The difference in my old Ford's idle after I finally cleaned the EGR cooler

For about six months, my 7.3 Powerstroke had this rough, shaky idle that felt like it was going to shake the dash loose. I kept chasing injector issues, but my buddy in the shop said to check the EGR cooler first. I pulled it last weekend and it was completely clogged with soot. After a good clean and putting it back, the truck now idles smooth as glass. Has anyone else had an EGR issue hide behind what felt like a bigger problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisar141mo ago

Reminds me of a buddy who replaced all his sensors chasing a misfire. Turned out his EGR valve was just stuck open from gunk. Felt pretty dumb after that easy fix.

christopher3851d ago

Oh man, that's a rough one. @wesley_grant33 is right about the coolers, but the valve itself sticking open is usually the main culprit. Easy to miss when you're throwing parts at it.

wesley_grant331mo ago

Classic EGR move right there. Those coolers get nasty and trick you into thinking it's something worse. Glad a simple clean fixed it up!