Hello, I’ve owned my 2010 Fabia estate GL2 for almost 2 years now, and I’ve loved it. I would happily keep it for a few more years. However, while me and it used to have a 40 minute motorway commute everyday, nowadays I’m only doing shorter journeys, such as 10 minutes on a mix of country roads and town driving to the supermarket and back, and an occasional 15-20minute trip on the A6 to university. 
 

I am well aware (paranoid, in fact) of the DPF and EGR issues these small TDI’s can have, and in the past 2 weeks I have noticed it regenerating twice. I’ve tried to always let it finish, but of course this is not always possible.

 

The MOT and insurance are due in February, and although I like the idea of sprucing up my current car and keeping it, I’m just not sure it’s going to withstand these short journeys for much longer. 
 

I just can’t bear the thought of selling it, as it is my first car and it’s always been so faithful, but at the same time I don’t fancy the huge repair bills to the EGR and DPF. 
 

Any advice? Do you think it would stand up to this usage? Or am I best saying goodbye to my beloved Fabia and getting a petrol car?

Thanks

 

Why do you think that spending a few hundred quid constitutes a huge repair bill?

You'll spend a vast amount more changing cars, thousands of pounds which will just slide off in depreciation.

If you're worried about the EGR and DPF then get them properly cleaned before they go wrong, prevention is always better (and cheaper) than cure.

13 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

Why do you think that spending a few hundred quid constitutes a huge repair bill?

You'll spend a vast amount more changing cars, thousands of pounds which will just slide off in depreciation.

If you're worried about the EGR and DPF then get them properly cleaned before they go wrong, prevention is always better (and cheaper) than cure.

I was under the impression that in parts and labour replacing the DPF can be over £1000, is it really as low a couple of hundred quid? If so then I would certainly consider just keeping it. 
 

In terms of changing cars, I would be looking at used cars around the 2013/14 year with less than 60000. I like the look of the Hyundai i30 which comes in around £6000, so not too much loss in depreciation by that point, but you are right, cheaper to keep my current one if the DPF fixes are as cheap as you say. 

I'm not suggesting replacing the parts, simply paying the necessary labour to get them cleaned so they are as good as new. Clogging and blockages only happen to old dirty parts.

26 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

I'm not suggesting replacing the parts, simply paying the necessary labour to get them cleaned so they are as good as new. Clogging and blockages only happen to old dirty parts.

I’m looking into a company called TerraClean right now, I may do that as a preventative action. Thanks for your advice!

I think your instinct to swap to a petrol is wise.

EGRs on the CR engines are a massive pain to get to, and tend to fail through gear cog wear rather than getting blocked/dirty. DPFs just gradually fill up with oil ash.
Don't think terraclean will do anything useful with respect to either EGR or DPF.

Edited 10 December, 20205 yr by Wino

2 hours ago, Wino said:

I think your instinct to swap to a petrol is wise.

EGRs on the CR engines are a massive pain to get to, and tend to fail through gear cog wear rather than getting blocked/dirty. DPFs just gradually fill up with oil ash.
Don't think terraclean will do anything useful with respect to either EGR or DPF.

Thanks for your advice,

Ive found a fairly cheap DPF flush service at my local Halfords so that sorts that, but as you say the EGR remains the issue.

 

Do you have any ideas on how to preserve it? Or is it just a poorly designed/located component that just wears out? I’m on 79000 miles now. 

I would ask for in-depth details of Halfords' DPF flush service; cos I'd be quite doubtful about that doing much more than flushing out your wallet.

 

If your EGR has lasted ten years without problems I would leave it alone, but start to put aside some savings against future replacement if you do keep the car.

32 minutes ago, Wino said:

I would ask for in-depth details of Halfords' DPF flush service; cos I'd be quite doubtful about that doing much more than flushing out your wallet.

 

If your EGR has lasted ten years without problems I would leave it alone, but start to put aside some savings against future replacement if you do keep the car.

That’s the decision I need to make I suppose, I’ve been saving for an newer car (preferable petrol), but I’m struggling to come to terms with letting my current one go

If I kept my current one I’d have to use that money to fix a couple of things and keep some aside for a new EGR, whereas if I used the money to pay a deposit on a newer car, I would probably get a 2013ish Hyundai i30 with the simple and unturbocharged 1.4 petrol. 
 

Decisions decisions!

The EGR valves strip gear teeth because they get clogged, if they're kept clean they don't fail.

I've just had to replace one on a Passat 2.0 TDI and it was almost completely blocked, the valve was stuck and the teeth were stripped, it was just over £100 for a new one, I also fitted an EGR flow reduction gasket with a smaller hole at the same time, the job was quick and easy, access was tricky to a couple of the bolts but added no more than ten minutes to the job.

