Removing and cleaning N18 EGR+Cooler 1.6TDi CR CAYB engine (fault code P0403)

[sparky2]

 

Before jacking up the car remove centre cap on offside front wheel and using a 36mm normal socket (not 4 wall drive) and extension bar for leverage loosen the main drive nut,

Loosen road wheel bolts and jack up the car and support on axle stands with enough room to get under car,

Remove wheel and plastic wheel arch liner (torx T20) and engine under tray,

Remove plastic inner CV joint cover 2x16mm bolts, 

Disconnect negative lead off battery (good practice) and remove air cleaner cover (T20) filter (fiddly) turns to unlock from casing and inlet pipes etc,

Remove bolt (T30) fixing casing, remove T30 bolt on turbo air inlet, unclip (squeeze) crankcase vent pipe and remove,  

Remove T30 bolt and turn turbo inlet pipe clockwise to disconnect hook fixing at rear of pipe, 

Disconnect large pipe at the bottom of the turbo 2x T30 bolts and jubilee clip on pipe where it changes from rubber to solid plastic and remove pipe for access to EGR plug and metal pipe fixing screws, 

Mark the edge of the inner drive shaft CV joint for later alignment and remove the 6x M8 spine bolts and spacers I turned the Nearside roadwheel with my foot so the shaft turned to aid removal of the bolts,

Remove the main wheel driveshaft nut 36mm,

Remove the 3x 16mm nuts holding the wishbone ball joint lower fixing and push down the wishbone to allow the driveshaft to be withdrawn and removed,

Place a small plastic bag over the inner joint to cover the grease, 

Remove the silver heat cover over the EGR air actuator, 

Remove 2x 13mm nuts on the lower DPF fixing,

Remove turbo outlet joint with a 5mm ball end alan key, open joint and save clamp and large sealing washer, 

You can now move the DPF over slightly to give better access underneath (be careful with flexible joint)

Remove the metal pipe on the battery side, 2 bolts on each joint with metal washers  (T30) top bolts accessed from above, 

Remove the righthand metal pipe and gaskets 2x T30 on the lower and 2x 12mm nuts on the top joint which is at exhaust temperature,

On top of turbo loosen the nut  on the small metal oil pipe using a small dumpy 17mm open ended spanner (tight space), 

Remove the oil pipe fixing bolt 13mm under the turbo and remove,

Remove the T30 bolt halfway down the metal oil pipes holding them together, 

Unscrew small 'banjo' bolt (+2 metal washers) 17mm on the smaller metal oil pipe at the back of the engine and catch a small amount of oil with a rag and remove pipe up to turbo, 

Unscrew larger 'banjo' bolt 27mm on the larger oil pipe and again catch small amount of oil with a rag,

Using a couple of long extension bars from below unscrew the 2 bolts (2x T40 or 10mm) under the turbo on the larger metal oil pipe and remove pipe,

From above disconnect EGR electrical plug (can be fiddly),

Under wheel arch disconnect with mole grips etc 2 water pipes feeding the EGR cooler with about 600ml antifreeze loss, 

Unplug air pipe on actuator (that had silver heat shield)

Unscrew 4x T30 bolts fixing the EGR noting the 2 longer bolts are used at the battery end and lower the EGR and cooler, feeding rubber pipes around obstacle (pic upside down), 

The cooler splits in half after removing 6x T30 bolts, 

If you want to check the gears inside the EGR motor its fixed with T20 bolts. 

I cleaned out the heat exchanger and pipes with oven cleaner (99p 390ml from Home Bargains) and note that each 'core' of the exchanger has 3 lobes inside so I used about an 8mm brush with oven cleaner until it started coming out clear,

There is a black plastic cover on one end of the EGR covering a cam that needed cleaning and oiling (note I had to refix it back in place with a bit of silicon), 

I jammed open the EGR motor spring loaded cam inside with a red plastic rawlplug so I could clean the actuator piston on the other side, 

I used some 'red' hermetite gasket seal when joining the cooler back together, 

I used new gaskets on the metal pipes and fitted a new 'large banjo' bolt which has 2 rubber gaskets,

Check metal oil pipes are clear inside of any obstructions that restrict flow,

I reused the smaller 'banjo' fixing but it looks like you can just buy the 2 metal washers and you could reuse the larger 'banjo' because if they leak oil you can change them from underneath,

Refitting - work backwards and as I refitted the nuts and bolts I applied a smear of copperslip just in case it had to come off again, I also used a small syringe to put clean engine oil in the top turbo oil feed for initial lubrication,

I also smeared a small amount of oil on the rubber inlet gaskets to aid seating, 

When replacing the driveshaft there is a rubber gasket on the inner joint which I transferred to the driveshaft and inserted the bolts through to hold the gasket in place and then using 2 or 3 extension bars from the wheel arch I could press the 6x M8 spline bolts into place after lining up the shaft marking,

The new driveshaft hubnut is torqued to 50nm +45% when its down on the ground with the wheel fitted,

Mine was an overnight job so I connected up the battery, locked the car with the central locking, then unlocked it once then disconnected the battery and then deadlocked the drivers door with the key.

Its a nice dirty job as you can see, so the next job is to fit an oil crankcase catch can if I can find room in the engine bay.

Cheers Stuart

 

Parts used -

2 x Cans of oven cleaner (99p each home bargains)

Wheel Hub Nut - 6Q0407396B

Small Banjo Bolt - N0210719 + 2Xwashers N0138133

Large Banjo Bolt - WHT005635A (complete with 2 rubber washers )

Metal pipe Gaskets - 3x 03L131547N

Metal pipe Gasket exhaust end - 04L131547S

Gasket under turbo (smaller) - 03L145757Q

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 29 March, 2021 by sparky2
new pics

[agoatyelps]

Sorry for the thread necro but did this resolve the error code permanently? you didn't have to actually replace the egr valve/cooler? been quoted nearly 2k by a garage to replace egr so I'm very tempted to diy it