Cleaned my EGR port on Friday

[Lokim]

So, my CEL has been coming on and off on the freeway over the last few weeks. I scanned the car at work, and I was getting an EGR code. I took a look at the port, and sure enough it was clogged with carbon.

I had some free time on Friday afternoon at work, so I pulled my car in and yanked the EGR valve, temp sensor, and intake tube and went to work. I filled the port in the plenum with carb cleaner, and it was so clogged it just sat in a pool! I decided to let the chemicals do their job and went to work on the EGR valve side. I used a small flathead screwdriver a stiff bottle brush, and compressed air to clean all the carbon out of the horizontal passage and temp sensor port.

Back to the plenum port. The pool of carb cleaner was still there! I was working through the throttle body, so access was an issue. After trying all sorts of different things, I finally found an effective scraping tool; a welding rod bent at a very specific angle and sharpened to a point. Spent about 45 minutes scraping at rock-hard carbon (at first I thought it was the aluminum casting of the plenum!) before I finally got carb cleaner to go from the plenum port to draining out of the EGR mounting flange. I spent another 15 minutes scraping and got it to a point that compressed air would flow freely through the port.

Now, after a few days of driving, my CEL stays off. Yay!

[maxnix]

Never have heard it cleaned this way. Innovative.

[Lokim]

Thanks maxnix!

I'm a big fan of "custom" tools and big honkin' heaps 'o elbow grease!

[Q451990]

It's funny how that carbon feels like it's supposed to be there when you start scraping it!

Heath