EGR valve cleaning w/ pictures.

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
DO NOT take off the bottom cover. Dr A has warned against doing that.

The TOP cover can be carefully removed and the interior cleaned. That whole mechanism is the part that extends/retracts a rod that has a seal on the end in the EGR bell, which regulates how much boost pressure/exhaust gets through. The part that is important to clean is the rod and the interior of the bell that goes to the exhaust, which requires removal of the EGR to get to. NO parts are removed from the EGR itself.
 

wbk

New member
Just to be clear/certain, this extra mechanism with the "rod that has a seal on the end in the EGR bell" - typically folks just clean this and the seal is fine or have you needed to replace this seal as well? If so what is this seal called? Many many thanks!!
 

VanVaz

2012 NAFTA 2500 Cargo 144
Just a thought. By using additives like Redline/Bowes/PowerServices and using driving habits (LOD<80, RPMs over 3000) , occasionally , is the soot that is dissolved/burnt just being pushed further down the exhaust i.e into the DEF or Cat converter for a bigger problem to occur later. I'm not a techie (mechie?) , hence the question.
 

1109

New member
You will find it just in front of your oil dip stick beside the coolant jug. I usually remove it every oil change and use Spray-9 and hot water to clean it along with a tooth brush. You will need to unbolt the oil fill neck to move it out of the way, 4 hex screws on top. Unplug the top harness and it may need a little persuasion to come out. I find if the engine is warm is usually make the removal easier. I never do and don't think you should remove the top motor part off. Its held with two screws.
Good luck
Mike
 

blisspacket

2002 T1N, 2014 I4-7spd
NCV3, 2007.
Disconcerting that some posts apply to the v6's, some to the straight 5. This is a NCV3 thread.
CheckEngineLight (CEL) went on at 30k miles. No adverse effects, just CEL on. Freightliner dealers are nearby, but 2 out of 3 don't have the software to analyze the codes.
This site alerted me to the possible quickfix of cleaning the EGR valve. Ours is a PleasureWay camper, and we do idle often. EGR valve prop moved when I pulled the EGR valve. It got cleaned, reinstalled. 400 miles later CEL is still on. Engine runs fine, EXCEPT one instance when I took it up to 75mph. Within minutes it went to limp, 45-50 mph. We stopped soon after, cut off engine, restarted, and did 60 no problem for the next 400 miles. No blinking CEL, just constant on. We're another 400 miles from home, and I'll attend to it with our local shops....
 

ElWhoppo

Member
Mine coded. I read all the stuff in the forum writeups. Seemed straight foward then I found my valve stuck big time in the manifold. Worked on it with a light hammer but would barely move 1/8 in back and forth, would only rise up a knife blade and I suspect that was the gasket thickness. Worried on it for two days, used pb-blaster, not making any headway. Thought to mill a big closed-in wrench to give me some real torque on the base of the valve and then had a brain fart. You remove glow plugs from a warm engine so why not an egr valve. Didn't want to re-assemble all the hoses so I heated the manifold with a heat gun on low (525 degree f). Valve began to wiggle with help of huge channel locks and came free on 2nd try. Heat only the manifold as far from the sensor as possible and don't go much over 500 degrees. DON'T WANT TO MELT STUFF!!!!
 
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rab01

New member
I have a 2012 and got a letter in Nov 2016 stating that my EGR Valve warranty ('certain 2010-2014 MY vehicles') is being extended to 10 yr/ 120,000 miles. Glad to get it - had to have my valve cleaned (reconditioned valve replaced under warranty) and would have cost $500 if I had to pay for it. I plan to do my own cleaning once the warranty expires.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Guys
Don't forget the EGR cooler and the temp sensors which have mostly been superseded! Might this be the real root cause of all this ritualistic EGR cleaning.
I have quite frankly this mental picture of an early Sunday morning in the US 'burbs relating to these activities;
Of Sprinter guys leaving the marital nest to clean EGR's every month.
How romantic!:lol:
Dennis
 

SILVERFOX

Member
Hi.

Another problem with the Sprinter. 2009 315 2.2ltr.

I got a trouble code indicating EGR valve positioning issue and the van went into limp home mode.

So I just thought it was a clogged egr.... So I took it off.

It was pretty clean and moved freely.



I then seperated the valve and motor pieces of orange coloured rubber or urethane fell out. I am assuming this is a drive coupling rubber which has disintegrated. Can anyone help with info on this and if the rubber is available.

With these models getting older we need to be aware of things which have not traditionally failed. I am sure this "rubber" coupling is made of urethane.... same as the coloured aftermarket suspension bushes.
Because of my discovery I would recommend that people seperate the motor and valve body. It is so easy for a technician to read the code and simply assume the motor is burned out when it might be this little coupling. I have looked around but so far cannot find it as a loose part for sale.....Typical. The 2 buck part fails and you have to buy the $800 assembly.
My fix for this if I cannot buy the coupling will be: 1. Coat the coupling area with grease (this will act as a molding release agent). 2. Fill the coupling area with sikaflex erethane sealant. 3. Assemble motor and valve back together. 4. Leave for a day or two to fully cure. 5. Re open and remove the lump of cured sealant. 6. Trim lump of cured sealant to allow it to function the same way as the OEM part. 7. Cross my fingers and hope that will do the job.

Is there an aftermarket rubber coupling available?

