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DIY Slide hammer for EGR port cleaning w/ pics

158K views 186 replies 113 participants last post by  omar25 
#1 · (Edited)
I saw a few posts where people were looking for a slide hammer to remove the EGR port plugs. Most people I asked don't even know what a slide hammer was and I didn't see one that would work from harbor freight. I didn't feel like buying the honda one, so I made my own for about 6-8 bucks total from Home Depot and figured I would post up what I did in case someone else wanted to try it as well. I'm also going to include a bunch of pictures from the cleaning since I saw people asking about pics from inside the ports and how they look dirty vs clean. I wish I could have seen some beforehand, but here they are for anyone that wants to see them.

The materials used:


8" x 1 1/4" pipe, 2 matching caps, 2' or so of 10-24 threaded rod, nuts, and a washer that was bent for strength. This was probably overkill since the nuts would have been strong enough on their own, but I had no idea how much force would be needed to remove the plugs. It really isn't that much. Drill a hole in the center of each cap just slightly big enough so the rod can fit through. I went to the self checkout lane. Probably a better idea since it will keep them from giving you the "you aren't making a pipe bomb, are you?" look.

Assemble as shown:


The end result. In retrospect the rod was maybe a bit long, but again I didn't know how much force would be needed. If you look closely you can see one of the plugs on the end of the rod.


The old plugs:


I bought a pack of 10 plugs just in case I needed extras:


Comparison shot:


I wish I had seen a better shot of the old plugs since I figured mine were different. I didn't know they were solid brass instead of aluminum cups like the replacements. Hopefully this will let people see the difference in case they wonder also.

Ok, on to the cleaning...


I simply removed the EGR valve, IAC valve, FPR, and the fuel rail. A bit of coolant will spill when removing the IAC, but nothing to worry about. Also, it wasn't even necessary to remove the banjo bolt on the fuel rail, you can just remove the three nuts holding the rail on and swing it out of the way.

The two nuts on the EGR were hard to crack loose. I just used a 12mm shallow socket and a swivel with an extension, but ONLY to crack them loose since the swivel was hitting the lip on the EGR valve. Just make sure the socket sits flush or else you could damage the nut. I switched to a 1/4" drive socket and extension and it cleared just fine.

On the IAC there are two 12mm bolts holding it on. A wrench is the best way to get at them. The bottom bolt was hard to get out since it was hitting the fuel rail but with enough wiggling and some magic it came out. The shorter bolt goes on the bottom, the longer bolt goes on top when putting it back on.

The FPR is held on by two small 10mm bolts. I am pretty sure you have to have it out of the way to get at the last nut on the fuel rail. I almost bolted the FPR back down but I realized there was no way to get the nut back on with it in the way.

The fuel rail is held on with 3 10mm nuts and it just lifts off the studs. You can swing it out of the way instead of removing the banjo bolt. I also opted to leave the injectors in and cover them up since taking them out would leave 4 big holes wide open and would be too much work trying to make sure they stayed covered with carb cleaner and compressed air flying everywhere.

As for the plugs, just drill into them with a #25 drill bit like in the TSB, and tap them with a 10-24 tap. You can vacuum away the shavings as you drill. Honestly I don't even think it should be a problem considering the ports are so clogged that the shavings wouldn't even fall down into them, but if you still feel like you should vacuum it won't hurt anything.

The culprit. One engine with filthy EGR ports:

The engine looks clean, but don't let that fool you...these things were terrible.

Solid carbon buildup:


Dirty ports even after a bit of cleaning:








Here's one port after a bit of cleaning with the brass wire and carb cleaner. Looking better but still not good enough yet:


These should connect to each other, but it took a bit of poking with the wire, blowing compressed air, poking, more air, carb cleaner, poking, more air, etc:


In the process of cleaning:


Getting there:


...aaaaand done:

As others have said it should look like shiny aluminum with a hole at the bottom. The crossover ports should be clean. You can test this by spraying carb cleaner in one direction down the crossover port and seeing if it runs into the other port. You could also blow compressed air down one port and feel for air coming out the other. That would be much less messy. Also, check to see if its clean between the rectangular part of the EGR and the first port. On mine it was clogged badly and I'm glad I checked before putting everything back together. It took a bit of letting the carb cleaner soak and poking away on the buildup running between the ports.

