I cleaned out my EGR ports a month or so ago, and now I have an intermittent CEL for a code 12. It's usually when the car is cold and dependent on vacuum, i.e. going up a hill right outside of my work. I can reset the ECU and it goes away. Never happens when the car is warm.

I'm assuming this means the EGR valve is getting jammed up with carbon itself. New ones cost $80-100 and I'm going to try to sell this car soon (180,000 miles with an auto trans... asking for trouble soon) so I'm wondering if I can just take this thing off and spray it out with carb cleaner. Would that work, at least for a few months so I can sell it off to some other poor sod?

 

If you can get to the nuts and remove them you can clean it just fine that way. I hope you have a little flex head ready.

 

you can clean it using the same solvent you used to clean the ports.

 

Year and model? It coding could have something to do with the egr lift controls.