EGR cooler cleaning, was pretty easy

gary 32

07 ncv3 pv
EGR cooler cleaning question

Gentlemen,

Just cleaned my egr valve after 5.5k miles, my egt's were climbing so I guessed it was starting to stick open. After cleaning just the valve both performance and mileage improved substantially and my egt's dropped.

With the valve removed I took my air hose and lightly blasted the cooler outlet, some powder went airborne but I could see bare metal. Planned on doing the cooler but I started thinking about egr flow. I have no cel lights or codes.

Would leaving the cooler dirty slow down egr volume yet still cool the lower volume, if so why clean the cooler? Why not clean just the valve?
 

icarus

Well-known member
How often should one contemplate a cleaning? What are the signs that it needs cleaning?

I have 50k miles on mine and have never cleaned it. (actually I ony have 25k on the engine since the engine was replaced due to a deer accident!)

Icarus
 

icarus

Well-known member
How often should one contemplate a cleaning? What are the signs that it needs cleaning?

I have 50k miles on mine and have never cleaned it. (actually I ony have 25k on the engine since the engine was replaced due to a deer accident!)

Icarus
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
02-03 engines have a different design EGR, and I recommend cleaning every other oil change to make them last a little longer. They are a maintenance part like a fuel or air filter, they DO wear out and stop functioning at some point. I replaced mine at 160-170k or so.
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
The forum hasn't come to an even loose description of a prescribed cleaning cycle for US/Canadian 3.0L 642 EGR valves, coolers or temp sensor cleaning/replacement.

So far, we've been replacing and cleaning as needed based on individual situations encountered.

-Jon
 

PLUMMER

New member
I am finding with the low quality fuel and winter blends we get you have to clean more often, ori should say I do the way I drive lots of city driving and short run times . Rarely does the engine run more than 30-40 minutes straight. Highway driving or where EGTS stay high enough to keep the soot from clinging to the cooler fins. If you see wet soft build up anywhere but in the short snorkel into the intake, its not good. Wet soot is what does the damage and clogs much faster. I clean every 5-10k.

I am trying to come up with a method that does not require full removal of the cooler. Rigged with a shop vac and air nozzle. Via EGR hole and cooler bypass valve.
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
I am finding with the low quality fuel and winter blends we get you have to clean more often, ori should say I do the way I drive lots of city driving and short run times . Rarely does the engine run more than 30-40 minutes straight. Highway driving or where EGTS stay high enough to keep the soot from clinging to the cooler fins. If you see wet soft build up anywhere but in the short snorkel into the intake, its not good. Wet soot is what does the damage and clogs much faster. I clean every 5-10k.

I am trying to come up with a method that does not require full removal of the cooler. Rigged with a shop vac and air nozzle. Via EGR hole and cooler bypass valve.

Can you post a picture of the short snorkel into the intake? I don't know what that means, but I'd like to take a look.

I also drive mostly in the city. My engine doesn't run more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time during the work week. I haven't had to clean my EGR cooler. The EGR valve and temp sensor have about 25k on them. The cooler hasn't been cleaned since it was manufactured; 50,000 miles ago.

-Jon
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
I had my EGR valve replaced, along with the temp sensor 6 months prior to warranty expiration, 25,000 miles ago.

I thought I should be clear about not having cleaned the EGR valve or the temp sensor - they were replaced under warranty - along with never having cleaned the cooler.

I suppose I'd be up for it if someone told me I'd be prolonging the life of my engine. I have no symptoms at this time.

-Jon
 

vitola231

New member
Sorry for delay in reply, got to configure user cp to alert me of posts. The black goo was just in that pipe that goes into intake, the rest was light fluffy soot. Like servicing oil boiler again :) blew soot everywhere! something is wrong with machine though, no doubt. was hiccuping since one month old. Now I am having multiple regens daily and just cleaned egr valve week and a half ago and hiccuping again already. going to bring it to merc to get it checked out. London Mercedes used to be a Mercedes owned corporate store but was bought by Ryan Finch and the difference seems amazing both in service etc, much better. unit has 109,000 km 67,700 miles. my 08 has same milage, same driving but no issue ever :idunno:

plumber, yeah I hear you! just I have customers calling who went to states and picked up boilers for lower than my cost, but that seems almost normal now, I can buy much stuff cheaper at hardware stores than wholesaler's. Installed a bunch of those Buderus GB162's, wow, nice package for ease of installation!:thumbup:
 

b1jc

New member
Am I being dumb, I don't seem to be able to locate the EGR cooler. I clean the valve as part of each oil service & so far (200k miles) have been able to avoid the EML from illuminating but now I have a code pointing to EGR cooler.

