hi there, can someone please HELP !!!!!!

i am hoping my ecu isnt broken.............

i have a 2000 reg fabia 99k all ok........ apart from 4 months ago emmisions light came on, was told egr valve needs cleaning....... all ok for 2k then light back on, was told needed new egr valve , had it replaced by a friend 2 weeks ago, light back in 10 miles,. took it to garage reset code and did diagnostic....... no fault ..... 10 miles down road light back on same code 401/ have had all the pipes cleaned also still got light...... garage said new valve £192 inc fittitng ....... do i really need a new one or is it a sensor.... can it be blocked off as ive read ? please help i cant afford any suprises....

thanks

Edited 9 September, 200916 yr by tom4055

Can't offer any more help than to say this; to block the EGR on a petrol could cause emissions readings to vary from what they should be, thus causing an MoT fail.

I also notice you have the 1.4 16v, which is known for the piston rings potenally going which might cause the light. Try compression tests and monitor oil consumption. While this may not be the cause of your issue, it is worth keeping an eye on it.

great thanks for the info. Hopefully the garage will pick up on that rather than replace the valve which I'm hoping is the cheaper option also I have notified the oil consumption is greater in the last 3 months aswell. £ how much are the piston rings to replace ????

For the piston rings two figures are in my head from when I was looking. They were either ~£300 or ~£600 to do, but I fear its more likely the latter, either way, it's a fair bit due to the amount of work needed.

However, I don't think that will cause a fault code, so they may not have gone or it's something else. Look for blue smoke on heavy accelaration (or get someone else to follow you, then pull away quickly etc) as thats one sign the piston rings could be gone.

thanks for reply,

checked that also, all ok, no blue smoke, exhaust has a little bit of water coming out when start new journey. but not alot,.... no loss of power. since i replaced the valve and clened the pipes def more acceleration and fuel is fine. thats why im stuck why the light is on ?????? i def cannot afford the piston rings so fingers crossed its not that...

Edited 10 September, 200916 yr by tom4055

Do a search for crankcase breather, I think a clean will work wonders.

great thankyou will have a look, il maybe mention that to the garage and see if there clean it as i dont have a clue......... hopefully that will sort the light ....

hi there, the garage have said its unlikely to be the crankcase breather thats bringing the light on .........

any more ideas......... they want another £192 for egr that wud be the 3rd one in 3 months ???????????????

Aren't you supposed to do an 'EGR Valve Adaption' when you have had it unplugged or when you fit a new one...

I dont think you can just bolt on a new one and clear the codes, I definately know I had to get someone to do it on my Polo!

It has to cycle through open to closed a few times with the engine off, so it learns all the values so the ECU knows how much it has opened it by.

To be honest the EGR valve on my car put the engine light on, and it ran fine, fuel usage was the same I noticed nothing untoward. (Same engine as you.)

As I see it, the light is a nusiense (sp) but doesn't affect the car. It's MoT time when it could cause issues so I would leave it till then, find somewhere that does a free re-test if the emissions cause a fail, then act from there.

Although it could be thats Drews' advice will fix it, as I have herd that before.

thanks both for the advice. there was def no egr valve Adaption at all. it was simply removed and plugged back in........ thats def worth asking them to have a look at at the garage on wednesday .........the car has no signs of fuel loss at all if anything its betther than when old ger was in....... no signs of loss of power. im just worried it could damage the car if i did leave the light on., traveling to london from bristol in 2 weeks and dont want to break down........???

Assuming it is the EGR valve thats at fault, when mine was broken I did a few thousand miles with it on, and have seen no repercussions yet. As far as my limited knowledge goes, all it does is take a tiny amount of exhaust gases, and dumps it back into the air intake so that the unburnt air is burnt the second time - the intension to be to reduce emissions.

Personally I can't see it doing any damage, just due to its rule, and the fact desials (sp) can have them blanked out but I could be wrong on that.

thanks everyone again !!!

would anyone be able to approx advise me to how much a garage will charge if i get them to to the egr adaptation... i havent a clue and dont want to get ripped off ?????????????????