The only other question I have is: Because the motor has a positioning sensor which is usually what trips the code is it necessary to place the motor in a correct way.?? As I see it if that is so then it will be correct or 180 degrees out?

Any help or info would be most appreciated.


The motor valve assembly is $970.00+tax. in Australia.

Thank you.
Nick.
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
Before we talk about EGR and cleaning I have say i have this comical mental vision of DIY Sprinter owners leaving the marital bed (the nest) early on Sunday morning two or three times a month to go through this cleaning ritual!:lol:

All I can say is hats off to American wives and Significant others!

Remember these valves react to outside influences.
A loose/leaking air intake duct on the MAF sensor--a poorly fitting duct at the turbo throat!

A bad air filter either half choked, loose in the housing--the cover all loose, cos you bust up the screw threads and now its doesn't seal properly !-- a Chinese filter concoction, and of course "drum roll drum roll", our dear old friend the K&N, that gets totally neglected or dumps dirt/oil deposits on the MAF sensor guts so the PCM doesn't know WTF it's doing!

Might your MAF sensor and air filter need an adaption!

Can you folks consider that the EGR cooler just might be half choked and very hot gases are being dumped through it? Is the connection pipe to the air horn choked?
OR the thermocouples are out of whack torched by these hot gases?

Perhaps a quick removal of them and visually refer to the part number etched on the side of the S/S sleeve portion will reveal an updated supersession, that's if you can bear to call an MB dealer with the vin# and find out at their parts desk by drop in and scrounge a coffee.

Much of these Sunday morning contretemps can be avoided and you could be doing this --well some of it anyway and not cleaning bloody EGR valves!
It could be be this--Question I suppose is which is MORE complicated! (well the first bit anyway!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iG0w1MUCrw
or this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlNvJVSKZEQ

Ecco Bravo!
Dennis
 

cousens

New member
can someone please post a picture and location of a 2011 2.1 EGR vale ??
is it easy to remove and clean ??
there seems to be a lot of early model pictures..
thank you,
dave.
 

Pasieka

Member
"
A loose/leaking air intake duct on the MAF sensor--a poorly fitting duct at the turbo throat!

A bad air filter either half choked, loose in the housing--the cover all loose, cos you bust up the screw threads and now its doesn't seal properly !-- a Chinese filter concoction, and of course "drum roll drum roll", our dear old friend the K&N, that gets totally neglected or dumps dirt/oil deposits on the MAF sensor guts so the PCM doesn't know WTF it's doing!

Might your MAF sensor and air filter need an adaption!

Can you folks consider that the EGR cooler just might be half choked and very hot gases are being dumped through it? Is the connection pipe to the air horn choked?
OR the thermocouples are out of whack torched by these hot gases?

Perhaps a quick removal of them and visually refer to the part number etched on the side of the S/S sleeve portion will reveal an updated supersession, that's if you can bear to call an MB dealer with the vin# and find out at their parts desk by drop in and scrounge a coffee.
...
Ecco Bravo!
Dennis
"

So i pulled and cleaned my egr, reset the CEL and half way down the alley limp mode... read this just now and checked my K and N... looks like the filter status indicator o the air-filter housing is stuck to "100 percent clean, and I pulled out A REALLY PLUGGED UP K AND N just like Linden said... will clean and spray mass airflow sensor with MAS Cleaner i found at wallmart, and reassemble with old EGR... got a supposedly new EGR from rock auto and it has a bunch of dings in it out of the box which trouble me... blach graphite like grease others mentioned not homoginously applied... but most importantly it ohms out to be just like the one I the diagnostics claim is not working.....
 

Kaiserro

Member Since 2013
I now have 250,000 miles on my 2013. Recently I've been experiencing transmission jerking, hard, when accelerating lightly. Though it was the transmission conductor plate or a solenoid. No EGR is what I was told by a reputable mechanic at Sprinter Benz Techs in Elkhart Indiana. I believe them 100%. I was traveling and asked if I could stop by and have them look at it. Andy took it for a ride and returned 5 minutes later and with no doubt he said it was my EGR value going bad. I used to clean it every 30K and stopped after the second cleaning. MB updated the software and it cleans itself, by working the blades back and forth after shutting engine off. You can hear it moving back and forth for a few seconds if you're under the hood and paying attention. Any way, he said it's likely worn out. I agreed, with 250K on it, why not. I purchased a new one and found the blades covered in some kind of black graphite grease. Never saw any grease on my original one. Wondering how all that soot wouldn't build up with all that grease, so I'm going to clean it off before I install it. I wondered if that's the reason everyone has problems with their EGR value. I don't think the grease should be applied to the valve face especially in the path of all that soot. Doesn't make sense to me especially after getting 250K miles on mine without any issues. Lots of highway miles and I never let it idle long.
 
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My EGR valve in my 2018 with OM642 after 30,000 miles was stuck in there very good! I used PB Blaster and Kroil penetrating oil, I could wiggle it a tiny bit, waited overnight and no luck, it would not budge. I ended up removing the two safety torx on the top of the valve that hold the actuator into the block with coolant flow and threaded two of the four longer EGR hold down bolts into the two holes. They bottomed out on the manifold where the EGR mounts, then quarter turns on each gently pressed the EGR out. It worked exactly like taking off a stuck brake rotor by threading a bolt into the 8mm threaded holes made for that purpose.
 

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