The van is a 2.1 diesel 315cdi in the UK. Air box is removed and engine cover too,I expected to see it there on the drivers side (right hand side(correct side))

Any pics?
 

vitola231

New member
I know on mine it is where valve cover would be kind of, actually would think it would have been mounted such that it could be easily removed for service, but again I only need to work on this particular van.:idunno:
 

NBB

Well-known member
Just did this to my van.

Couple notes for next time, mostly for myself, since this is the first Google hit for "Sprinter EGR Cooler", and the OP did help.

1) OP is sandbagging by saying this job is "3 egr cleanings" - more like 10 or 20, IMO. But - not that hard to do..

2) A 1/4" drive E10 socket off Amazon was clutch, a couple extensions and a universal are nice too. Google "Amazon Stahlwille 40TX-E10". A proper hose clamp tool is nice as well - Google "Craftsman Cable Operated Hose Clamp Pliers". The job will take you considerably longer w/o the equivalent of these tools, IMO.

3) OP mentions 12 bolts and the cooler is out - BS, you won't get it out that way, you won't even be able to reach all 12 mentioned bolts w/o removing the whole assembly. His pix clearly show he removed more than 12 bolts - he took out the whole cooler assembly - which is the right thing to do.

4) 6 E12 bolts, 4 front, 2 in back hold the front / rear castings to the engine. 12x E10 hold the heat exchanger to the front and rear castings. The EGR is 4x E10. The dipstick is 2x E10. The oil filler is 1x E10. The exhaust tubes are 6x E10 total, 4 front, 2 rear.

5) There are 3 exhaust tube gaskets, 2 more for the heat exchanger, 1 more for the EGR. I suggest buying these ahead of time on the net. I bought local, paid ~$70. Yeah, they're just exhaust gaskets and if you're cheap you might get away with reusing them. But O2 sensors are nearby and are part of the warning for this problem - I just don't have time to screw around with air leaks getting in there and messing with the readings.

6) TETRIS: To remove cooler assembly, remove all but the 12 heat exchanger bolts. Pull the assembly free a bit, rotate a bit as needed, and disassemble it in place. I really don't see how one could get it out of there as one assembly, don't really see how you're going to reach the 12 heat exchanger bolts w/o being able to shift things around.

7) You MIGHT be able to get it out in 1 piece by removing a metal bracket in the lower front, and/or the coolant reservoir. This looked like more trouble to me. I had an ALLDATA procedure that did not mention this lower front metal bracket, just the above bolts. My official Sprinter shop manual CD (waste of money) is only readable on Windows XP at this point, and who has that old stuff laying around anymore...

8) Cleaning the heat exchanger is BY FAR the most time consuming part of the job. I refilled a Simple Green spray bottle, then cut the top off the remaining 1 gallon jug and dropped the exchanger in there. Soak - rinse - soak - rinse - repeat. There was a F'N F-TON of carbon in that exchanger. Holy Cow! It took a long time to see the light through it, much longer for the blackness to stop.

9) Pressure washer + simple green took care of the other parts. I removed the bypass actuator and pressure sensor before cleaning, left the door thingy in place. I also removed the rear temp sensor and O2 sensor and cleaned those up as well with a little water and some compressed air.

10) The sensors are fine, IMO, I'll post back if my codes come back. The blades on your EGR should rotate open. They are spring loaded, likely to protect the motor. IMO, 99% of EGR replacements are likely due to the tech being too lazy to clean the thing. I made up the 99% part. With the spring in there, I doubt the motors are burning out and you'd get a code for that anyway. The rest is just a dumb piece of metal. It's easy to clean, just take a few minutes.

11) TETRIS AGAIN: 1) Place front casting loosely where it belongs. No bolts. 2) Place rear casting where it belongs, no bolts. 3) Insert heat exchanger, attach to front casting first. Torque it down, you won't reach the bolts later. 4) Now attach the rear casting. Torque it. 4) The rest is trivial.


HAVE FUN..!!!


EDIT: Gaskets locally = 72.12 before tax. GenuineMercedesParts.com = 27.61 before shipping. Holy Cow - that's beyond an expensive local convenience - that's pretty much getting ripped off!! Still saved about $3000 though....!! Sometimes these vans are an expensive PITA...
 
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NBB

Well-known member
Here are the codes for the above problem.

