EGR Cooler Cleaning (What I learned!..)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by iskoos, Jan 13, 2019.

  1. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    57,108
    39,429
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    If you skip the caustic solutions and go straight to pressure washer, it “might” not be as effective.

    I did fine with just oxy, but started my cleanings at low miles.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2008
    2,006
    678
    0
    Location:
    Null, NL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    How did u hold it
     
  3. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2008
    2,006
    678
    0
    Location:
    Null, NL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    How did u hold it while using a pressure washer
     
  4. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2018
    6,651
    3,492
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The oven cleaner softens it up. Pressure washer clears it out faster.

     
  5. Aenima

    Aenima Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2022
    32
    17
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    At the car wash I just held it with my foot. No danger of injury wearing shoes and jeans. The car wash pressure is good enough to do the job but not high enough to cause permanent injury.
     
  6. Aenima

    Aenima Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2022
    32
    17
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Kind of disappointed that after first tank of gas after doing the entire EGR system, no MPG improvement. Although, this tank of gas had way more freeway miles and that is 75mph so not so great for MPG. Also, this tank of gas had WAY more air conditioning running. Will be interesting to see what happens during the cooler months without so much freeway driving.

    As a side note, did shocks a couple of days ago, struts today. Was like being on vacation compared to doing the EGR system......
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    57,108
    39,429
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Its primarily to get the EGR system back to where it was when the car was new; I would not expect an increase in mpg.

    addendum: added “not” to last phrase (brain bubble)
     
    #87 Mendel Leisk, May 15, 2023
    Last edited: May 15, 2023
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    25,090
    16,359
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    @douglasjre fact check?
     
  9. Aenima

    Aenima Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2022
    32
    17
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Let me rephrase that. The specific car wash I used, did not have enough pressure even right at the nozzle tip to do damage to shoes or jeans. I doubt that specific car wash could even have damaged my hands had I been foolish enough to hold the cooler by hand and accidentally blast my hand. There may be other car washes where this is not the case. They have to worry about lawsuits however, so I have to imagine that most self-service car washes do not have anywhere near enough pressure coming out to cause someone to lose a limb or a digit, let alone blow through a shoe or denim. I imagine there must be laws on the books as to maximum pressure self-service car washes are allowed to use.

    The kind of pressure people lose limbs over would be more than sufficient to blast paint right off of a car as well. People like to get that nozzle close enough to blast off stubborn bugs. Has to be low enough to not remove the paint as well.
     
    ASRDogman likes this.
  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    25,090
    16,359
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I'm having some difficulty at the moment finding a reference that puts a number on a minimum pressure for injection injury to be a risk. I'm sure there must be one. douglasjre may know of one.
     
  11. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,941
    3,151
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    People wouldn't be happy if they are blasting paint off their cars along with the dirt and grime as well.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  12. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    25,090
    16,359
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    While I wouldn't be uninterested in a reference showing the pressure needed to blast paint off steel, the one I was trying to find was the pressure needed to cause injection injury to humans.

    I'm not confident both those pressures are the same.

    The Underlying Danger of Pressure Washer Injuries EMRA
     
  13. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2008
    2,006
    678
    0
    Location:
    Null, NL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    What I'm saying is not medical advice but purely conjecture:
    In the images shown the subcutaneous emphysema along subfascial planes makes it clear that a subspecialists in hand and wrist needs to drop a JP drain into the deep compartment. This needs to be done under general anesthesia with sterile procedure. I suppose the orthopedist could do a Baer block but that's up to him. The swelling will get worse over time causing the compartment syndrome.

    I do not know of specific studies where we tested blast pressure against severity of injury. It would be an unethical study so we don't do it and history from patients is never adequate to do a retrospective study. The last person I know to do these unethical studies was Hitler. He used people he captured for medical studies that would shock even a sociopath.

    We see the stratum lucidum found on the palms and soles is durable and stronger than the integumentary covering of other surfaces. Furthermore, we know that skin and it's underlying adipose tissue layers do thin with age. We also find that skin is thicker with repeated microtrama from daily hard work. As a result no study can adequately predict what pressure is going to be needed to cause an injury because there are so many variables. It is not even necessary to determine what pressure of pressure washer is going to cause the injury. When evaluating a patient all we need to see is clinical indications of deep tissue trauma. X-ray is not even needed. I'll call a consult based upon suspicion of trauma to deep compartments. The palm is one such compartment. We also commonly see people do such things to their feet. Comorbid conditions like diabetes high blood pressure peripheral arterial disease and venous insufficiency create compounding factors which interplay in my decision making. Knowing the pressure of the machine does not change how I handle a case. Pain, crepitus, tenderness, pain w the passage of tendons through the injury site and visualization of entry portal are all enough. No x-ray needed. You can get one and it may show foreign bodies but it's not needed from an emergency standpoint to dispo the patient
     
    #93 douglasjre, May 17, 2023
    Last edited: May 17, 2023
    Aenima and xliderider like this.
  14. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2018
    1,731
    560
    3
    Location:
    SE Texas
    Vehicle:
    2011 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Knock out the fins.....................
     
  15. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2017
    5,302
    4,243
    0
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Did you mean drill a one large hole, or a few smaller holes through the fins?

    Wondering how much faster the intake manifold will clog without the cooler acting as a carbon prefilter.
     
  16. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    25,090
    16,359
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Hard to see this not acting as a water-injection mod.
     
    CR94 likes this.