Revealing the Science: How to Clean Your Prius EGR!

Revealing the Science: How to Clean Your Prius EGR!

2010-2015 Toyota Prius // How To Properly Clean // EGR Cooler // EGR Valve // Intake Manifold

My plan with these parts is to have 2 of each part so I can quickly swap the dirty parts for the cleaned out parts. I can get the car back running quickly and take my time cleaning the dirty parts and have them ready for the next swap and cleaning cycle. I want to do this every 75k miles to prevent any head gasket issues.

In this video I clean out the carbon buildup from the EGR cooler and the oil build up in the intake manifold on the 3rd Gen 2010-2015 Toyota Prius. I tried several products to see how they did but here are the ones I would use that worked the best.

EGR Cooler - Using oven cleaner worked great. After each soaking for roughly 2 hours I would use hot water to flush out the EGR cooler. After that I used my air compressor to blow out the inside and repeat the process until you see clear water when rinsing.

EGR Valve - From what I could see the EGR valve looked to be in good condition. I didn't see any build up inside it but I wasn't able to open it up. The screws were impossible to remove.

Intake Manifold - A good degreaser and allowing it to soak with hot water broke down the grime. I used a small wire brush to clean out the small passages along with spraying some parts cleaner and brake cleaner into the holes. After soaking in Simple Green I used a hose to flush it out and then blew it out with my air compressor. It looked like new when I was done.

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[joskd]

Good job, Jim! I cleaned all this with ovencleaner, also works superb

[daviddettmers]

Thank you, in the process of replacing head gasket now!!!

[penguintheboi]

Thank you so brother. I am in the process right now.

[humbob]

Going to undertake this on 2015 Prius v, one of the last 3rd gens drives and feels internally identical to the 2016 eco Prius. Need to do some future proofing as I just hit 100k this quarter and I am putting around 12k miles per quarter as of now.

[dddzzzdddzzz]

I believe that the EGR valve itself stays clean because the exhaust hasn't been cooled yet.
In the cooler, and downstream through the manifold, gummy condensates will have formed during the cooling process.
My Isuzu truck's EGR hasn't been cleaned in 36 years, still flows properly and opens/closes properly, as it has no EGR cooler.

[brunoliberato]

Thanks man!!! Very helpful content here

[jairdanmedina]

Im going to attempt this soon and am watching as many videos as I can to absorb the info from many perspectives, thanks for all the tips. Alos is that and MR2 on the lift behind you?

[JonJon-zm]

I've been working on this for a few days now. I spent a day and a half just removing one nut on the cooler. I soaked the egr cooler in Purple Power over night and I'm assuming that it should be a straight passage through for airflow so if I pour purple power through one end and it doesn't come out the other end, it must still be clogged, right??? I'm gonna try some of that pbw that you used and see if it works better

[nguyentoan]

Can I use engine degreaser to spray and clean inside the manifold? do you think it works?

[KoalaOalaJones]

Any thoughts on an aftermarket intake for your gr?

[Hallahanify]

Did you end up getting the screws off the valve?