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  • Results from an EGR and intake clean.

    Hey all,
    Thought I'd do a little write up about the weekends project of cleaning the intake system out. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.

    After much reading I thought I would set aside a few days and rip into it and clean the intake system of carbon build up from the EGR system. I'd already looked into the throttle body of the intake and seen that there was a fair amount of carbon already built up, so I knew I was in for a job and a messy one at that.

    I own an ex NBN 2012 GX auto with 140k kms. Love the car and I'm trying to gear it up for a long trip around WA, including heading into a number of very remote areas. So whilst I'm chasing some more power, I'm really just looking for reliability. The bonus is that doing things like this on your car is that you get to become pretty intimate with the engine in case anything happens later on. I also found a few vacuum lines that were very loose or that had holes in them so I used this opportunity to replace them as I went.

    I installed a catch can on the car when I first got it knowing that carbon from the exhaust and oil from the rocker cover was a bad mixture for any engine and I have no doubt at all that doing this about a year earlier made my job so much easier. Still messy, but not as bad as it could have been. I'll explain why later.

    So armed with a link from newhilux.net (How to clean the D4D intake and EGR sytem) lots of photos, a workshop manual, some tools and half a clue I got into it.

    It all came apart pretty easy with only a few minor hiccups along the way. A crow foot spanner is great, but a set of crowfoot wrench nuts are better. These allow you to have a 3/8th drive attached and make getting into the tight spots around the injectors so much easier. So after a quick stint on the bicycle to go get a set from a nearby ports store, I was back on the job.

    I took my time and used lots of masking tape to remind me where vacuum lines and plugs went. I also used the tape to wrap bolts up together and label them so I knew where they come from. I've found over the years of back yard mechanic'ing that this is worth its weight in gold (being that a few cm's of tape is not very heavy probable explains why I'm still broke). I find that it helps me put things back where they are meant to be. As I put things back, I take the tape off. As the tape stands out (bright blue) against all the other black cables and hoses, it makes finding that plug or hose a breeze. Far easier than trying to find it be feel only or guessing why the car runs rough.

    Let's get into it.

    As I said earlier, I had already had a look inside the throttle body and noted that there was allot of oil and carbon build up.
    From the front - https://i.imgur.com/NspmBKy.jpg
    From the back - https://i.imgur.com/2Sazda3.jpg

    This is the straight section between the throttle body and the EGR. Note that there is a vacuum line off there somewhere.
    https://i.imgur.com/7gsSoGs.jpg

    The intake elbow - https://i.imgur.com/HlGBSBm.jpg


    Here is the EGR Valve itself in all its sinister glory, Damn you EGR valve!!!! - https://i.imgur.com/i5ZQH1d.jpg

    This is where most of the articles I read stopped. I can see why, but it's only half a job. Yes this is where it gets allot more complex, but still, half a job is half a job.

    I had seen a few manifolds in different articles so I was expecting something bad. I was still shocked though.
    It's not as bad as i had read about, but still. :-x

    The Clean
    It was caked full of carbon and toward cylinders one and two there was this thick oily grunge that was the equivalent of diarrhea and grease having a love child during a bad acid trip. Most ports were about 15-20% blocked into the head. There were large clumps of carbon built up and number one port was about 25% blocked but that oily mess was something else. It felt like super glue that was about to go off and stuck to everything leaving black residue that was next to impossible to get off.

    By this point it was night, so please excuse the average photos.
    Cylinder 4 port - https://i.imgur.com/tUvdKUv.jpg

    Cylinder 1 swirl port - https://i.imgur.com/tdGbCGn.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/9MHa9bc.jpg

    Cylinder 2 port - https://i.imgur.com/yRQ1byM.jpg

    So armed with a teaspoon, a small scrubbing brush and wishing I had used the gloves I bought instead of remembering them about an hour into the clean (My hands are still a shade of black three days later), I got stuck into it.

    This is what I found.
    https://i.imgur.com/Xk3mf2c.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/e5PhhOx.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/Un4sbKK.jpg

    That's right. 127 grams of carbon was inside the intake system. Most of it within the intake manifold.
    This is where I can honestly say that installing a catch can paid off. As this catches the oil from the rocker cover, stopping it from entering the intake system the carbon that was built up in the intake was dry(ish). I think if I hadn't done the catch can, or if it was only recently put on, this process would have been way worse.

    I used a combination of carby cleaner to break down the carbon and degreaser to wash the part off. It was a really good combo to use and made the cleaning process easy. It still took time, about 2 hours in total, but with some tunes playing and a few coffees it was enjoyable to see the system clean and ready for reinstall.

    Here's what they should look like.
    Egr Valve - https://i.imgur.com/WdRWmx4.jpg
    Intake Mainfold - https://i.imgur.com/wNjI6PX.jpg
    Straight section - Hello little vacuum line - https://i.imgur.com/IC4ayVH.jpg
    Elbow - https://i.imgur.com/NGqdb46.jpg

    So after spending nearly two days like this. https://i.imgur.com/X5sDoHD.jpg the car was back together and running.

