EGR Valve Fault

[DWS]

Hi

 

I have a 2003 Fabia 1.4 Estate Automatic and have been running it on normal unleaded since I bought it about 4 months ago.  When reading the owners manual I noticed that it recommends that Super Unleaded is used in a 1.4 engine, so about 10 days ago I filled up with Super Unleaded, I am now on my second tank full.

 

Two days ago my EML (Engine Management Warning Lamp - the one that looks like a little engine) came on and stayed on.  I took the car into my local garage today to have it checked out, sods law dictated that when I started the engine to go to the garage today the EML went out, as it should.

 

Anyway the garage connected their diagnostic computer to my car and it showed an EGR Valve fault in the memory, I understand this is a valve and sensor that is connected to the exhaust system to check the Co2 levels.  The garage reset the fault and the light now goes out when the engine is started.

 

My question is:  Could the fact that I had recently switched to running on Super Unleaded had any effect on this sensor and valve, causing the 'Fault' to occur? Higher levels of Co2 maybe?  Your comments please.

 

I am going back to switch back to normal unleaded the next time I fill up and see how it goes.

[Richard-vrs]

Not sure where the egr valve fits in on the petrol engine, but it is my understanding that super unleaded is a slightyly higher octane than standard and it also contains fuel additives (i.e. similar to redex).

It could be possible that using this has caused a lot of crap that was stuck in your engine to be burnt up and when it has been recirculated it could have caused egr valve to become dirty or blocked.

[sepulchrave]

Do NOT put any more of that foul 95 octane rubbish in your car, the CEL light will not have been caused by switching fuel, it's a coincidence, the EGR valve is very likely to be failing anyway, as little as 50-60k is about all they last. You need to return your car to base settings (the garage may have done this already) and continue to use only super unleaded, you should notice that the engine is more powerful and responsive and more economical as well.

[DWS]

I was speaking to a technician at my local Skoda dealership this morning about what fuel I should be using etc. and he said Unleaded 95 RON should be used in my engine (1.4 BBY 55Kw/75BHP).  Super Unleaded should only be used, and needed, in the 74Kw/100BHP engines.

 

I'm still waiting to see if the EML comes on again now the fault has been cleared.

 

 

[sepulchrave]

Ok, you have the low compression engine, then 95 RON is fine, most Fabias have the 100PS engine so yours is a comparative rarity on here.

 

My remarks about your EGR valve still stand by the way, the problem is not fuel related.

[rum4mo]

Using Shell "good" stuff will help clean the engine out and might make the engine a bit livelier at lower revs, so maybe continue to use it for a month or so. EGR fault, you need to be able to quote the exact fault as it could just be "insufficient flow" due to the port at the throttle body being choked with carbony/oily crap. It is the port where the EGR gases get passed to the inlet manifold. This is a common problem. If this is choked then I'd reckon your EGR valve might still be okay, try getting that cleaned out first as an EGR valve is not cheap - can you attempt any of this yourself?

 

One other thing, does that engine need its oil topping up quite often? If so, it could be same as my wife's Polo 9N with the BBY engine in as much as the oil separator stops working effectively and end up passing too much oil which ends up getting drawn through the engine, this I think does accelerate the accumulation of carbony/oil curd at the EGR valve pipe port at the throttle body. I replaced the oil separator and oil consumption dropped dramatically - though I did that months after clearing the EGR port as it had closed up enough to cause "insufficient flow".

 

Ah, I thought that I posted about "drinking oil" recently, and yes it was your other thread!

Edited 17 January, 2014 by rum4mo