As a consequence of the EGR failure the DPF had become clogged and could not regenerate, the owner had the DPF professionally cleaned and now the car behaves like new.

So I do actually know what I'm talking about.

2 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

The EGR valves strip gear teeth because they get clogged, if they're kept clean they don't fail.

I've just had to replace one on a Passat 2.0 TDI and it was almost completely blocked, the valve was stuck and the teeth were stripped, it was just over £100 for a new one, I also fitted an EGR flow reduction gasket with a smaller hole at the same time, the job was quick and easy, access was tricky to a couple of the bolts but added no more than ten minutes to the job.

As a consequence of the EGR failure the DPF had become clogged and could not regenerate, the owner had the DPF professionally cleaned and now the car behaves like new.

So I do actually know what I'm talking about.

Thanks for your advice, do you know how to keep the EGR clean?

9 minutes ago, CS45 said:

Thanks for your advice, do you know how to keep the EGR clean?

 

Take it off and clean it every five years or so, it takes about 100k to get clogged enough to fail completely, less if the car is used for a lot of short trips and doesn't get very hot.

 

I'm not saying don't change cars, I'm just saying you don't HAVE to change, a car is not a consumable item that you have to throw away every few years.

 

If you have trust issues with mechanics (not unreasonable), just get the EGR valve changed and ask to see the old part after the job's been done, do this up front and you won't offend anyone, a terraclean place will do all the work for you including the DPF deep clean.

3 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Take it off and clean it every five years or so, it takes about 100k to get clogged enough to fail completely, less if the car is used for a lot of short trips and doesn't get very hot.

 

I'm not saying don't change cars, I'm just saying you don't HAVE to change, a car is not a consumable item that you have to throw away every few years.

 

If you have trust issues with mechanics (not unreasonable), just get the EGR valve changed and ask to see the old part after the job's been done, do this up front and you won't offend anyone, a terraclean place will do all the work for you including the DPF deep clean.

Thanks again, 

When it’s in for the MOT at a local garage that I trust, I may ask if they do EGR cleaning and get a quote. Alternatively my local TerraClean place also happens to be a VAG specialist. 

2 minutes ago, CS45 said:

Thanks again, 

When it’s in for the MOT at a local garage that I trust, I may ask if they do EGR cleaning and get a quote. Alternatively my local TerraClean place also happens to be a VAG specialist. 

 

You're sorted then, personally I'd go with the VAG/terraclean specialist for this work and use your regular garage for other run-of-the-mill work. 

6 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

You're sorted then, personally I'd go with the VAG/terraclean specialist for this work and use your regular garage for other run-of-the-mill work. 

Thanks, I’ll give it a go. I have some money saved for maintenance on it anyway so I should hopefully be able to keep it happy for a couple of extra years.

43 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

I've just had to replace one on a Passat 2.0 TDI

What engine code was that?

Link to part?

14 minutes ago, Wino said:

What engine code was that?

Link to part?

 

Are you kidding me?

 

BMR, go find your own part armchair boy.

I was asking because I believe that's a very different EGR style and positioning to the OP's. Will happily research it further. 

7 minutes ago, Wino said:

I was asking because I believe that's a very different EGR style and positioning to the OP's. Will happily research it further. 

 

You are correct. the EGR is under the DPF on the back of the engine. The combined EGR valve and cooler units have a whole array of different failure modes compared to the EGR units that are mounted to the front of the engine.

Got a book time for EGR replacement on CR engines, several hours isn't it?

 

1 minute ago, Wino said:

Got a book time for EGR replacement on CR engines, several hours isn't it?

 

3-4 if memory serves

Just to add a comment, had a MK2 1.9 TDI for 12 years and started to have issues with the turbo sticking fault, cleaned turbo and EGR  and replaced cat  converter, all was well but then found that other issues like corrosion on parts worn bushes etc became an issue every MOT, did the work myself but still a fair bit of cash to to fork out every year, then last year went to drive to Bristol for a shopping trip only to find that private diesel cars were banned from city centre, ok used park and ride not an issue but if more towns and cites start to do this getting a petrol might be money well spent now, electric  is the answer  but need to improve vastly. 

25 minutes ago, Wino said:

I was asking because I believe that's a very different EGR style and positioning to the OP's. Will happily research it further. 

 

No you weren't.

 

Allow me to translate:

 

47 minutes ago, Wino said:

What engine code was that?

Link to part?

 

Liar, pix or GTFO.

 

Does your carer know you're being rude to strangers on the Internet?

You sound upset, take a while to calm down then you should apologise to the OP for talking irrelevance.