[Fr0d]

Thanks to immelman's How-To, I'd thought I'd get round to cleaning my EGR valve today, even though I don't appear to be suffering with any particular engine issues.

So with all my sockets, wrenches, spanners and new gaskets, I ploughed on.

That was until I had to undo the 2 8mm inverted flange bolts.

Try as I did neither of the bolts budged. I tried WD-40, a blowlamp, even buying another better quality 12mm socket, but nothing worked.:scream1:

After a good deal of f'ing and blinding, I decided to remove the front slam panel (crossbeam) to try and improve access and leverage. It was then and only then (I'm ashamed to admit) that I realized that as a complete pleb, I had been tightening up said bolt instead of releasing it!

Note to self - Lefty loosey, righty tighty! [smilie=dunceblock.:

The rest was pretty straightforward, as explained in the How-To.

The amount of scum I scooped out was surprising to say the least and a spray of Wynns Diesel EGR3 helped to get rid of a good deal of it.

Before and after Pics...

[B]Dirty Manifold[/B]

Dirty EGR valve

Dirty EGR Pipe

A sample of crud

Clean Manifold

Clean EGR

Clean EGR Pipe

Wynns Diesel EGR3

Hoping for some positive results, after all that!

 

[Syx]

Great result mate. How many miles did you have on the engine before cleaning it?

Edit: Just saw your post in the other thread

over 100,000 miles

 

[adsbeau]

Doing mine as part of the service next weekend.

 

[griffian]

Excellent mate, how did you clean the inlet manifold opening???

Did you spray the wyns in and then wipe?

Thanks

Ian

 

[Relic]

Funny enough I still stand there for a couple of minutes thinking about clockwise and anticlockwise
Does the crud go deep into the inlet manifold. ?
Was thinking about taking the manifold off too but that involves the fuel rail and everything.
So if it can be avoided Id rather not

 

[Fr0d]

Excellent mate, how did you clean the inlet manifold opening???

Did you spray the wyns in and then wipe?

Thanks

Ian

I scraped a good amount out with a flat screwdriver then, poked my finger in and scooped out much of the crud to as best I could (wearing gloves, of course, as you really don't want any of it on your hands).

Not pleasant, but reasonably effective. Then a generous spray of Wynn's and a good wipe out with a clean rag.

Needless to say, don't poke anything in there which is likely to come apart/fall in. I can't imagine having to remove the manifold is too much fun... :facepalm:

I'd imagine spraying Wynn's on, without scraping as much as the crud off first, would turn it all to mush and create even more of a mess.

Its quite straightforward, when you realize which way to undo a bolt...

 

[Fr0d]

Funny enough I still stand there for a couple of minutes thinking about clockwise and anticlockwise
Does the crud go deep into the inlet manifold. ?
Was thinking about taking the manifold off too but that involves the fuel rail and everything.
So if it can be avoided Id rather not

Not too deep, as far as I could make out?..

Most seems to be around the manifold hole, in the EGR-to-manifold pipe on the EGR (if that makes sense) and when you poke your finger in the manifold, there is a fair bit to the left,top and right.

You can feel the sides of the manifold to the top and to the right, but the left goes deeper. I suppose if you wanted to make a thorough job of it, you could poke a bottle cleaner or something in towards the left...

 

[griffian]

On the instructions it says to take off egr start engine and get it to about 2000rpm and spray in at about 1-2 sec burst and let engine come back to 2000rpm.

A whole bottle should be used 200ml.

Is this safe???

 

[Relic]

Power Enhancer | BG 406 Throttle Body Cleaner | Throttle Body Cleaner

Please note that due to the risk of hydrolock, this product CAN NOT be sprayed directly into the intake of diesel engines, running or otherwise. Athough very effective on diesel engines, it is necessary to remove the intake components (intake pipes, manifold, throttle body, EGR system etc.) and clean such parts manually.

 

[JohnJonjo]

Did mine yesterday, it was about 90% blocked.
My car has done 145k miles now, I doubt it had ever been cleaned before!
I always use supermarket diesel but have started to add redex diesel fuel additive every 3-4 months, is this additive any good?
Can anyone recommend any better fuel additives from personnal experiance?
After cleaning the car feels much better, far more responsive, Im well happy.
I agree it is important to remember how to do and undo a bolt, makes life so much easier!
By the way, got some of that black goooey gunk from the egr valve cleaning under my nails, anyone know how to get rid of it as got an evening wedding to go to tomororrow and I dont wana look a tramp. Ive tried everything but no joy!

 

[JohnJonjo]

I forgot to add, did u clean the butterflny flap at the bottom of the egr valve? I did try just in case the gunk have siezed it.
Did you try to press it to check function?
Mine was very stiff even after cleaning, must need a hell of a vacumn from the engine to operate it!
Anyone got any views on this?

 

[F6HAD]

They should have a lot of resistance in them mate, so probably quite normal.

The best diesel additive from my experience is the BG244 treatment.

 

[Fr0d]

On the instructions it says to take off egr start engine and get it to about 2000rpm and spray in at about 1-2 sec burst and let engine come back to 2000rpm.

A whole bottle should be used 200ml.

Is this safe???

I should have said, i sprayed it into the components (both ends of the removed EGR, intake manifold and the EGR pipe, then wiped it off after it dissolved the remnants of crud. I didn't spray it into a running engine. I also have about 1/4 of a can left over. You can swirl a good amount of it in the removed EGR then pour it out, after you have scraped the majority of the crud out first.

That said, when doing the EGR on my old TDCi Focus a few years back, I applied it like how you have described, with no issues. Unbolted the Intercooler pipe and sprayed it into the running engine. It's not the the best way, as you'll not be able to see how much (if any) of the gunk is gone. Does make it rev a bit while you are doing it, though!

Not sure I'd recommend that method for the Civic, though.

 

[Craigv513]

Is this why my 2.2 stutters?

hi all,

luckily stumbled across this thread, my 2006, 2.2ex has 76,000 on the clock and when i drive sensibly to work between 1500-2250rpm i get a hesitation/stutter/judder when i lightly accelerate. could this be due to a blockage or build up of gunk in the EGR.

any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[F6HAD]

It could either be the EGR or the Intake Manifold Runner Control slightly sticking - it's all part of the same loop however.

 

[tom619]

My civic is touching 80k and I really want to do this but am crap with cars. Does anyone have any idea how much this would cost to do at a garage OR would anyone be willing to help me clean my EGR personally paid of course

 

[bxlyheathsupra]

get an egr delete remap and save yourself the hassle of having to clean it ever again!

 

[tom619]

Very noob question....but what actually is an EGR delete remap? Im not even sure of the EGRs purpose I just know that it went on my last car (mk5 golf) and cost me a bomb to fix so i switched cars and bought my civic lol.

 

[Syx]

EGR is Exhaust Gas Recirculation. An amount of exhaust is mixed into the intake to reduce the temperature at which the fuel burns - by reducing the temperature less nitrogen oxide is produced as it requires a high temperature to form.

The EGR delete removes the recirculation by stopping the EGR valve from opening meaning that only fresh air is drawn into the engine - giving a cleaner, hotter and arguably (I say this as I have no personal evidence) better burn.

 

[tom619]

I see. Is it safe to make such an alteration to the engine? How much does it usually cost and is it reversible?