How to clean EGR cooler?

kc5833 · May 7, 2006

I am in the process of cleaning my EGR Valve and Intake manifold. In the process I noticed my EGR cooler is 99% clogged. No light or compressed air will pass through. I have soaked the EGR cooler overnight and also ran hot water through it but it is still badly clogged. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to properly and successfully clean this part without ruining it? I am trying to avoid buying a new EGR cooler that costs about $470.

Background info: This is a 2002 Jetta TDI with 79,000 miles. The intake and EGR valve and the connecting pipes were very badly clogged (about 60 - 70% clogged) but these parts cleaned up nicely. I believe this is partly due to the fact that Sullivan County, NY has very high sulfur content in the diesel fuel.

nicklockard · May 7, 2006

What are the EGR coolers made of?

[wondering out loud]I ask this because if the material is steel throughout, why not put it into a self-cleaning oven for a self-clean cycle? They are designed to get hot enough to burn off carbonaceous crud but not melt the steel. I think they get too hot for aluminum though.

Caution: this WILL anneal the material. If it is some kind of special heat-treated steel it will revert back to a mild steel. My guess is it is a mild steel anyway...but I really don't know.

DeafBug · May 8, 2006

You can always do away with the EGR cooler and get the Euro mod from Dieselgeek.

kc5833 · May 8, 2006

I would first like to see if anyone knows of a way to clean the EGR cooler before I look into the modification.

cage · May 12, 2006

Don't clean it. I figure if it gets clogged who cares. Doesn't that just mean that less exhaust can get through and into the intake?

kc5833 · May 12, 2006

yes but less air equals less power. If the air flow is restricted from the exhaust manifold through the egr cooler the engine would not be breathing right. I purchased a new egr cooler from vw for $441.00 I sent the old one to a carburator shop that does ultra sonic cleaning for $20 If this method works I will have an extra or sell it on ebay. I will update when i find out

blacktantdi · May 12, 2006

I used a section of straightened coat hanger, some cleaner and a power washer on my EGR cooler. A little tedious and very messy, but it came out fine. Before was almost totally clogged.

jasonTDI · May 13, 2006

kc5833 said:
yes but less air equals less power. If the air flow is restricted from the exhaust manifold through the egr cooler the engine would not be breathing right. I purchased a new egr cooler from vw for $441.00 I sent the old one to a carburator shop that does ultra sonic cleaning for $20 If this method works I will have an extra or sell it on ebay. I will update when i find out

Oh how wrong. The car will draw more FRESH air. Actually you will make better power since you aren't burning the oxygen depleted air. Ultrasonic will work on the carbon looking stuff. The glazed hard stuff can't be removed.

jasonTDI · May 13, 2006

blacktantdi said:
I used a section of straightened coat hanger, some cleaner and a power washer on my EGR cooler. A little tedious and very messy, but it came out fine. Before was almost totally clogged.

You have no idea how lucky you are that you did not pierce the tubes. I see that ALL the time.

kc5833 · May 23, 2006

well three days in the ultra sound with chemicals and still plugged solid. It went in the trash. good thing I had bought a new one!!!

nicklockard · May 23, 2006

Next time send it to me. I'll pay shipping. Trashed?

kc5833 · May 27, 2006

There wont be a next time. im going to clean it every 30,000 miles to be safe.

jasonTDI · May 28, 2006

bypass

kc5833 · Jul 23, 2007

Im looking into the stealth egr and cooler delete kit from dieselgeek. Not looking foward for that job or price again. $69.00 bucks and I should be done!

PDJetta · Jul 24, 2007

jasonTDI said:
You have no idea how lucky you are that you did not pierce the tubes. I see that ALL the time.

I used an insulation hanger when I did this on my mother's TDI with only disconnecting the exhaust pipe from each end of the cooler. The hanger is simply a 15-inch straight stiff steel wire, about 1/16 inch in diameter. I wondered if I might damage the EGR cooler tubes, but I rodded them out anyway. I figured I would take a chance. I could not get to the outter most set of tubes (around the circumference of the cooler). I then blew out the crud with a big can of "Dust-Off". All appears well, no coolant leaks.

I only did this because Northern Virginia (where she lives) just mandated that diesel cars, 1997 and newer, pass OBD II emissions testing and her TDI has a intermittent CEL for "EGR regulation exceeded", which would cause a test failure, and the cooler was dang near completely plugged up. Otherwise, I would not bother cleaning this. Less exhaust gas flow, the better!

