Suspension and EGR cleaning — A retrospective

Prius 2012, 155k miles

A month ago, I wouldn’t have considered myself a “car” person. The most work I had ever done was an oil change. If you had asked me to point out the “intake manifold”, I wouldn’t have had a clue. Socket wrench? I might’ve been able to point one out. Yeah, kind of sad. I’m a programmer — computers are my wheelhouse, not cars (until now!).

I posted a while back about my suspension (replacing struts and shocks). After getting multiple opinions, I decided I was going to attempt the replacement myself (well, with my dad’s help).

While researching (primarily on PriusChat) I discovered “EGR cleaning” and, being the perfectionist that I am, decided that I was going to attempt that as well.

And damn, the more I read, the more things I discovered. What the hell is a PCV valve? What’s an intake manifold? EGR cooler? Oil catch can? Tie rods? Wheel bearings? Control arms?

So at the expense of my wife’s sanity, I spent the next few weeks obsessively researching both suspension and EGR cleaning. And I absorbed as much as I could. And holy crap — over the past two weeks, my dad and I did it all. Took about 20 hours of work. Pretty damn proud!

Specifically, we

• Replaced struts and shocks (KYB)
• Cleaned intake manifold
• Cleaned EGR cooler, pipe, and valve
• Replaced PCV valve
• Oil change

My fingers are so damn sore from twisting, pulling, and tightening! But I feel so badass. Now for some retrospecting…

1. The hardest part, at least for me, was removing hoses, followed by plastic fasteners.
2. The lower stud / nut on the EGR cooler, a.k.a. the “bolt from hell,” wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. It just took the right tool (a small 1/4” drive socket wrench with the perfect extension). My dad gets the credit for removing it. I looked at it for about 20 mins myself, but couldn’t quite get a socket over it. Then, my dad walked into the garage and within 2 mins he got the nut off. Contrary to opinions, I put the nut back on. I was feeling so confident that I even torqued it to its specification.
3. Torque wrenches are awesome. My favorite tool, by far. I loved nerding out on repair manuals and torque specifications. I bought a couple Tekton wrenches before I started the project. But I didn’t realize that my dad already owned multiple Snap-On torque wrenches. That was a cool discovery. “Well, you never asked” he said.
4. To clean the EGR cooler, and pipe, I went back and forth between Oxi-clean soaks and pressure washing. Took about 3 rounds. Before/after screenshots below. After cleaning, I could completely see through each “capillary” of the cooler.
5. To clean the intake manifold and EGR valve, I used brake cleaner. Worked decently well.
6. Draining a few quarts of coolant made the project much easier. I hardly spilled any when disconnecting hoses. No clamping necessary.
7. There’s a “right tool” for every scenario — a perfectly sized socket extension, a pair of long needle nose pliers, torque wrenches in multiple drive sizes and torque ranges, a portable light, a clamp, a towel, a bungee cord, an aluminum pipe to act as a “cheater bar”, etc. Having access to all my dad’s tools made these jobs so much easier.
8. Suspension took about 4 hours.
9. EGR and intake cleaning took about 16 hours over 3 days. Most of the time was spent disassembling. Next time, I bet I could do everything twice as fast. I only had two weekends to accomplish everything (without taking PTO). Be nicer to yourself.
10. After putting it all back together, I turned the car on and… check engine light (p0113). I unplugged the MAF, gently blew it out with an air compressor, and plugged it back in. No more light. Yeah, baby!

At the end of the day, I learned a ton, made my Prius more reliable, and bonded with my dad. Triple win! Am I officially a “car person” now?

Oil catch can is next on my list, but I’m in California, so I need more time to research (I want it to be inconspicuous).

Thank you PriusChat and NutzAboutBoltz. I seriously could not have done any of this without your guidance and knowledge.

 

> How do the front sway bar end links look

Good question. They looked OK, but I'll double check!

After replacing struts/shocks, I got an alignment from a local shop, and asked them to check the overall suspension (ball joints, tie rods, etc.). They said it all looked solid. I'm guessing they checked the sway bar links too, but who knows.