Hi everyone

I have been asked by the Skoda garage for £ 350 to replace an EGR valve in my octavia 1.6 FSI (includes diagnostics, new EGR and labour) ...is this nominal or excessive ? Also they claim that this valve cannot be opened and thus has to be replaced ??

There are other posts on this site about cleaning EGR valves, is that not for this particular engine model ??

Thanks for any replies

I think cleaning has mixed results. Probably OK if you can DIY, but if you are paying dealer labour rates and its not a long-term fix then it could be an expensive waste of time.

I replaced an EGR on a SEAT 1.6 in Sept last year. Valve I got from ECP for about £110. Couple of gaskets were about £6 and it took me about 30 mins to do the job and then had to adapt.

im in the process of changing my egr valve on 1.9tdi, it got diagnosed as having low flow by the vagtool, after taking the top off and running the engine, the actual moving part of the valve was siezed, and the downpipe into the valve was clogged with carbon, i took it off, scrubbed it clean using carb cleaner and an old toothbrush, and cleaned the downpipe, after it was clean enough to let the queen eat her dinner off i put it back on the car, i only got about 1000miles out of it before it came into warning and was clogged with carbon deposits again, so cleaning is ok as a short term fix, but in my opinion and from experience, getting a new one is the way ahead, although im doing the work myself, i got quoted 65 quid for a new egr and 10 quid for new downpipe and 99p each for the gaskets, but to have the garage do the job where i orderd the bits was 420 quid, so 350 doent seem too bad if it is going to sort the problem and you dont have to do anything, just be carefull of garages saying that it isnt your egr and its your inlet manifold or turbo and trying to con you out of a few grand.

Be aware that there is a large range of EGR valve part numbers in use - even on the same engine code. So check the part carefully before fitting - especially if you get it from a factor like ECP.