Hi All

My Superb has been brilliant transport since I got her last August - Of late she was loosing coolant and had a bit of steam at times - I put this down to cold temperatures and maybe DPF. Last Tuesday there was clouds of steam from the exhaust - Coolant was being lost - All the symptoms of a headgasket failure

I visited Dave my trusted VW head who told me that in 20 years of dealing with TDi engines he never fitted a gasket and it was likely it was the EGR cooler. I bypassed the cooler and refilled the coolant - All seems fine but the cabin heater seems to be clogged with soot also Ive driven about 40miles and for 10 of that she was still a bit steamy but this has cleared - am I right to say that this is residual water in the exhaust

Now here is the question !! Am I okay to use the car for a while with the bypass in place as it will take a wee while to get a replacement EGR and Dave is absolutely snowed under with work for at least 3 weeks.?

Have any of you lads deleted the EGR altogether or will this cause grief and other issues?

Thanks in Advance

Edited 30 May, 20251 yr by VanhireBoys

I had my EGR replaced in December '24 due to malfunction of it. My take on EGR deletion is this: you already had a coolant leak but once the EGR is deleted and still present, the chances for coolant leaks are increased. Yes one can delete it but this only a short term solution as the EGR is an integral part of the whole engine. Personally: as I often need to drive long distances I would not drive without the EGR not being cooled.

I don’t think the cbbb engine has an egr cooler. The valve is at the front of the engine unlike the next engine can’t recall the code cfgb where it does and is it at the back of the engine and used to be problematic and expensive to change. Could just be the oil cooler that’s an issue? If I get a moment I’ll look up the diagram.

Thanks very much for the replies lads !

If what you lads say that the cbbb is not fitted with an egr cooler then I have bypassed the oil cooler- this is near the DPF

The temp hand rises off the 90 when she is under load so that is not good either ! Once you are steady she does settle out -

Something just isn't stacking up and I won't be too far travelled until I find out

Thanks again all

@VanhireBoys it does have a cooler.

Shown as item 7 here:

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/skoda/CZ/SUP/632/1/131/131080

1 hour ago, Breezy_Pete said:

@VanhireBoys it does have a cooler.

Shown as item 7 here:

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/skoda/CZ/SUP/632/1/131/131080

Thanks for that Pete ! Really appreciated

Hope I haven't cooked the head gasket as anything nothing of 90drg on the temp gauge is not good in a VAG car

If that's what you've bypassed and it's now OK, then you've done a good diagnostic test with a good outcome. No problem driving the car like it is until you can get a new cooler on there, I believe.

I guess the soot is coming from the leaking cooler, out of the now open coolant connections? Maybe good to get a replacement on there soonish to eliminate that.

Trying to think of a safe way of blanking them off, but hot exhaust gases will need something metallic and robust.

Edited 3 June, 20251 yr by Breezy_Pete
sp

Sorry, think I've misunderstood that. You mean the heater matrix seems clogged?

2 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Sorry, think I've misunderstood that. You mean the heater matrix seems clogged?

Yeah that's right Pete but I'm now wondering has this issue with soot now clogged the main radiator vausing the overtemperaturw

I ask this as my previous Fabia vRS radiator iced over due to windchill and lack of anti freeze put the temperature up and this has the same symptoms

One way to familiarise your self with an engine I suppose

Given that a new genuine cooler is lots of cash, and even a pattern part is over a hundred, I'd be tempted to raid scrapyards/ebay for a 2nd hand 03L131512B and try your luck. Probably DIY fit-able?

Then do a coolant drain and flush and see if that clears stuff out.

Sorry for the delayed reply chaps...

I have what I do believe is a blown headgasket unfortunately.

Over the year I've had her she has locked up on startup a few times - this I put down to a weak battery but now these incidents are getting more frequent since the EGR issue - She has white smoke at times again especially at warmup or idle - She is pressuring the expansion tank and using half a liter of coolant every 60-70 miles

The first port of call was the EGR cooler and bypassing this improved things temporarily but things have worsened over this past week

Dave our trusted VAG spanner will do a few tests on the engine this week to completely nail the problem down. He is taken aback as he says its a rare thing to happen a 2ltr TDI

Realistically I could be looking at engine swap (no point in taking the head off to find a crack ), clutch kit, EGR and a few other while you are there bits which could be pretty spicy but the car itself is way too good and I like her too much to throw her away. It might take a wee while but after this she should see a few more troublefree years

Thanks very much for your help Pete and lads, A problem shared is a problem solved and you can get blinded very easily and go down a rabbit hole and a few suggestions thrown into the mix keep you on the right track !! 😉

Hi All - Just an update on my long suffering Super B - I have been driving up and down to work for the last few weeks with temperature rising, massive pressure in the expansion tank and a real big appetite for water - What I was doing was opening up the cap of the expansion tank to release pressure in the system - If I didn't she would be hydrolocked in the evening - This was sort of working

Last Saturday morning the engine did not sound at all good and when I parked it I knew the end was nigh - Then I went to go home she turned over slow and refused to fire up. I got jumpleads to no avail and eventually cooked the starter - We attempted a tow and although she did start she was in limp mode and eventually cut out - when the party is over you have to turn off the light 🤣

We have sourced an engine with 140k miles on and a 3 month warranty so we will go for that !! We will be changing the clutch, timing belt and a few other bits but if any of you can think of any thing like seals and stuff we would be better to replace let us know -

I will take plenty of pictures and document our progress maybe on another thread - As I said the car is way too good to just scrap and doing this will see her right for a good few years to come