Are EGR's really that expensive

[M1k32102]

Afternoon Peeps,

was on the way home from shopping and my EML came on, took it to the garage and like everybody else i know the EGR was show insufficient flow. so got it booked in and they told me it was going to bee about £275 for a replacement, so I told them to clean it instead.

so are EGR's really that expensive??

how much should i be paying?

Thanks

Mike

[PastyBoy]

I know its TDI related but when mine as gunked up i looked at a new one and the best i could find was from Darkside at £120

Not sure if petrol ones are more or less but they certainly ain't cheap.

In the end i bought a second hand cleaned up one off eBay for £20....

[eric87]

As above, 2nd hand off eBay with a month warranty for £25 delivered.

[Ben90]

My old 1.4 FSI 'needed' a new EGR according to the dealers and wanted to take £330 for the pleasure I took it to a specialist garage who cleaned it and put it back, the EML was still there. The EGR was working perfectly and they traced it back to the ECU and put it down to an electrical fault with the ECU. After that point I never bothered with it and sold the car to my parents. It's never been a problem, engine warmup time isn't affected and neither is MPG, only the EML is still there which can hide other fault codes should they arise, now I just keep on top of it with VagCom.

[Tarmine]

When I looked on darkside developments this morning, I saw this one http://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/products/vw-audi-1-9-2-0-exhaust-gas-recirculation-valve-egr-038-131-501-an.html for £60 new with 12 month warranty, that seems rather shockingly reasonable, assuming I can find someone to fit it.

I am looking at the correct one....right?

Mines a Fabia vRS 1.9 2006 TDI BLT 130.

[D15VRS]

Yep blt seems to be listed under 1.9 engines

[Tarmine]

When I consider I'm about to spend more than that on new tyres, our fuel consumption has progressively dropped over the last 3 years since the fault appeared (only getting around 350miles to a tank instead of 500+) and at that price I might consider that over the delete option.

[Ben90]

They're positioned on the top left of the engine block on the 1.9 tdis, still a bit fiddly to access the bolts due to space but fundamentally it's pretty easy to remove and bosh a new one in. Many DIYers on here have removed/cleaned/blanked their EGRs so there's a lot of help around. Have a go!

[Titanium_Man]

Gonna be blanking mine off, then there will be no potential for it to go wrong or need to clean

[Tarmine]

They're positioned on the top left of the engine block on the 1.9 tdis, still a bit fiddly to access the bolts due to space but fundamentally it's pretty easy to remove and bosh a new one in. Many DIYers on here have removed/cleaned/blanked their EGRs so there's a lot of help around. Have a go!

Once upon a time when we had two cars we would have, we looked at it recently, thinking of giving it a clean and scratched our heads like, "how the f*@k do I get to that bolt!" I then imagined hours of cold fingers, scraped knuckles, parts stuck fast and a spare bolt left at the end etc...

PS I'm due to go into labour any day - it would be sods law...! The car would be left sitting on the drive indefinitely!!

[viewer]

Tarmine if you're thinking of doing this yourself and about to go into labour - please leave it. You're literally the wrong shape for this bit. It is technically easy, but you need to lean over the engine so even if the bump doesn't complain, your back will.

When our 1.4TDI gave up and cleaning didn't help (decided was the diaphragm), it turned out to be cheaper to have the car mapped and the EGR deleted than buy a new EGR. Problem with used EGRs is how long a life is left in them.

[Tarmine]

Well it would be my husband probably doing most of the physical work...I know what you mean about the bump, I replaced the front wipers and indicator bulbs last night, seriously how do fat mechanics work on cars?!

[rum4mo]

Right then, back to the OP's issue - he has a petrol engined car so, in my experience, the EGR valves do not tend to get choked, its more likely that the induction end/area of the EGR pipework is where the restriction is - so clean out that area either in the TB or an adaptor plate below it.