Dealer quoted something retarded and insanely overpriced - like 16 hours while replacing every sensor he touched, blah blah - took me about 4-6 hours on my own, probably 2-3 next time now that I know WTF I'm doing...

image1.JPG
 

BobG

Member
I also just finished cleaning my cooler today. I had gotten a p2457 code a couple of times about 400 miles apart. I called the local Dodge dealer that had replaced a glow plug last year and was told that they don't work on Sprinters anymore. The closest Mercedes dealer is like 120 miles away so I decided to do it myself.
It took me a couple of days to research and get up the courage and energy to tackle it. The actual job took about 6-7 hours over 2 days.
The EGR valve was stuck and would not come out so I removed the whole assembly. I did remove the coolant tank because it was only one screw, one plug and 3 hoses. I only had to replace about 2 quarts of coolant after the whole job.
The Mercedes manual doesn't say anything about removing the screw for the oil dipstick but I had to so I could remove the assembly. It's a close fit but it came out.
I then could take it to the bench to disassemble everything.
The cooler came apart easily and was quite sooty. A couple of bottles of Mean Green and the garden hose did a nice job. I removed the sensors and the valve and since the other sensor on the exhaust pipe was now easy to get to I removed and cleaned it.
The EGR valve was a different matter. I had to use 2 screwdrivers as wedges and pound the EGR apart. It had galled the metal on the bottom 1/4 inch and was welded together. A fine file and emery paper was needed to clean it up so it would go back together without pounding it back in. I put a smear of anti-seize on it and if went back together nicely. Luckily I had ordered a new gasket because the old one got messed up.
I reused the other gaskets. The reassembly and installation went smoothly and quickly except for the 2 transmission dipstick bolts. Trying to see to get the brackets lined up to start them took 3 hands of which I only have two. One was needed to hold the mirror, one for the screw and one for aligning the bracket. After about a dozen tries I was able to line it up with the mirror, put down the mirror and pick up the bolt while hold the other hand still.
I have reset the code and will see if it reappears. While I was resetting the active code I saw that there was a pending code that would not reset. I think it was P047.
Do pending codes reset themselves when the problem is fixed?? Maybe after a few engine cycles?
 

NBB

Well-known member
Do pending codes reset themselves when the problem is fixed??
In general, yes, but it can depend on a lot of other factors than just drive cycles.

An active code reset, however, will always, 100%, clear and reset the codes and all conditions that have turned on your check engine light. Pretty sure I'm right about that, might be some weird exceptions. Doesn't mean it won't turn right back on if you haven't fixed the problem.

EGR - tap lightly with a metal hammer, first thing after you remove the 4 bolts and all else is still bolted down. Tap it on different sides until it comes loose. Yes, that last 1/4" or so is a pretty tight fit and there was metal-metal corrosion on mine making it even more difficult. The hammer works, though, I did not have to pry anything. I also sanded down both surfaces a bit and sprayed a little anti-sieze on things. I expect that stuff to burn off, though, and that I'll be back with the hammer.

I, too, was reticent about the chore and felt like I had to do a bit of homework - now I own that thing. It was actually kind of fun. I'm a real diesel mechanic now, not just an oil change boy. Haha...
 

NBB

Well-known member
Follow up:

MPG increase was way beyond what I expected.

Note most of my miles are with a full conversion, in the mountains, 82 MPH basically all the time, sometimes with a motorcycle on the back.

image.png
 

72chevy4x4

Well-known member
that is an interesting graph NBB. I've noticed my fuel mileage has consistently decreased to the 13.5-13.9mpg range in the last 10 months and wonder if an EGR cleaning may help out.
 

68protour

07 D 144 high rebadged MB
Doing egr cooler removal for the first time after 65k. So far lessens learned are:
1a order gaskets days ahead of time
1. remove coolant reserve completely
2. Remove EGR valve and metal elbow before trying to get cooler out.
3. Cooler came out as one big piece.
4. Un bolt coolers front assembly and back assembly.
5. "Buckle up" for an unimaginable amount of soot
6. Blow out with comp air (took forrrrrrrever..wear a mask)
7. Flush with hose
8. Soak in something made for this propose that will not harm alum.
9. Flush
10. START CLEANING AGAIN...there is no end to the soot you just get tired of cleaning it.
 
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Burkilimo

Member
I cleaned mine out a week ago- I took a dremel to it! This may be unorthodox but it's working flawlessly.
I used the wire brush attachment. Cleaned the 3 fan rotor and when you twist the fan - the areas under it. I have a feeling - when the soot builds up it prevents it from rotating. I cleaned it with brake cleaner and then followed it up with mineral spirit and a toothbrush. Compressed air was also used. I put anti seize on the outside chamber so that in future it should not be difficult to take out. A solid coating of silicone spray and it was all installed and working!
 

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