New EGR, new software

Howdy,
CEL came on all the sudden while driving. Engine was warm. Got home and after hour or so i went to read fault codes and ICE fired up with violent shaking. Read the codes and there was just P0401. Kept engine running for a while but shaking just continued. Next day i blocked EGR with metal plate and ICE was smooth as silk. Drove it about 10 kilometers, turned it off for 10minutes and fired up again. Still smooth.

Car has never had any rattle nor coolant loss so tomorrow i’ll buy new EGR valve from dealership. 220kkm on the clock and i dont feel like trying the cleaning. I believe they’ll sell me the latest version that require software update. Question is whether the software update is really really necessary?

By the way, is that E8 hex hard to open? The hex part of the bolt looks so tiny and easy to mush.. Need to knock on the head with hammer or something? Any other hard to open bolts? Appreciate all tips.

 

i don’t want to but i have to get car back to road asap. Like during coming weekend. I’ll have fw updated in next oil change or perhaps earlier but not possible during next few weeks.

Intake and cooler (and also valve) was cleaned about 10kkm ago. Even though valve has malfunctioned recently i think cleaning whole system now again is excess. Same with headgasket studies. If there was coolant loss i would start thinkin new engine but there has not been (yet).

 

Car is back on the road, working fine and CEL has not come back. I actually did take the IM out but since last cleaning was just 10kkm ago there was no gunk worth mentioning. Cooler looked ok as well, i did not have energy to start fighting with it so left it untouched.



Main reason for taking IM out was that i wanted to check and clean throtle body and replace all IM gaskets. Reason for that was weird idle behaviour when i had egr blocked: after cold start the revs went up and down with some 10s interval. They went quite high, maybe 2000rpm, but right away down. Once engine started warming revs did not go so high anymore and finally when engine fully warm idle was normal and steady. I thought that maybe it was related to blocked egr but still decided to check and properly clean thortle body and replace gaskets for safety sake. However, when i started the car first time with new egr, new gaskets and shiny throtle body, it did the same Revs up and down until engine warmed up. Proceeded to clear faults codes and there was again just p0401. But since codes clearing up&down idle has not returned even thought car has been started cold. Like really cold (+2deg C).

By the way, the new egr has longer pin bolts which was negative surprise. I was able to remove old egr without loosening cooler but no way to install new type egr with cooler in it’s place. So i had to fight the famous bolt from h*ll. New egr also came with bulleting stating that cable need more length, remove old tape and tape differently. So i did. But i could not find any physical difference between old and new egr (besides pin bolt length). Perhaps just realiability optimizating thingy.



And dealership printed to invoice: this component require sw update. Probably because i asked during ordering phase that does it need sw update. At that point they said that they have no records about sw update in conjunction with egr replacement.

 

Only document that came with egr component was that cable length thing. Nothing about fw. And i re-checked the invoice and it actully say ”new egr require ECU update/calibration”.

 

Thank you very much. I should start from buying proper scan tool. The bluetooth thing i have could read the codes with Torque app but could not clear the codes. Had to visit parts store who has self-service station for fault code reading. Their ”eOBD” found same codes and also cleared them succesfully.

Problem is my family has 4 cars i am looking after. Different brands, not related. So in order to get any real fw operations done i should buy 4 scan tools, uh. So this time i’ll probably pay 80eur for Toyota dealership.

edit: In Amayama egr valve is 182Usd. I paid 509Eur because i had no time to wait. I wish i had had time to wait. Hope someone benefit from these lessons of mine

 

Here’s the situation 10kkm after cleaning:


I regret i did not have it replaced instead of cleaning. After all, car is 13years old and 220kkm on the clock. And manifold was really clean as well as those passages.

Update on the sw issue: my favorite dealership was fully booked for weeks so i called another. Their service manager said that if no CEL and car working fine there is no reason to bring car over. They only calibrate if new egr not functioning properly. And that sw is some ”campaign sw”and not directly related to new egr version. Decided to keep driving, perhaps i ask sw issue again next time i have oil change or something.

About EGR blocking: regulations on emission control tamperings just got tighter over here and older cars need to get inspected every year. Blocked EGR, pierced DPF etc can result hefty fine. I admit i had EGR eliminated in one of my past cars but i don’t do that any more. Not (just) because of risk getting caught but because of other people’s lungs And maybe Prius can have little better MPG with perfectly working EGR

 

Maybe to California it is fast. But to here..oh well. Last time i ordered it took almost two weeks. But i really like that webshop, definitely order from there whenever possible

 

Duplicate..

 

Here picture of my ramp. Looks ok. And valve was completely seized and would not move even with force.

I wonder why they have those ”venting” channels allowing dirt to enter electric motor compartment? And the screws were super tight to open..and Phillips..and i had to cut a slot and open with flat screw driver. Soaking with some penetration oil is good idea. And new screws.

 

What exactly is the purpose of the ski jump? Actual movement is done with the thread i suppose