    Results
    I wasn't expecting much to be honest. Whilst the intake did have a build up of carbon, it wasn't that bad. I can say that there has been an improvement in throttle response and revving. I want to say it feels more torquey low down, but I think it's just wishful thinking. There is a definite change in how the intake noise sounds with a deeper growl being present.

    I'll hold out before I make any comments on fuel consumption but I'll let you know if there is anything or not.

    Overall it was a good complex job to get done. No way could I afford someone to do it for me with it taking about 17 hours to strip, clean and reinstall. I know someone with more experience could do this quicker than me, but I'm still glad I did it myself.

    I know someone is going to ask if I blocked the EGR port and the answer is no.......so far.
    Any build up that occurs over the next few months before I get a custom tune done will be negligible. I may look at blocking the port off via the ECU, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

    Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully someone finds it useful and or interesting.

    Cheers.
    Nelly

  • #2
    Very impressive write up,

    There has been some mixed reports about using a catch can with an active EGR, it would be great if you did it again in another 50k to put that to bed. But also can understand if you Really don't have the time

    We have a 2.8 and I put a can on it fairly early about the 10 k mark I might clean it one day or for the same cost just have it tuned / disabled

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks for the write up. I would like to do the same to mine.

      Did need to replace any gaskets or other consumables along the way?

      Comment


      • #4
        Great write up! I remember how staining that black stuff is. Stained the sink in the laundry and still hasn't fully come out.
        I agree though, not much difference in performance/fuel but worth doing for the peace of mind

        Comment


        • #5
          Hey,

          It's been about 1000km since i did this and there is one interesting thing occurring.

          Without a doubt, the torque in the car has improved.
          The car now spins the tires in the wet and for an auto 4wd that's pretty decent and is a very noticeable difference.
          It pulls much harder and during acceleration and overtaking.

          The down side of this extra torque.....Fuel economy.
          The economy has decreased by an additional 0.5lt/100km on average.
          Interestingly to note as well, that at cruising speed (90km/hr) the economy is about 1.5lt better the before the clean.
          Acceleration and overtaking is where it uses the additional fuel, hence the improved torque.

          I'm still in the process of checking the hoses of any vacuum leaks or incorrect connections, but i havent been able to find any yet.
          The car seems to stick in a high gear longer when you put your foot down inlieu of downshifting which is probably where the issue lays. Not sure which hose or connection would be controlling that, so if you have any advice, please let me know.

          Thinkpad - no gaskets required. they are all metal and if you're gentle with them you can reuse them.

          JimmyC - I could not agree more. The stuff is near impossible to get rid of.

          Comment


          • #6
            Interesting feedback re economy. If you do restrict the EGR (e.g. 7mm hole plate) then you should see an improvement in fuel economy (very slight) as you are no longer injecting hot exhaust gas (~100C) into your air intake at low acceleration. The same applies to performance - cool intake air = better performance.
            2010 150 Glacier White GXL D4D Auto

            Comment


            • #7
              Hey everyone i found the same thing with the economy once its being cleaned, on a slight side note how much is a dyno and custom tune with turning the egr off in the custom tune.??

              Comment


              • #8
                Great write up Nelly! I'm planning on doing this in the next week or so. I wasn't planning on doing the manifold but having seen yours I may do that as well.
                What did you use to block the fuel lines as I believe they need to be moved to remove the manifold?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hey
                  Westcoast Mark
                  Member
                  Westcoast Mark
                  Glad i could help. It made a big difference to the car in the end, and I'm still stoked that i did it. The fuel economy is still higher than what it was, but the amount of noticeable torque the car now has is great.
                  I didnt use anything to block the lines as the whole line comes off to get the manifold out. I removed the lines and put them in a clean plastic bag away from the car as the engine bay in my car is really clean. use a brush and give the area a around the injectors a good brush prior to removing anything and I also read a great idea of getting the vacuum in when you do this, as this will catch any of the smaller bits of dirt that may be built up.

                  Good luck with it mate. Take you're time, you'll be fine.
                  Sing out if you have any questions.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Thanks for the tips mate. In the end I just did the EGR valve to the manifold. I don't have the time at the moment to pull the whole thing apart for a clean, took me about 5 hours to do the valve. That was with a few cuppa breaks though :-)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Hey
                      Phs
                      Senior Member
                      Phs,

                      So it's been 30k km's since i did the clean. I took a few bits of the intake apart this morning and took a photo down past the throttle body.
                      It's blackened and there is a slight trace of oil still with a very minor layer of soot over the EGR valve.
                      When you consider what it looked like before and now. I'd be pretty confident to say that the catch oil is preventing build up.

                      Hope that helps.
                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Hi Nelly, great report. When I did mine I zipp tied 3 milk crates together to form a long platform in a line and placed them down the side of the car to stand on, it made it a lot easier to get into the engine bay. Does anybody know if it is possible to clean the inside of the actual EGR Cooler (the gold colored thingo) to prevent any possible codes coming up in the future.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I cleaned the intake manifold in fewer steps. I lowered the collector into the container used to process the collector parts. I poured white spirit or another cleaner into it and left it for 30-60 minutes. The parts are additionally processed with a cleaning device.

                          Comment

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