I know this has been done to death, but I'm really confused about EGR valves.

My Fabia has had the BLT gasket mod to cure the stutter about 3.5 years ago. For about 2 years I've had the warning light on for "insufficient EGR flow".

My EGR has evidence of oil leakage on the outside out of the little breather hole.

I've never had the EGR cleaned, the last time I asked the garage about it they said because I'd had the gasket mod in the past, I'd likely need a new EGR.

My questions are:

What are the symptoms of a badly clogged EGR?

Should my EGR be cleaner than standard due to less exhaust getting through the smaller diamater gasket? If so would all the gunk usually in the EGR be clogging up somewhere in front of the gasket?

Would cleaning out the EGR only be beneficial,or can it have negative consequences too? Would running with a gunked up EGR do any long-term damage to any other parts?

If the EGR is leaking oil its not worth cleaning, it needs replacing (approx £80 from TPS).

The oil will eventually perish the diaphram, thats if it has'nt already done so and render the valve inop which will put on the warning light.

I've just changed my sons EGR on his 2006 vrs for the exact same issue your car has (his car also had the 9mm gasket fitted and oil leaking from EGR).

At the same time I recalibrated the EGR on his car and my wifes 2007 vrs se with vag com, which involved changing the EGR stored value in the engine ECU from 32768 to a new value of 33638 (higher value = reduced EGR).

Both cars now run and drive much better than befor ie better throttle response, smoother, less smoke and the exhaust tail pipes on both cars now stay really clean.

If the EGR is leaking oil its not worth cleaning, it needs replacing (approx £80 from TPS).

The oil will eventually perish the diaphram, thats if it has'nt already done so and render the valve inop which will put on the warning light.

I've just changed my sons EGR on his 2006 vrs for the exact same issue your car has (his car also had the 9mm gasket fitted and oil leaking from EGR).

At the same time I recalibrated the EGR on his car and my wifes 2007 vrs se with vag com, which involved changing the EGR stored value in the engine ECU from 32768 to a new value of 33638 (higher value = reduced EGR).

Both cars now run and drive much better than befor ie better throttle response, smoother, less smoke and the exhaust tail pipes on both cars now stay really clean.

Would recalibrating the EGR value mean the engine light less likely to come on with the modified gasket?

Is changing the EGR for a new one an easy job? i'm guessing inlet manifold should come off and be cleaned too at the same time? Funnily mine doesn't smoke, I even just started a thread asking if that's normal!!

Also I'm confused- has changing the gasket directly caused this EGR oil leakage?

Fitting a 9mm gasket will not cause the EGR to leak oil....its a carp designe and they all seem to leak oil after a while.

The EGR on my sons car lasted 70k, the se has done 27k and the EGR is still working OK and not passing oil.

Turning the EGR down via vag com will not bring on the warning light due to the fact the emissions value the ECU looks for via the exhaust probe is also reduced.

Also I'm confused- has changing the gasket directly caused this EGR oil leakage?

no it's wear and tear on the tiny oil seal on the valve stem it's either live with it -replace or stealth mod----don't be tempted to block the breather hole

Fitting a 9mm gasket will not cause the EGR to leak oil....its a carp designe and they all seem to leak oil after a while.

The EGR on my sons car lasted 70k, the se has done 27k and the EGR is still working OK and not passing oil.

Turning the EGR down via vag com will not bring on the warning light due to the fact the emissions value the ECU looks for via the exhaust probe is also reduced.

Where does the leaking oil come from?

My EGR is also kicking out oil from the breather hole on top, seems to be getting worse. It is a new(ish) unit.

At the same time I recalibrated the EGR on his car and my wifes 2007 vrs se with vag com, which involved changing the EGR stored value in the engine ECU from 32768 to a new value of 33638 (higher value = reduced EGR).

Both cars now run and drive much better than befor ie better throttle response, smoother, less smoke and the exhaust tail pipes on both cars now stay really clean.

I also did this on my car.

Think it basically turns down how much exhaust gas the engine pulls into the engine.

Noticed that our instantly ran much better with this setting.

My EGR is leaking slightly but still functions very well and after a good clean seems to be running very well. Surprised the other half after they drove it for the first time after the clean and asked what I'd done to it after the TCS light was flashing in 2nd and 3rd gear. lol

Can my Skoda dealer do this EGR fix?

Find someone in your area with VCDS and ask them to change the value for a few beer tokens?