How to Clean an EGR Valve......... Probably the best video ever 

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Your comment and warning about possible damage to aluminum surfaces from extended contact with oven cleaner was appropriate and reasonable. That said, the brief, scrubbing contact you demonstrated did a perfectly acceptable job. Thanks for the video.

I had the dreaded code P0403 last Thursday, watched this video and removed the EGR valve Friday, cleaned it and put it back on Saturday. Then I deleted the code and took my VW for a 20min drive for the computer to reset. Car is fine now! You have saved me some money, thanks.

Excellent down to earth video and great idea using using the oven cleaner. At the end of the day carbon is carbon and the oven clearn is spot on. I'm a trained engineer of 25years in industrial equipment and machinery and I think what you have done and how you have done it is spot on. Great video and thank you. Doesn't matter how much experience you have behind you, there is always something new to learn and try!

2007 combo van 1.3 cdti, money light on, non starter. Bought cheap code reader (£17). Code P0400 EGR flow problems. Given difficulty of access to EGR solenoid, valve and attached water cooler, definitely replace with OE. Having got it off saw was jammed fully open, and had to be tapped shut with a hammer. It looked cleanable, so had a look and found your video. In short, with nothing to lose, I dug out my pretty strong bottle of gel oven cleaner. I kid you not, after half an hour I could have sold the part as brand new. After first brushing with gel, valve actually popped free. By time of third brushing it was smooth and so clean. Having found another video whereby they found out that this model of combo van wont run if EGR valve is stuck open, I chanced to not buy OE and put back the cleaned valve. Started first turn. Amazing, saved me and son (its his van) probably around £500? Its all round the back of engine. Coolant had to be drained, exp bottle off, fuel filter off, turbo pipes off, EGR coolant system off.....Thanks BMAC Cars & Mods.

Like it!! If you don't try, you won't win. I think the biggest problem is access to the EGR valve to remove it. I would love it if all car designers were made to remove and refit these high maintenance parts so that they never design in the nightmare problems of routine maintenance. Some manufactures get this right, but so many just don't.

Forget all the specific EGR valve cleaners... Listen to this guy..Mr Muscle absolutely works MUCH better than any other option

Bob the builder of the automotive world. “Can we fix it? Yes we can”.. My kind of guy, shame you don’t live next door. In this throw away world we live in, it’s refreshing to see someone finding a simple solution.

Well done good man !! Clear, logical instructions using clear, easy-to-follow filming and decent sound recording. Great to see a sensible bloke providing good advice that encourages the rest of us to waste less and save some dollars/pounds/euros/etc as well. Your video has convinced me that I should give it a go on my car too. Thanks for taking the time to make this clip.

You said it cost you a fiver. So if it works good on you as you have saved yourself a bucket load of cash. If it don't work then you have tried your best. Great video

Always nice to see an easy layman's aporoach, clearly filmed in plain speak with no faffing about, I've been in the business 40 years, and what you do here can often work really well, i know of loads of garage repair shops that use Mr Muscle, among other things, it won't work all the time, but no harm in trying, and as you say, value for money and a little time, plus .... if it doesnt work you've not lost a fortune, well done .... top lad !

Great tip, and what a result! When I saw that EGR I thought “mate, that’s for the bin that one” but what a result! Awesome, and cheap too

If the EGR is that clogged up with carbon, the rest of the intake system is probably the same. You also need to pull the intake manifold off and clean that too.

Great video. Oven cleaner for egr is brilliant and cost effective. Best egr how-to-diy I have seen so far. I think I'll run the process with your method. Thanks mate.

Definitely one of the most interesting videos I've ever watched about the subject at hand, with the best clarity of video material for clear observations. Thank you very much.

I have had my SAAB break down because of carbon build up. Was not just in the EGR Valve, but my Swirls flaps also wore their holes so badly, that I needed a new inlet manifold and swirl flaps and so, if your carbon build up is THAT bad, I wqould suggest that you also check your inlet manifold and swirl flaps also because it almost killed my engine as the previous owner obviously saw how bad it had got and did nothing to sort it, just sold it off, and I was left witt a car that cost me 5 grand to buy and after only 3 months, I was left with a car that was in permanent limp mode until I had it rebuilt. Its now smooth as silk mind you and I am in love with her at long last.

