EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results

I was afraid of that :/ how would you rate your mechanic abilities? Does this rate high in difficulty for a beginner?

 

I’m just doing oil changes, tire rotations, occasionally servicing the brakes. It was a little beyond my comfort level, but not that hard once you get into it. Keep things organized as you remove them, take your time. If you’re doing it in a heated garage or outside, wait for nice weather, you want to be comfortable, not rushed.

have a look at first link in my signature; there’s links to videos, tools you need list, tips, repair manual excepts.

 

You bring so much value to the Prius chat. Thanks man. Stuff like this can be daunting to the average Joe, and you are seemingly always there to help.

 

Hey everyone! I’m a new 2013 Prius gen 3 owner, just bought it last month. I’m currently looking at doing the egr cleaning myself. I’ve watched several YouTube videos and read this thread extensively. I am a little nervous to tackle it myself as I haven’t done anything like this before. I wanted to ask if anyone who has done this is in the South Bay (ca) that might be able to help me out/guide me one weekend. Thanks in advance!

 

And your "Smartphone" camera is your friend! ........

 

First link in my signature has EGR cleaning tips and links.

 

I cleaned the exhaust gas recirculation system for the first time at 150,000 miles and wanted to report its condition and some thoughts on the task.

First, a big thank you to NutzAboutBolts, Mendel Leisk, and many others. Not sure I would have attempted it without all the great advice.

We have a 2012 Prius, 55.3 mpg lifetime mileage, no repairs, just regular maintenance. Doesn't use oil or coolant, no knock or rattle. It's only been to the dealer (or any shop) for the E0E and J0V recalls. Still have 4mm on the original brake pads.

The intake manifold had some carbon by each cylinder's egr ports, but not a lot, and no oil. There was a teaspoon of oil below the throttle body. Cleaning the throttle body improved the smoothness of the electric-to-gas transition.

The egr cooler had carbon buildup that impeded flow, but was not blocked. Light was dimly visible from one end to the other. Spraying water with a garden hose nozzle resulted in some water going through and some water not going through and spraying back. Spraying parts cleaner and soaking in oxiclean cleaned carbon, but neither improved the flow. I poked a straight section of thin clothes hanger through each hole and that improved the flow. A few final soaks with oxiclean and it was good -- the garden hose nozzle all sprayed through and a light shone brightly through. I'm sure a pressure washer is faster, but I made do with what I had. I did not remove the plastic cap on the egr valve, but just cleaned it up with parts cleaner. I didn't notice any difference after the cooler/valve cleaning.

A few thoughts on the task. I needed a new intake manifold gasket, but the throttle body and manifold-egr pipe gaskets were fine. FWIW, the throttle body was attached to the intake manifold with 4 bolts -- no e6 studs. As for the egr valve/cooler, I was changing the engine coolant anyway, so I didn't clamp the hoses and only spilled a tablespoon or two. Also on the valve/cooler, I removed the front stud and lower middle stud and did not remove the back studs that connect to the exhaust pipe. For the lower middle nut, I used a deepwell socket and 1.5" extension, lying on the engine, starting the socket/extension with my left hand, then clipping the ratchet to the extension with my right hand. I did not reinstall the lower middle nut or stud.

I never expected egr cleaning to be regular maintenance. :/ I'm glad I did it at 150,000 miles, but I don't think it needed doing sooner. This is not a recommendation to others (perhaps we're easier on the car than some) but just a data point. It would be great to get another 100,000 miles on the car.

A before and after pic, shining a light through the egr cooler.

 

Thanks for the report! Did you happen to get the EGR flow numbers from before and after cleaning?

 

No, sorry.

 

That was pretty much clogged. But you cleaned it out so that's good!

 

I can't believe that there wasn't much oil in the intake ports.

Our 2011 at 124K on the odometer had quite a bit of black oil in the first two intakes (left to right). Unfortunately, this picture is of the 3 and 4 intakes, which weren't as bad.

You didn't consider installing an oil catch can?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I had a small amount of black residue on the intake side, much much less than your picture. It wasn't wet or gummy, so I assume it was more carbon than oil. Also, all cylinders had about the same amount -- #1 (passenger-side) was not significantly different than the others. Same with the egr ports into each cylinder -- only a light coating with #1 not worse than the others. I didn't have a lot of time when I did the intake side, so unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.

I have not installed an oil catch can. I have changed the oil 14 times at 10,000 mile intervals with Mobil1 0W20.

 

Just editorial: when taking pics of the EGR cooler interior, say with a phone, try tapping on the cooler interior, or whatever you can do, to pull up the exposure. If the phone is left to decide, it’ll invariably expose for that shiny metal flange, leaving the interior an inscrutable black abyss.

 

I pulled the EGR cooler and Intake manifold yesterday for the 2nd time. It's been about 52K miles since I cleaned it. 1st time was at about 126k now it has 178,444. Cooler came clean easier this time, it wasn't as dirty to begin with. Looking through I could still see light, but not much. EGR ports on the manifold didn't look bad but i cleaned them anyway.

Before cleaning:






After cleaning:

 

Nice pictures! Did you get the before/after flow numbers?

 

No, I don't know how to do that. Do you need a BT OBDii tool paired with Dr. Prius?

 

If you look over that linked thread, you see a lot of different things people are using. Any kind of OBD-II tool that can pull up "mode 6 monitor results" does the trick.

 

Incase anyone wanted to know how the car sounds the initial startup after performing the task, this is the knock I got. Went away quick, took her around the block and all seems good.

 

Eric O. has a 3rd gen Prius with you-guessed-it:

Hopefully he does a follow-up video.

 

I have read the whole thread and at the end I could not resist to answer to this three year old post (there are pictures as well - look here:
EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | Page 14 | PriusChat):

@2011Prii - you really should look here (if you are still interested):
Still P0401 after cleaning egr !! should we drive it? | Page 3 | PriusChat

The user @ozmatt made very similar pictures of his EGR valve rotor.

It looks very similar to your picture of the inside part of the rotor - look at the groove in the "ramp" at the bottom. It shouldn't be there...

In the mentioned thread I write about and show pictures of my old failed EGR valve, which has a groove in the ramp as well (it was replaced with the updated EGR valve, but I sold this Prius):
Still P0401 after cleaning egr !! should we drive it? | Page 10 | PriusChat

After this I disassembled my own working EGR valve on my 2010 Prius, which has the ramp intact. Made some pictures, a short film, some sound recordings, which --maybe-- could lead to a diagnosis possibility of the ramp without taking the rotor out, but for this we would need more data points - from other functioning and eventually failing EGR valves.
It starts somewhere here:
Still P0401 after cleaning egr !! should we drive it? | Page 11 | PriusChat

Sorry for digging so deep into this thread - couldn't really resist

Mat