hmmmm I should have done this ages ago
 

I have owned my CDTi for 18 months now and I have read so many times about cleaning out the EGR and inlet manifold. I have always put it off on the basis that it runs so nicely how could it possibly be that bad?

How wrong I was........

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1889/...a1079150_o.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1890/...91d19725_o.jpg

After a bit of work...

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1865/...e806f870_o.jpg

I am embarrassed to say I let my car run like this for 18 months.

I did notice evidence of a slight weeping on one of the "O" rings, so I may use a little silicone gasket with that one when I put it back together in the morning.

One of the more beneficial jobs to do , mine was lacking power on the hills and it was suggested it was the maf , so left it unplugged for a few months and everything was fine.
In June I cleaned the egr and manifold and plugged the maf back in just to see and it was fine.
During the mot today the emissions were 0.14 and that's with no servicing for 5000 miles and no Italian tune up , and 220000
on the clock . so pleased I cleaned them out.
Stan

HI Mike.
You will most certainly notice the difference after the cleaning, just wipe the MAP sensor clean with some carb cleaner, no need to poke anything inside.

I have been advocating this since late 2010 early 2011 if you also have the turbo boost sensor in the intercooler hose give that a clean with carb cleaner just a quick spray will suffice ;) do let us know if you notice the difference when driving after.

You say I did notice evidence of a slight weeping on one of the "O" rings, so I may use a little silicone gasket.

If it one of the round O-rings it should be ok

This is something mine will certainly need before going back on the road sometime in the coming spring. Thing is, when I took the manifold off of one at the breakers, which was in an awful state, I couldn't help but notice the equally rotten build up still left in the head.

Just wondered if anyone has successfully cleaned these out too, as seems like half a job cleaning everything else and leaving this lot. I realise any of that loose crud making it way down further could be a real issue.

Can it be done??? :shrug:

Well, I put the car back together this morning and took it for a drive. Yes, there is a noticeable difference. It spools up the turbo earlier so it feels more linear in the power delivery. Before, there was definitely more of a turbo lag. Logical if you think about it. The engine needs to pick up itself to get the turbo spinning, which is a bit difficult when it's got asthma lol.

I know Arctic, you have always been a firm believer in this maintenance, I have always been in total agreement. However, my car just seems to run so nicely that I thought either it wasn't that dirty or it has been cleaned by a previous owner, hence the 18 months it took me to have a look.

It's been on bigruss's T4 a couple of times, and he said it was sweet. It's passed two MOT's in my ownership with very low emissions, so I quite wrongly thought it was ok.

Well worth doing, I really didn't think I would be able to tell the difference but you can.

Good tip about the other sensor, I will give it a clean today.

I know what you mean, but it is nothing compared to the EGR and the entrance to the manifold.

Anyone thinking about doing this should go ahead!

One point worth mentioning, the bolts on the round holes are 10mm socket, the nuts and the one lower bolt on the left are 11mm socket.

Guess how I found this out????

I found my 10mm and it fitted the top bolts, I tried it on the lower nuts and it wouldn't, I figured I would need my long socket because the treads stood up somewhat. For some reason, I couldn't find my 10mm long socket anywhere. I jumped into my other car and drove off to the local (ish) car shop to buy a new one, only to find it still wouldn't fit. hmmmmm they are 11mm lol :duh::duh:

And there's me thinking that things like that only happen to me! :D

My Tourers EGR was like yours, I was shocked by how bad and honestly thought there was a major problem.
Not done the EGR on my saloon.
what about the big hose that goes to the EGR can/should that be cleaned?
As for cleaning the inlet manifold, tried that but would have been better if I could have agitated the cleaning fluid, letting it soak I don't think has cleaned all the stuff out

macafee2

Just completed this myself. I bought the car Boxing day 2016 at 127256 miles. The car is now sitting at 161100 and I had been trying to get round to this for sometime of which I have little! Well took around one hour and may have been a little worse than the OP's. Well I now have a 270 mile drive ahead this evening so hopefully will see some improvement.