pulled off the egr today and...
 

you guessed it,compleatly clogged my question is how do i clean the intake manifold? do i need to remove it to thouroghly clean it? if so do i need to replace the manifold gasket? how much if needed? anyinfo would be appreciated.

Remove the manifold and soak it in biodiesel. Biodiesel is an excellent solvent. If you can't find any bean juice anywhere, use kerosene or regular diesel. Pressure washing and/or bead blasting also works well.

I just did this on my 603; remove the manifold and soak it in kerosene. This will clean all the crub out, a little stiff brush helps to. You also should replace the gasket as you will probably destroy it getting it off. Mine was only $14 from Fastlane. After the manifold is clean block the EGR with a plate. Your engine will thank you. Doing this woke my car up, it has a lot more power now.

I may need to clean my manifold too, since the EGR was operational until 268,000 miles. I'm curious to see how much buildup you all are experiencing. I've seen some pretty horrible pictures of TDI manifolds 50% clogged, but I'm not sure if a Mercedes will get this clogged or not.

Pics pre-cleaning are much appreciated! Thanks! :)

I didn't get any pics but there was about 3/8 to half an inch of crud around the inside of the manifold and crossover. It builds up the worst on the first 4 runners as they are near the EGR. VeeDubTDI take off your crossover pipe and have a look. The o-ring and gasket can be re-used, only 3 bolts to remove, less than a 10 min job.

Would a non-operational EGR work the same way as if it was just simply blocked off?

Hatterasguy, sounds like a plan, I will try to do it this weekend if I have time.

lietuviai, as long as the spring in the EGR is ok, and the crud doesn't prevent the plunger from closing, disconnecting the vacuum line will prevent it from operating.

I guess it would if it still was getting vacuum. I put a metal plate between the egr and manifold. I also put a plug over the vacuum inlet, on the egr, and over the outlet on that thing under the air cleaner. Remember this is a SDL with a 603, a 617/W123 might be different. Probably not much though.

Here's a pic of the TDI manifold before and after. This one isn't nearly as bad as some of the ones that I've seen.

http://www.dieselgeek.com/images/beforeafter.jpg
This picture is courtesy of http://www.dieselgeek.com

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3030/16...ake_Before.jpg
Intake manifold before cleaning

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3030/16431EGR_Back.jpg
EGR valve before cleaning

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3030/16...Back_Clean.jpg
EGR valve after cleaning

Note that these pictures are from TDIs with fully functioning EGR and CCV systems. The CCV system on the TDIs is similar to the system on the OM603, in that there is no oil separator like on the OM617.

Oil vapor + soot = :(

I was pretty sure that was the case but reading so many posts about just taking it off and blocking the opening made wonder otherwise. Now that I'll have time to check other things, I'll pull the EGR and see what lurks inside the manifold.

mine was totaly clogged. no opening at all. i got it pretty well clean. i dont get it, if its clogged wouldnt it be the same as putting a plate in. should it have more power when functioning? now i have an exaust leak where the valve connects to the pipe. so what did i accomplish?

Wait...the 603's don't have an oil separator on the crankcase ventilation setup?

My 617 at least pretends to have an oil separator in the air cleaner assembly.

Also, is all of that crud from the crankcase ventilation or the EGR valve?

I'm starting to think it'd be worthwhile to pull and clean up my intake manifold...

Mine's full of crap.. :rolleyes: Yay EGR. One day I'll pull and replace it with the nice early 617 non-egr manifold in the yard here. Much cleaner looking. Illegal, but this is an off road only full race car 300D as we all know.. :)

Those 1L Metros are hard to beat on the track. ;)

Dont't I know it.. And now these guys with the electric scooters have shown up, thinking there tuff..

:D