EGR System Cleaning

There has been lots of discussion in the auto repair industry about emissions focusing on diesel emissions lately and things have gotten a whole lot more serious. EGR stands for Exhaust Gas Re-circulation. This is a standard on automotive engines to help reduce NOX gases that come out of the vehicles tailpipe. You can read more about NOX gases HERE if you would like. EGR systems take exhaust gases and direct a controlled amount back into the intake to be mixed with air and fuel to create a cooler combustion with less oxygen in the mix. This results in less NOX gases being created. This design attempts to prevent the NOX gases from being formed but in the process it creates a buildup of soot inside the engine. This buildup of soot hardens and becomes the carbon that we are forever battling. Carbon buildup in turn leads to higher cost of maintenance and repairs because of an increase in part failures.

​EGR is a major problem on the diesel trucks because it runs through many components. EGR gases can get to anywhere in the exhaust system including the turbocharger. This means you get carbon building up on the vane adjusters in the turbo which will prevent the turbo from boosting properly. Ultimately this ends in turbo failure which is not cheap; thus the recommendation for carbon cleaning!