Maybe when the engine is coldest, oil gets past the PCV… I don’t know, but it’s possible.

What I’d suggest is simply take off the EGR pipe and take a look at its condition. See if it has any deposits or oily build up. Very easy to do, very low impact. NutzAboutBolts has a video on this.

 

I've been doing researched, observed and finally decided to do the replacement remedy in order to cure the problem may occur in the future by replacing with new parts, I plan to drive my Prius for a long long time...it's my daily driver car to do all kinds of errands. I know many Prius owners tried to cleaned and reuse the parts, it may be cure the issue for a short period of time but eventually it will happen again, I save quite a lot of $$$ by doing the work myself, I will clean out the used parts and put on the Prius classified forum for sale, it may help out other Prius owner to save some $$$ and time.

 

You should save the cooler. Clean it out for next time. That will save you a LOT of time!

 

I had the impression the revised EGR valve was a bit longer, maybe 10 mm, and that was the reason for adjusting the wiring harness, for a little extra reach. And IIRC, saw pics of old and new, and you could see the difference in length. Kind of subtle though.

 

Yeah...I am keeping it because until I am writing this message the cooler still soaking in 409 since last Sunday night, the black carbons still in it, I spent too much time on it so keeping it is the right thing.

 

I forgot to mention that I also changed the sparkplugs during the EGR/INTAKE upgrade, I found this new NGK Ruthenium sparkplugs and it's surprisingly well made, these are Made in Japan plugs, overall performance is outstanding. I got them from Rockauto for like $8.25 each.

 

were they named after the bambino?

 

Maybe the candy bar?