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How much to pay for EGR cooler?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by LizNewToPrius, Jul 30, 2021.

  1. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Can you provide a link? I was looking at hose attachments on Lowe's and HD websites and saw several.

    Does it really blast out all the crusty carbon deposits?

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  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I don't remember the exact one I bought but any of the hose attachments will work, as long as it fits in the hole of the cooler. All that concentrated water will blast right through the cooler and clean it all out. You can spray some brake cleaner in there to loosen up the carbon first and then hit it with the water
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Does this mean that household garden hose pressure is sufficient, and the talk of pressure washers has been overkill?
     
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    I decided to hit the EGR Cooler with undiluted Simple Green Pro HD cleaner. My previous mistake was diluting it with water, probably 1:10 to 1:5 ish. After running some straight cleaner through, a lot of black debris came out, where it was previously running clean with water.

    I put a rubber stopper on one end of the cooler and am soaking it overnight. I have some hope that I'll eventually win this protracted battle... eventually.

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  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Yes a garden hose pressure is all that's needed.
     
  6. Ed Beaty

    Ed Beaty Active Member

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    "I decided to hit the EGR Cooler with undiluted Simple Green Pro HD cleaner."

    Simple Green is just a dandy degreaser, but the stuff you want to remove from EGR innards is CARBON. Simple Green is a 'weak' alkali, (pH of 8 or so) and you want a strong alkali (12 or higher). Oven cleaner is such a thing. Indeed, plug up one end of the EGR cooler and spray in a goodly dose of oven cleaner ('HD' is best). Let sit and work for an hour and hose it out. Don't even need a pressure washer (which is a nice thing, but oven cleaner and a garden hose will do the job). Maybe you'll have to do a second application...maybe.
     
  7. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    If that's the case, then a good lye based drain cleaner should work well too.

    So far, I've been trying to avoid the caustic cleaners. But if the Simple Green Pro HD (light purple stuff, not the regular green stuff) doesn't do it, then I might cave and use it.

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  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Oxi-Clean (powdered concentrate laundry additive) mixed as concentrated as possible with hot tap water, stopper one end of the cooler, prop it up and wait about an hour (and/or until the carbon-flecked frothing subsided), rinse and repeat, got mine as-new clean, after 5~6 reps.
     
  9. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    I've got Oxy-Clean powder too, but I only did a couple soaks with it, and only left it in about 5 minutes. I guess I didn't remember that it would take possibly greater than 5 treatments.

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