A brass wire wheel on a cordless angle grinder and a universal socket can shine up an entire engine bay in 45 mins. Just learn fast what gets cleaned in situ and what really needs to be removed for a bench polish with the grinder clamped in a vice if needs be. Two strips of split hosepipe work great as padded jaws there but make sure the grinder can still draw cooling air over its motor and the motor housing isn't deformed when clamped in position for use as a bench polishing wheel. What need hours to soak and scrub can be mechanically obliterated quite safely with the correct choice of cutting wheel. Don't ignore the pressure washer, the steam cleaner and the ultrasonic or bead/shot/sand blasting options either. Most are cheap and effortless to use if maybe just as time consuming.

Great video - very well done; great advice - punters need to save money these days and not just get dealers to replace parts that can be back to normal with a good clean - better on the environment and better on the hip pocket! Also, very satisfying to fix something yourself!!! Thanks mate!

Outstanding video. Amazing result. I read online mechanics charge as much as $500 to change an EGR valve. Therefore, this is a great money saver.

Mr muscle ROCKS!!! any one criticising this must be a garage not getting our Money!

This guy does the best car repair vids on u-tube.

Good stuff, did this myself before seeing this a month or 2 ago on my VW T5. I used some oven cleaner in a bag from B&M for £2.99 it stained the aluminium but the van drives mint regardless if it's clocked elsewhere. It was also as bad as yours. Thumbs up

I have a Toyota 3rd gen Prius. I used an extra reach 12 mm racheting wrench for the three Nuts in the back and had a hard time reaching the 4th HIDDEN 12 mm nut underneath the EGR cooler. Used a Torx E8 socket for the two Bolts ( in the back of EGR cooler) and we finally freed the EGR assembly. Good video

Mechanic replaced my genuine EGR valve with cheap EGR valve ... braking the EGR cooler at the same time . Only for another garage to fix , costing X amount and plus unnecessary stress !

Can’t see why some people have given a thumbs down. It’s clear and to the point.

As a deisel mechanic if its cleanable..I would soak it in muscle magic over night..and next day clean and repeat if necessary..the muscle magic works great..

Great video, should have seen this 6 months ago before I spent $430 to replace my bad one on my Isuzu. To add to your video show using compressed air to dry it all out and blow out any additional residue, again Great Job and keep saving money.

dude, good idea with the mister muscle, something i find works great is Cillit Bang.... i sprayed that on my brothers one and waited 5 mins then washed it off and the thing looked brand new, amazing what house hold cleaners can do for cars :)

Great video thanks. I clean mine about every six months as the valve stuck open once and the car died as it was essentially running on exhaust gas. What I do is unbolt the motor from the back and push the sprung valve in and out to clean the shaft too. What happens is the carbon sticks to the valve stem and stops the spring from closing the valve again. Be careful though and make sure you only press the middle of the valve stem. If you press on the retaining plate the split collects can come off. It's then a fiddly two person job to fit them back on and trapping them back under the plate. Dismantling it like this is the best way to clean it but isn't for the feint hearted. If you lose one of those collets you could be looking at a new valve ££££.

Best comment "I'm not saying you can wash an airplane with it"

I removed my EGR valve a week & half ago. It was not really clogged with much soot at all. It was how ever not moving very well. I took it out and cleaned it up really well. Put it back in. My cel was still on. So, I started driving it only difference in my driving was. Now I drive it using the transmission. I run it up in the rpm’s much higher. About a mile down the road the cel went out on its own. I drove it for a day like that. Then I started driving it just in drive. The light came back on. Then I went back to shifting it myself. The light went back out. And has stayed out for the last 4days I’m happy for now!!!!!

A paint thinner and paint brush also works well to remove carbon deposits from EGR valves

Just bought EGR cleaner, I wish i had seen this video first. well done thanks for sharing ..

Great attention to detail...professional attitude I can admire. Thanks for your share Andrew.

Following my Skoda Yeti control system warning light coming on. I am almost hoping this is the same issue as the one you so brilliantly describe. Thumbs up good fella!

If you live in an area where you can get away with it... I find the best cleaning method is had by removing the EGR valve and placing it in the garbage. Block off plate and ecu reflash to get away from it throwing the egr fault code. 555,555km on my pd tdi this week.