These EGR valves can, it has been said, cause problems, but I did buy a new Pierburg one (as fitted at factory), and after I discovered the real reason for my insufficient EGR flow (this fault was new but I was chasing a pinking issue with a BBY engine), I did replace the EGR with no difference in the engine running etc, though prior to replacing it, I did unblock the pipework and stopped getting that fault code. So in my case, I'd say the original EGR was still okay and clean after 80+K miles - but as I had bought it quite cheaply a few months earlier, I just fitted it as I thought it might have been contributing to lean running (a possible cause of pinking), anyway after also fitting a secondhand early version of the MAP sensor I ended up changing to V-Power petrol and that stopped the pinking completely, the cleaning of the EGR pipework also reduced it massively. What I am expecting to gain from using the V-Power petrol is initially reduced pinking probably causing by the engine internals being caked in carbon, then a reduction in the carbon gunge curtesy of the extra cleaners in V-Power which might let me return to using ordinary petrol as this is a 75PS engine and VW declares it is okay for 94 octane fuel. Interestingly, this car does run a lot better when using higher octane fuel, it has a lot more "get up and go" though V-Power use does seem to have improved MPG - maybe even dropped it slightly when comparing MPG at this period over the past few years. Oil usage is dropped during periods of using V-Power.

Edited 5 January, 2013 by rum4mo

[Tarmine]

They're positioned on the top left of the engine block on the 1.9 tdis, still a bit fiddly to access the bolts due to space but fundamentally it's pretty easy to remove and bosh a new one in. Many DIYers on here have removed/cleaned/blanked their EGRs so there's a lot of help around. Have a go!

Any links to a "how to", with pictures! OH decided to give it a go but can't undo the bottom two bolts to remove it and all I've managed to do is turn the air very blue by finding guides that say things like

1. disconnect the vaccum hose

2. remove any bolts securing the egr to the engine

3. remove egr

or "it's easy take off 5 bolts and a vacuum pipe, but the bottom two are tricky", but then don't say how they managed it!

AAARRGRGHHHHH! I hope the baby hasn't heard all my bad language....

Edited 6 January, 2013 by Tarmine

[viewer]

Oh heaven help the poor creature!

The EGR is sealed using a rubber O ring, so once you have removed two bolts and loosened the third just a little, it is possible to twist the EGR and so get better sight and access to the third one. Bit of WD40 helps it move. Exhaust connect removed first of course

[M1k32102]

Ok Im really confused now. been driving the car for 2 days now with the EML Off. got in the car yesterday and it didn't stay on. and the same again today. any ideas??

is the car having a funny 5 mins?

[viewer]

Two possibles:

It is having a laugh

Your husband's attempts to remove it have had an effect - in this case suspect that the actuator rod may have been sticking due to gunge. Probably a good idea to take it off and give a proper clean when you have a chance, but no panic.

BTW do take heed of all the warnings about how dirty a job it is to clean once off (how you use that advice is up to you - one hug from the husband could mean you need a new dress; get my drift?).

[rum4mo]

Ok Im really confused now. been driving the car for 2 days now with the EML Off. got in the car yesterday and it didn't stay on. and the same again today. any ideas??

is the car having a funny 5 mins?

Right, what can happen is, a fault gets logged and switches the EML on, if the fault disappears, then after a few engine starts, the EML will go off, only coming back on if a fault gets logged. Your EGR system might just be in a state that allows it not to log faults some times but to log them at other times/conditions. Bite the bullet and have a look where I suggested as normally these problems just don't "go away" with out some work getting done.

[RAPTURE]

Many cars share the same EGR . Get a working non leaking one from a good vw breakers, about 35 quid, and give it a clean with mr mucsle. If you plan to change it yourself get a new gaskets from a dealers.

Edited 9 January, 2013 by RAPTURE

[PastyBoy]

Ok Im really confused now. been driving the car for 2 days now with the EML Off. got in the car yesterday and it didn't stay on. and the same again today. any ideas??

is the car having a funny 5 mins?

It could indeed have been a temporary fault.

When my black car's turbo failed we popped the ignition on while the MAF was unplugged, the ECU thew a fit cos the readings were wrong and dumped an EML light on the dash.

When we fitted the new turbo, plugged everythgin in and started driving again the EML stayed on for about 40 minutes of driving until the ECU realised that actually everything was fine and swithced it off.

All we then had to do was clear the log via VCDS.

Also when the red car popped itself in to limp mode on track the EML light was on for the subsequent half an hour until it realised everything was fine (and i'd stopped thrashing the nuts off it! ) and the light went out.

Mabye get it scanned to see waht the fault was but if the lighst gone out then all is good!