EGR Maintenance

I used to drive a car that was classified by CA as a "gross polluter" which meant I had to have it smogged every year, rather than every 2 years. My smog pro told me to pull the EGR valve and clean it every year before the smog test, which I did, and it passed every time. My 07 6.0 came to me with 220,000 miles and no maintenance records. I figured a look at the EGR would tell me something about the condition of the engine. Pulling the EGR was simple. I made a tool out of copper wire and it slide right out. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Best part: It was DRY. I was able to clean it using only a toothbrush lightly sprayed with carb cleaner. A screwdriver was used to hold the valve open to clean the seating surfaces. I used one drop of ashless 2-stroke oil to lube the valve, and it made a noticeable difference after 20 or so cycles on the bench. I never sprayed the carb cleaner directly on the EGR so as not to get any in the weep holes. Slipped on the new o-rings and gasket, slid it back in place, done. I am very glad to see it was dry, no evidence of a blown EGR cooler, and it wasn't as coked up as the ones I have seen in the photos

Looks like you got that thing cleaned up pretty good. It didn't look very bad to begin with tho!

Ya, didn't look to bad before you cleaned it.. I have found that useing Motorcraft Performance Cetane in the fuel helps to keep it clean, along with several WOT's a week..