EGR and TB Cleaning - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

bnb1023 · 02-07-2008, 08:46 AM

I'm having the stalling problem again on my daughter's '96 Camry, after cleaqning the throttle body fairly well. Instead of buying aftermarket EGR for $125, I'd like to try to clean the TB again, and the EGR first. Questions: Does the TB need to be reoved to really "clean" it? Also, can the EGR be cleaned? Is there a thread that shows the procedure? Can the EGR be unhooked and not even used? If so how? I hate it when I'm at the mercy of the unreasonable Service Center costs!!

Kep · 02-07-2008, 10:51 AM

The throttle body doesn't need to be removed for cleaning. There are several good posts in the forum.

4 cyl Throttle body cleaning: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t158097.html
If you have a six cyl there is a link to another post within this post.

EGR cleaning is talked about a lot but I wasn't able to find a particularly good post on it. Basically, they are prone to getting gummed up with carbon. Different vintages are attached in different ways but you can get them off. You may need a crows foot type wrench on some of them. You may end up removing the feeder tube from the engine block rather than mess with the bottom fitting on some of them. Once removed you can try to clean it with chemicals but usually you end up picking it off carefully with small screwdrivers or dental pick type tools. Obviously, you don't want to score the shaft or damage the membrane. Also there are vacuum tubes leading to the modulator. The lower one on mine was plugged solid. Check the vertical tube that it attaches to for blockage. Check the orifice on the throttle body that it connects to.

If you're going to do this thing consider spending the extra time (and a few gaskets) to remove the throttle body and the IAC valve and clean both. Remember that not all cleaners are compatible with our engines. Read the labels and make sure that they are made for throttle bodies.

I don’t know what model you are working on but ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensors have been known to cause warm engine stalling. I believe that it was more prevalent in 1995 and older but I’m not confident of that.

If you do clean the EGR valve please take a lot of pictures and do a DIY write up for us!

Kep