I recently watched a RU-vid video with a DPF being cleaned. All the presenter did to get the soot out of it was to soak it in water with a dissolved dishwasher tab - no harm to the stainless steel mesh. All the soot was completely gone. Maybe that could work too and possibly cheaper / less elbow grease? Great job with Mr Muscle though. Loved the video. Thanks so much for sharing!

Great video. I’m definitely gonna try this. I’ve been quoted £250 plus vat to change the egr on my transit.

Notwithstanding the negative comments thus far - I give you a big thumbs up - good stuff - thank you.

you talk a lot of sense.thanks for the video👍

Just did this on a VW TdI. These engines suffocate themselves and in the long run, they than pollute and consume more fuel than necessary because of the wear. Ingenuity and complexity at its finest. Thx politicians and environmentalists!

I cleaned my intake with Cillit Bang, when I started the engine it went bang!

Carburettor cleaner is good and cheap, but I like this idea. As you said however, remove rubber fittings and clean it off thoroughly! Good job!

Good to have you back Boydie

I also use Mr Muscle oven cleaner to clean EGR valves, and not had any issues with the aluminium either. Like you I spray it on, and rinse it off.

Absolutely brilliant. Thank you for well presented video and commentary.

Genius. I never thought of oven cleaner but will use this in the future.

I’ve always found the best way to clean them is to get rid of them!.. The sooner the better too in order to keep the rest of your intake clean..

This is a really good vid! I have watched other vid for hours with all of the BS products and sanding stories and so on....This is cheap and good. The only problem are the 45 minutes sitting there. My back hurts after 5 mins :D

Ok people. I've been a auto technician for Toyota for 24 years now. Their are actual cleaners made for this repair. Don't use oven cleaners use parts cleaner and perform an induction service. Also do a throttle body cleaning using carburetor cleaner and while your at it do an e.f.i flush! E.f.i is an acronym meaning electronic fuel injection! So now you know the proper way to maintain a fuel efficient, smooth running automobile. Don't half ass it!

It's a useful video....he's not doing anything wrong, just cleaning. If that's what the government and therefore manufacturers insist we have to have....then it's what we have to live with....just some basic maintenance to keep the car going. It's pretty much back to how it was when it left the showroom....fair play. I check my 1.9 AWX Passat EGR once a year, only ever grubby, never any coke build up.....AWX for the win! lol

Cleaning doesn't always work, sometimes the actuator fails due to the coils breaking down from fighting the resistance of the carbon...

Mr Muscle comes in Caustic and non-caustic versions. The Non-caustic stuff works fine on aluminium. I use it to clean model a/c engines. Warm ethylene glycol auto coolant might work well too.

I just have an EGR issue...going to try this. Thx

Well i can rest easy now I have seen the best video ever, life is complete Excellent use of bamboozled my guy

Great stuff mate I always enjoy your videos ,done the same for my one and it worked again thank you ever so much . Keep up the great work.

Not knocking this product,,but I've never heard of it before. Of course in our area,chances are that they don't get any to sell,because it actually works. Good video.

Good job mate. Appreciate it. Honest and simple. Keep it up. Cheers!

That's "right nice"! Splendid job. I'm the same as you, "if a job's not right; it's wrong". I want to take mine off, just to have a look and give it a clean..... Yes, I'm going to do it!! 👍😁👍

As always top work bro always enjoy your videos and commentary....keep up the top work . ✌😉

Couldn't find Mr Muscle Foam but used Cilit Bang's bathroom surface power foam and this did the job perfectly. Followed your advise, spent about £5 and about 1 hour and it looks brand new. Hopefully that'll fix my 03 Mondeo from cutting out around 3k rpm.

Great videos and you come across as a genuinely top man. Wish your channels all the success.

i also used Mr Muscle for my Turbo on my 1.6 tdci focus mk2... the VNT veins were sticky and making a whining noise.. i popped the exhaust off, sprayed Mr Muscle in, and left it for a couple hours.. started the car up, All the junk came out the exhaust, and Whining noise went completely :D

BMAC: "I'm not saying you should clean an airplane with it." Me spraying oven-cleaner on my plane to clean it: *surprised Pikachu face*

Mr Muscle is brilliant. I use it on motorbike pistons, pretty much like you did here.

