Has anyone used an EGR or carbon cleaner spray?

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Fellow Frogger
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I have EGR fault resulting in car (Peugeot 308 HDi 2.0 diesel) hestitation on acceleration so suspect the EGR valve is stuck possibly due to carbon build up

Has anyone used one of the many EGR sprays ingested via the air intake to clean an EGR or resolve a similar fault?

I figured it would be worth a go before paying a mechanic a couple of hours work?
 
Spray might have some temporary effect but its likely to return soon after.
Blocked EGR valves also tend to make the engine 'cough' as it comes up to temperature and working at light throttle, imhe

On a 4 cyl would not expect it to be too hard to replace.
 
@David S and @CC1701 thank you for your replies :). Yes I do have a thread on my EGR issue here. The engine is the 2.0 RHR. The issue is almost certainly the EGR valve as indicted by the codes.

Question for a novice like myself, the large air hose leaving the air filter, is the air flow direction from that pipe back towards thelve windscreen/EGR valve i.e. away from the air filter as that is where some videos indicte the spray would be used?

But I'm not sure whether that air pipe goes to the EGR itself or back into the engine?
 
I tried the factory Subaru cleaner years ago on a petrol Peugeot that had a large build up behind the inlet valves. I found it ineffectual, except when I pulled the injectors and cut down a toothbrush to fit through the injector hole I sprayed the foam directly on the back of the valve, and scrubbed with the toothbrush.

On my Volvo diesel the bituminous material in the intake from the EGR is hardly touched by most solvents. I find you can only dig it out with a screwdriver.
 
Does anyone know whether EGR valves physically fail i.e. cannot be resolved with simply cleaning the carbon out?
 
On your engine, yes, they can fail mechanically if the head of the poppet valve falls off or the weld on the actuator arms fails.
 
On your engine, yes, they can fail mechanically if the head of the poppet valve falls off or the weld on the actuator arms fails.
@David S Thank you for the reply with my errors codes (& acceleration hesitation) and no fault lights is there anyway to ascertain the valve is simply stuck due to carbon (and cna be cleaned) as opposed to have mechanically failed. I ask as I am not a mechanic and don't want to order a 2nd hand valve to then find it it simply required cleaning?
 
new valves are pretty affordable.
try europen auto imports. they should ship to nz
claning a dirty carbonized vale is slow work
use a 2nd handy could be taking a chance of repeat problems
 
@CC1701 is replacing the valve in the RHR engine a difficult job for a novice. I ask as my local Euro specialist garage (not a dealership) said 2 hrs work and they have done a RHR EGR before. 2 hrs would suggest a tricky job and that perhaps I should not try myself?
 
The least costly DIY thing to do here is to temporarily block off the EGR valve by blocking the pipe or slipping a piece of scrap steel under the valve and see if your performance issues change. If there is no difference, then the EGR valve is either not your problem, or not your only problem. You probably need to remove some of the air piping to clean it out properly. A spray might help clean up light carbon deposits, but it's not likely to shift heavy deposits of carbon that are extensive enough to cause a major performance issue. The EGR valve is only held in by two bolts and the pipe joiner, but it is at the back of the engine. To slip in a blanking plate, you only need to slacken the bolts a couple of turns, slip in the plate and tighten the bolts again. The blanking plates that have in the past been on offer via eBay often have two slots so you can slide it in without removing the bolts.
 
Oh man .... I'd never thought about this before. If your EGR valve isn't closing and sealing 100% ...... Your boost is disappearing straight out the exhaust .... rather than going into the motor where you want it!
 
Oh man .... I'd never thought about this before. If your EGR valve isn't closing and sealing 100% ...... Your boost is disappearing straight out the exhaust .... rather than going into the motor where you want it!
Yes on acceleration there is hesitation and often black smoke out the back. I shudder to think how much that is depleting the dpf additive?

Can anyone comment on the advised >2 hr effort to remove and replace the EGR, some videos make it look like 10 mins!
 
Yes on acceleration there is hesitation and often black smoke out the back. I shudder to think how much that is depleting the dpf additive?

Can anyone comment on the advised >2 hr effort to remove and replace the EGR, some videos make it look like 10 mins!

I"d just plate the thing off ... guaranteed fix for life that way :)
 
Just did a RHY egr valve and yes its more like much more than two hours, not hard work just fiddly and space constrained. RHR block it.
 
Just did a RHY egr valve and yes its more like much more than two hours, not hard work just fiddly and space constrained. RHR block it.
dont tell me that!, my RHZ looks like easy access ...but cant be arsed taking it off to clean it:sick:
 
RHY over back top drivers side, pain to get to and get out, I also have RHR 407, just block it, no impact. Now having seen the inlet you're in for a nasty surprise.
 
PS I have same issues, horrible hesitation, bucket loads of smoke and dangerous response. Going to HDI Tuning for EGR delete and block it off along with stage 1 retune. Dimi hit me up when you need it!
 
For an HDI engine, what's done for a stage 1 retune?
 
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