EGR cooler lifespan.

I would think a very disciplined cooling system maintenance schedule would increase longevity significantly. Hard to verify used part with extreme service life.

 

Have not of heard of an EGR cooler leaking. Just make sure it been cleaned on the inside.

 

The lifespan of the EGR cooler should be unlimited. It is made of welded stainless steel with no wear parts. It is almost subjected to no corrosive or physical damage. When totally cleaned, it is as good as new.

It will likely outlast the car, itself.

 

Aside from getting plugged up from poor maintenance.

 

But will that hurt the cooler itself? Won't it be fine after cleanup?

The real damage is to some other components.

 

Seriously? The simplest way to remedy this is to make some time for the car maintenance.

 

Let the cooler soak in carb cleaner for a couple of days.. needs to be super clean.... blow out with car wash or power washer....
Car will be down for at least four hours if you know what your doing or expect longer. I have done this. Luckily I have several vehicles.
Mine had 200,000 plus when I did it..........

 

I wanted mine totally clean, so I soaked it for 6 weeks. I plugged the openings with rubber stoppers, filled it wit cleaner, and checked it every week. Every week, the solution came out a tan color. The last time, it came out totally clear. So, I knew it was as clean a brand new one.

 

Mine only had around 70K kms when doing this, but I managed to have it as-new clean in about 8 hours with multiple Oxi-Clean soaks. Previously I did Brake Cleaner soaks, with very mediocre results.

With the Oxi:

Mix the (powdered) Oxi with hot tap water, as concentrated a solution as you can get, plug one end of the cooler, and shoot it in. In practice I usually exceeded "saturated solution" by some, had some granules undissolved. On the flip-side I usually didn't mix enough volume to fill the cooler. So I would do a first pour, then add a little more hot water to mix container, swirl the remaining Oxi granuals and try to shoot it in quick while they were still in suspension.

Let it stand for about an hour. It'll bubble up, and you'll see a "head" with carbon flecks. Very reassuring. Then drain and rinse with hot tap water, and repeat. Took 5 or 6 repetitions in my experience.

What I really like about the Oxi: it's not an oily hydrocarbon, just a strong soap (of some sort). And it was 100% effective, given time and repetitions.

 

Coffee pot cleaner/descaler would probably work Pretty good.

 

Get the spare! It's an easy job when the cooler is already cleaned.
I used oven cleaner, took 30 minutes. I used a garden hose to rinse it out, but next time I'm going to
use my pressure washer.
Order all the parts you need to do the cooler and intake manifold and double check to make sure you have
everything! Some reuse gaskets, but they are inexpensive enough, so it's not worth the risk of them leaking.

And trust me, it's NOT as hard as it seems. Watch and rewatch the videos and it will go easy.

 

Mine had 200,000 plus on the clock........ it was not easy......stuff was like concrete....had to run a wire through it....

 

I believe it!

My 70K kms is like brough..., just slightly more than zero miles??

 

No! Seriously! No joke.