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Cleaning Intake and EGR - what chemicals would do the best job?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Lares_Mat, Aug 13, 2022.

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  1. bbrages

    bbrages Junior Member

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    2005 Prius
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    I used brake parts cleaner on the EGR valve

    For the intake, I used brake parts cleaner and a couple of copper bore brushes (.22 cal and 12 gauge for the side port).

    But what I thought was a big help was a pressure washer. I used the pressure washer on everything but the EGR valve. I bought a new EGR cooler, though, instead of cleaning my old one, because the studs were absolutely frozen in it.
     
    #21 bbrages, Jun 27, 2024 at 11:55 AM
  2. Lares_Mat

    Lares_Mat Member

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    With pressure washer, you are absolutely right!
    But... what is the “everything else”, if you did not clean the EGR valve with it (absolutely tight ;)) and bought a new EGR cooler?

    I can only think of the intake manifold and the short pipe between the intake manifold and the EGR valve - am I right?

    And I can ensure you, that a pressure washer makes cleaning the EGR cooler a lot easier!

    I used compressed air first on mine (I bought a used one, not completely clogged, and cleaned it) - it was a lot of carbon clouds ;)
    Then I used pressure washer with some measures not to hold it in my hands and not get completely covered with "black water" ;)
    At the end I used a solution with pipe cleaner twice - this procedure got the cooler shiny clean - not "as new" but shiny enough ;)

    I wanted to see what does the most of the job to clean the deposits and... I would say, the whole process does it.

    I don't think, compressed air does the job good, but if you are short on time and the cooler is not completely clogged - it could make the EGR flow much better.
    The pressure washer would not clean it to shiny state and it is messy :)
    I don't know if pipe cleaner alone would do the job without precleaning with the two previous steps...

    My five cents :)

    Mat

    My pressure washer "measures": 20240404_184618_for_PriusChat.jpg
     
    #22 Lares_Mat, Jun 27, 2024 at 12:38 PM
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  3. bbrages

    bbrages Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    St. Louis
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
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    N/A
    I used the pressure washer on:

    the intake manifold... first I messed around with brake cleaner and brushes, but the pressure washer got it cleaner, easier.

    The pipe from the intake manifold to the EGR assembly (messed around with brushes, but the pressure washer got it all the way clean, and easily)

    The little aluminum casting angle pipe off the EGR cooler (just used pressure washer)

    BUT I made a mistake by not taking the plastic cap off the EGR valve itself!! After I got it all together, I had surging at low throttle and even at idle, and I had a pending P0401. Also, Torque showed my EGR flow pressure as only 0.27 kPa.

    I didn't take the EGR valve apart because all the fasteners on my Prius are a bit frozen. One of the screws for the EGR valve cap (the black part) was stripping out when I tried to remove it. WELL - I ended up drilling it out and fiddling with the EGR valve to make sure it was moving freely. I dabbed a little grease on the shaft from the motor side. Put it back together and now I'm getting 17.5 kPa and no surging or pending codes. yay! My theory is that all my solvent ended up dissolving gunk into the valve seat area and sticking it closed.
     
    #23 bbrages, Jun 27, 2024 at 3:17 PM
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