98Firebird
Well-known member
Hey everybody,
Slow week at the shop this week for whatever reason so I decided to investigate the sticking EGR issues a little which required a bit of a sacrifice from an old, completely seized, EGR valve. I've had this issue on a couple of EGR valves lately where even after what I thought was meticulous cleaning, the valve was still sticking. What I've found is that the soot accumulation that's visible is not what everyone should be worried about, though it is a good idea to clean everything while the EGR is out.
This first pic is the EGR housing and most of the internal components in the housing area
Up second is what I've found as the main culprit, soot creeping up the EGR shaft (circled in red)
These last 2 pics are what I've found will clean/free up even the most stuck EGR valves. I recommend heating up the shaft housing area outlined in red (don't melt the aluminum or burn yourself) so the penetrant can have a better chance to seep in. Be sure to spray penetrant in the areas circled in yellow with the shaft housing heated up and make sure to have a rag or gloves handy because you'll need to work the EGR blades back and forth after spraying the penetrant in while the housing is still hot.
I had two old EGR valves I had all but written off that were totally stuck shut and still would not work after "regular cleaning" that now work completely normally after using this method. Hopefully this helps some of you guys and I'm also curious if this extends peoples EGR cleaning intervals that clean on an "as needed" basis. I know I will for sure be adding this step to any EGR valves I clean for people in the future.
Slow week at the shop this week for whatever reason so I decided to investigate the sticking EGR issues a little which required a bit of a sacrifice from an old, completely seized, EGR valve. I've had this issue on a couple of EGR valves lately where even after what I thought was meticulous cleaning, the valve was still sticking. What I've found is that the soot accumulation that's visible is not what everyone should be worried about, though it is a good idea to clean everything while the EGR is out.
This first pic is the EGR housing and most of the internal components in the housing area
Up second is what I've found as the main culprit, soot creeping up the EGR shaft (circled in red)
These last 2 pics are what I've found will clean/free up even the most stuck EGR valves. I recommend heating up the shaft housing area outlined in red (don't melt the aluminum or burn yourself) so the penetrant can have a better chance to seep in. Be sure to spray penetrant in the areas circled in yellow with the shaft housing heated up and make sure to have a rag or gloves handy because you'll need to work the EGR blades back and forth after spraying the penetrant in while the housing is still hot.
I had two old EGR valves I had all but written off that were totally stuck shut and still would not work after "regular cleaning" that now work completely normally after using this method. Hopefully this helps some of you guys and I'm also curious if this extends peoples EGR cleaning intervals that clean on an "as needed" basis. I know I will for sure be adding this step to any EGR valves I clean for people in the future.