A honest vid on saving money hence the amount of views well done

mate bugger the negative comments good video

cheers mate done what you said and different car running sweet as the 186.00 garage bill you saved me, keep up the good work pal.

don't forget to thoroughly clean down and spray over with wd40 (other brands available) especially the moving part of the egr as you can cause damage to the seals.

I know more than a few folks that pull these out and clean them up, carb cleaner seems to work best, and they are normally good for one or two cleanings. A little elbow grease goes a long way. Stay away from the stealerships, take ownership of your truck, learn how to fix it yourself, it may just save your business.

Great video. Thanks for taking the time to produce it !!!

Gotta tackle this on my daily Saab 93. 185k miles so I think it might need more than the egr cleaned. Hopefully not the manifold too 👍. Great idea with the Mr Muscle, save me buying two tons of carb cleaner and looked like a good job. Thanks 👌

Thank you for your videos i find they vary helpful. Just cleaned my egr valve on my 2006 Beetle 1.9 diesel. Make more video if you can you do good work.

Was just about to head out the day for some fancy egr cleaner till I watched your video. Got a tin of mr muscle in the kitchen. So my egr is gona be a free clean the day. Lol. Good excuse to get out of cleaning oven too.

good job man, I swear i saw one of your vids replacing a clutch on a golf? Well anyway that worked a treat, so im going follow this one with a egr on different car.

I use a degreaser called Sumo used in kitchens to clean burnt pots oven trays ect,it dissolve carbon does not harm aluminium or plastics

YAMAHA COMBUSTION CHAMBER CLEANER . This stuff is strong stuff. I use it on 2 stroke snowmobile srx700 and motocross yz250 powervalves to clean carbon off.

I love your videos. I've learned so much about maintaining my TDI from you. Instead of Mr muscle I'd use Carbon-off! safe for all metals and boy does it do a number on a waffle iron.

Very good job. I use this over cleaner to clean manifold, it's amazing.

Very interesting. I'd be leery about using the oven cleaner on aluminum, but my EGR valve is iron, so no problem.... thanks for the demonstration!

The joys of living in Africa include the fact that just about every car that's out of warranty has had the EGR bypassed

I’ve cleaned a turbo out with oven cleaner worked a treat also mr muscle lime scale remover on corroded electronic terminals is amazing same result with that bang and the dirt is gone stuff

really good honest video keep em coming

I used WD 40 it does not dry out as fast. As carburetor cleaner and it's easy on rubber. And Dawn dish soap. Excellent cleaners. Carbin does not like water or soap.

You missed a spot... No, just pulling your leg. Thanks for showing!

Great video,when mine clogged up on Astra ,I bought a new one was about 60 pound I was advised once there clogged there never the same,wished I had done what you did,I know in future

Damn! Oven Cleaner is such an obvious one for this. Im trying it tomorrow. Thanks

Excellent, simple no BS video and explanations, thank you, liked and subscribed. Respect from Manchester.

Mr muscle power to the rescue nice video

Great video,and very well explained,given me the knowledge to attempt the job myself 👍👍

I had EGR valve problem but bought a new one...man, I prob could of cleaned malfunctioning dirty one🤔.

Hi my friend loved the video totally works used me muscle and we40 to unclog the thing my valve was solid stuck and piston at top now working free and fast I have a Saab 95 2.2 tid it now touches 5000 revs never known that with a diesel

Holy mother of all that can be this is the worst I have ever seen a EGR value. Unreal I don't even know how your vehicle ran?

Cracking result man, I used your advice about steam cleaning the head internally on my 1984 land rover 110. The results were great at first but sadly didn't last.

lol love your sense of humour lol

Thank you for this video. I'm really struggling to find the part brand new so I'm hoping a clean will fix my issue!

"Get of dem big clumps " sounds like a say no to drugs campaign. Great video I wonder why us "YANKS" dont get mr muscle it seems like magic.

The glasses are a good idea, I bet a tiny fleck of oven cleaner would eat deep.into the cornea super fast. Before you could say, "God save the queen" you would be on your way to the sink to wash your cratered eyeball. Cool video.

Wash an aeroplane :) love it

If you leave it overnight soaking in caustic soda it will be like new in the morning. Then blank it off when you refit it. You might have to unblank it for emissions test at MOT but most pass with it blanked off. IMO PS good video.