EGR valve cleaned:


Plugs installed:

All the discoloration is the splatter from the carb cleaner mixed with carbon buildup. Spray some cleaner on a rag and it will wipe right off.

The plugs should sit flush with the intake as shown:


Hopefully this will help someone out who is preparing to do this themselves and wants to see exactly what they will be dealing with. Start to finish you could have it done in an hour if you've done it before, but I think that's really pushing it since to really clean the ports out it takes time. The whole disassembly and reassembly combined took maybe 15 minutes at most. The drilling/tapping took maybe another 10-15. I spent a good 2-3 hours cleaning the ports out since I don't plan on doing this again any time soon. At least not on this lude anyways. I figured since everything was apart, why not clean it out as best I can.

It's really not that hard to do yourself, especially if you are familar with cars. It's just a pain in the ass leaning over the wide fenders trying not to scratch them and not get carb cleaner on the paint when it's flying out of the ports. I covered everything with towels and newspaper just in case. I didn't trust any shop to do this correctly even though I know there are a few that would. I wanted to know that the ports were clean instead of just drilled out, poked with a wire once, and plugged again. Also, there was no worrying about when it would be finished at a shop or if they would scratch the paint, etc.

If this helps even one person then I'm glad I posted it.

-Brad
 
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#178 ·
re-read the writeup - it states halfway down

"As for the plugs, just drill into them with a #25 drill bit like in the TSB, and tap them with a 10-24 tap. You can vacuum away the shavings as you drill. Honestly I don't even think it should be a problem considering the ports are so clogged that the shavings wouldn't even fall down into them, but if you still feel like you should vacuum it won't hurt anything."
 
#182 ·
So I am like 7 years late to this party. I got the original EGR plugs out, cleaned out the ports to the best of my ability. The plugs are no longer available so I got some 1/4 NPT plugs and a 1/4 NPT-18 Tap. I used a 7/16 to make the hole bigger and I tapped about 1/2 inch down into the hole. But it's like SUPER tight to turn the plug (as a test fit). I am not sure if I can get more than halfway in without breaking the allen wrench. Is this common or am I doing something wrong?
 
#184 ·
Alright I’m back. The oil or lube is highly suggested lol. I used a 13mm socket on a long bar to really get a lot of torque. I just went a quarter turn clockwise and a quarter turn counter clockwise, then proceeded to do a half turn clockwise and again did a quarter turn counter clockwise. I did that a bunch of times per port. Here are the results.
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#185 ·
This screw plug is a great idea despite little more work at the beginning. I just completed my first port plug replacement and cleanup over the weekend and I have to say it's PITA. On the side where there are 4 plugs, I can pass a cable through them all but on the side with 2 plugs the hole doesn't seem to go anywhere? Do they only go down to the intake or whatever you call the thing it connects below. Also am I supposed to run it for like 30 mins? When I try to drive the prelude from my garage to the street it stalled when I was idling, is this normal right after the cleanup?
 
#186 ·
The screw plug is a great idea indeed. I'm getting ready to do my 'cleaning' this weekend. I was able to find the plugs at local dealer but had to call several places for finally get it. It definitely helps to lookup how to thread, looks like the original hole wasn't big enough because threading should not be that difficult. I'm planning to use a soft gun bore cleaning brush since you can get them in any sporting goods store, and they come in various sizes. Alsa I'm planning to do a plug at a time to minimize the mess so the vacuum will be at the EGR port hole and should suck most of the carbon. Thanks for sharing valuable info
 
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