--Nate

kc5833 · Jul 24, 2007

In ny where I live diesels only have a safty inspection, no emissions at all. When I complete the delete kit the only thing Im worried about is the little light buggin me.....

rosher · Jul 28, 2007

PDJetta said:
which would cause a test failure, and the cooler was dang near completely plugged up. Otherwise, I would not bother cleaning this. Less exhaust gas flow, the better!
--Nate

While I understand the logic behind more fresh air to the engine being better, I don't see how less exhaust flow is good. Doesn't less exhaust flow mean exhaust back pressure and reduced power?
-Rob

PDJetta · Jul 28, 2007

Less exhaust flow through the EGR cooler is what I meant (not the car's exhaust system). This means less exhaust flows into the intake manifold and thus less intake clogging and less engine wear from the abraisive soot.

Sorry, I did not explain it too well the first time.

--Nate

rosher · Jul 29, 2007

I understood what you meant, Nate; it's probably me that doesn't understand how exhaust flows. Maybe a clogged EGR cooler just results in more exhaust out the tailpipe, and more fresh air through the intake, but that's what I'm not sure about. Seems like backpressure anywhere in the exhaust would be a bad thing...but maybe not?

kc5833 · Aug 1, 2007

I wouldnt consider it backpressure. I understand better now after reading a number of posts on this site. When the exhaust gas can not be pushed through the cooler it is passed through the exhaust manifold. The manifold has ample flow and passages,so it is saftly pushed through and out the tailpipe.

mrrhtuner · Aug 2, 2013

I know this is an old thread but I found it while searching 'Cleaning EGR cooler'

Today I took simple green and poured some into the EGR cooler and let it sit there for a bit, dumped it and rinsed. I repeated it a few times but I'm not sure how well it will clean it.

Any suggestions? I am thinking of taking it to the car wash tomorrow and spray it with high pressure soap/water.

JB05 · Aug 3, 2013

I wonder what the price of a new EGR cooler would run now adays since the opening post in this thread. I know the BEW cooler are a lot less.

frodoz737 · Mar 30, 2015

Still around $400. Another reason I deleted the whole EGR system. We get away with that in Texas.

Baxter'sTDI · Mar 30, 2015

If anybody has any other good ideas on how to clean them without ruining them, I'd love to hear them!

UhOh · Mar 30, 2015

I wished that I'd put up the pictures of my cooler when I did my EGR/intake cleaning on my car. All I had was a lip buildup at the junction to the EGR flex elbow (despite how badly the valve and intake were clogged up). I scraped it and then just blew it out (as well as vacuumed) as both ends of the cooler need to be disconnected anyway. There were no signs of buildup past the lip area.

It was a big concern for me as I was researching prior to the work.

I think that this is another one of those things in which having a bore scope would really be beneficial.

jimbote · Mar 30, 2015

submerge it in a five gallon bucket of water for a week or so... carbon is water soluble and the buildup in the cooler itself is almost pure carbon... not so for the intake and egr which is carbon mixed with petroleum

Concat · Mar 30, 2015

jimbote said:
submerge it in a five gallon bucket of water for a week or so... carbon is water soluble and the buildup in the cooler itself is almost pure carbon... not so for the intake and egr which is carbon mixed with petroleum

Carbon has an extremely low solubility in water. Think about how Brita filters use activated carbon... carbon is still there after a week.

sktan · May 8, 2017

kc5833 said:
I am in the process of cleaning my EGR Valve and Intake manifold. In the process I noticed my EGR cooler is 99% clogged. No light or compressed air will pass through. I have soaked the EGR cooler overnight and also ran hot water through it but it is still badly clogged. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to properly and successfully clean this part without ruining it? I am trying to avoid buying a new EGR cooler that costs about $470.

Background info: This is a 2002 Jetta TDI with 79,000 miles. The intake and EGR valve and the connecting pipes were very badly clogged (about 60 - 70% clogged) but these parts cleaned up nicely. I believe this is partly due to the fact that Sullivan County, NY has very high sulfur content in the diesel fuel.

Most people have to replace the cooler instead of clean it. Honestly speaking, it is very hard to clean the internal tubes inside.

Genesis · May 8, 2017

IMHO if you have a clogged or leaking cooler I'd consider deleting it and run the crosspipe. You'll still pass OBD-based emissions because the EGR will still register as working by the ECU (and in fact it is, just not cooled.)

There is no high sulfur diesel in an on-road application any more and hasn't been for a long time.

What I would *not* do is delete the entire EGR system. Not only does that give you a permanent MIL on the dash it ALSO makes the car impossible to register anywhere that emissions tests vehicles.

whitedog · May 8, 2017

But what were we burning 11 years ago when this thread started?

How to clean EGR cooler?

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