Faulty EGT sensor?

BoomhaueR

Wanna go fasterrrR
Oct 9, 2008
810
0
Exeter, Devon
Just to complete this thread for future readers I have finally found the problem! It was a damaged cable under the battery. It was enclosed in wire ducting and in a box yet the wire inside was somehow broken. Anyway, for future readers replace the sensor as a last resort as it cost me £170 I didn't need to spend! So to summarise:

Symptoms: Significant but intermittent hesitancy/judder under load, especially after changing gear. Rough idling. Fault codes as above. Lambda dropping intermittently to 0.751 randomly for no apparent reason. Higher fuel consumption and excessive CO % volume from exhaust (100x MOT pass value!).

Cause: Faulty EGT sensor, or (in my case) damaged sensor wire.

Solution: Trace wire from sensor to ecu, inspecting carefully for any damage. If wire is ok visually, do a point to point resistance test from sensor to ecu. If it passes this test then it must be sensor. If not then replace wire and test again. Log EGT temperatures and air/fuel ratio to gather data between tests. Temperatures should be less than about 900C and air fuel ratio not less than about 0.80.

Theory: When the ECU can't get any reading from the EGT it assumes the worst that the exhaust is running beyond the acceptable safe temperature limit. In order to combat this high temperature the timing is pulled back and a lot of fuel is dumped into the cylinders at once, flooding the engine and causing the above symptoms.

I hope this helps somebody as when I searched there was very little to no information on the forums as it is not a common problem.

:)
 
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sambryant

RoadRunner meep meep
Mar 26, 2009
4,847
2
Bristol
boomhaueR its nice to see someone that updates there results. some people on the forum askfor all the help in the world but never let us know the fix to the problem.
fair play to you :D
 

Skorchio

600 Miles to a tank :)
Jan 23, 2007
1,570
1
Nr Milton Keynes
Just to complete this thread for future readers I have finally found the problem! It was a damaged cable under the battery. It was enclosed in wire ducting and in a box yet the wire inside was somehow broken. Anyway, for future readers replace the sensor as a last resort as it cost me £170 I didn't need to spend! So to summarise:

Symptoms: Significant but intermittent hesitancy/judder under load, especially after changing gear. Rough idling. Fault codes as above. Lambda dropping intermittently to 0.751 randomly for no apparent reason. Higher fuel consumption and excessive CO % volume from exhaust (100x MOT pass value!).

Cause: Faulty EGT sensor, or (in my case) damaged sensor wire.

Solution: Trace wire from sensor to ecu, inspecting carefully for any damage. If wire is ok visually, do a point to point resistance test from sensor to ecu. If it passes this test then it must be sensor. If not then replace wire and test again. Log EGT temperatures and air/fuel ratio to gather data between tests. Temperatures should be less than 950C and air fuel ratio not less than about 0.80.

Theory: When the ECU can't get any reading from the EGT it assumes the worst that the exhaust is running beyond the acceptable safe temperature limit. In order to combat this high temperature the timing is pulled back and a lot of fuel is dumped into the cylinders at once, flooding the engine and causing the above symptoms.

I hope this helps somebody as when I searched there was very little to no information on the forums as it is not a common problem.

:)

Good write up mate. ETS wasnt to be less that 950. You don't really want to be in the 900, mine was creeping in every now and then when logging, but only to 910 max and that was pushing the car to the limit with Water Meth.
 

BoomhaueR

Wanna go fasterrrR
Oct 9, 2008
810
0
Exeter, Devon
Thanks Skorchio, I did estimate a bit high. I will amend the post above.

After a few days now they exhaust temps have behaved and the max I've seen so far after a short spirited drive was 890C. At the weekend I will do some logging of the temps and the air/fuel ratio to confirm. Then I can tweak my map some more!
 

stt

Newbie
Jan 3, 2006
35
0
Sorry to bump an old thread but i think you have just solved my problems - and by posting here i'll find the thread easily again!
 

adiohead

Active Member
Mar 24, 2005
296
0
england
www.zetecs.com
Had mine changed last year after fault codes, and now this:


17863 - Exhaust Gas Temp Sensor 1 (G235): Implausible Signal

P1455 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
17864 - Exhaust Gas Temp Regulation for Bank 1: Limit Reached

P1456 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected

P0300 - 35-00 - -
16685 - Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected

P0301 - 35-00 - -
16688 - Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected

P0304 - 35-00 - -


ffs :(
 

adiohead

Active Member
Mar 24, 2005
296
0
england
www.zetecs.com
Sorry to bump.

Anyone know why my recently changed EGT should be throwing up errors?

Changing into 4th the car has hesitation, and the yellow dash light flashes at me and causes the error codes above.

Surely an EGT sensor should last longer than just over a year????
 

CupraMVR

Awesome GTi Technician
Oct 19, 2006
1,371
0
Crewe Cheshire
Sounds like coilpacks to me, flashing yellow light could be the engine managment light, unless your wheel spinning in 4th.

Best way to test if your getting a miss fire is drive the car at 35 - 40 mph in 6th and put your right foot FLAT> when it tries to build the power the strain will miss fire the engine. if you have a miss fire then replace the coilpack it comes back with,

With the EGT fault i would check the wiring plug under the inlet manifold first, i would think the miss fire is making the EGT higher and showing a fault. i would clear all faults and try again..

EGT dont normally fail.
 

adiohead

Active Member
Mar 24, 2005
296
0
england
www.zetecs.com
I unplugged my EGT. No more fuel dumps but the car is still struggling at high revs/speed/temperature.



EDIT - I just check for fault codes and with the EGT unplugged I got:

16497 - Intake Air Temp. Sensor (G42): Signal too High
P0113 - 35-00 - -
17863 - Exhaust Gas Temp Sensor 1 (G235): Implausible Signal
P1455 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent



I plugged it back in and now this code won't go away:

17861 - Exhaust Gas Temp Sensor 1 (G235): Open or Short to Plus
P1453 - 35-00 - -
 
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weerobocupra

weerobocupra
Oct 18, 2009
81
0
scotland glasgow
hay boomhauer im havin the same bother fault code

17861 - Exhaust Gas Temp Sensor 1 (G235): Open or Short to Plus
P1453 - 35-00 - -

u got a picture of the broken wire is dnt want to stip full loom out
mines has a real bad reek of petrol at idle aswell
 

BoomhaueR

Wanna go fasterrrR
Oct 9, 2008
810
0
Exeter, Devon
They look like this.

S4_EGT_Sensors_Avalon_Motorsports-WEB.jpg

The black and brown box sits on top of the engine, should be easy to find. The sensor goes into the manifold one on each side.

Open or short to plus means wire and/or the sensor has had it.

Note it's a good idea to change the MAF as it has been found that a failing MAF possibly influences failures in EGTs.
 

BoomhaueR

Wanna go fasterrrR
Oct 9, 2008
810
0
Exeter, Devon
Good plan. Should have date printed on the boxes. One of mine was a faulty wire and when you wiggled it the reading on vagcom fluctuated between sensible numbers and off the charts. The other was pooped though.

Make sure you know whether just one or both has gone as the repair kit (containing both EGTs) is much cheaper than buying them separately.
 

weerobocupra

weerobocupra
Oct 18, 2009
81
0
scotland glasgow
checked the date on the sensor it dated 08/09 so recon its been changed
also checked votage cuin fron ecu

resuts blue /yellow wire14.3 volts top
white/grey wire 0.02 middle
purplr/grey 13.15 bottom

think a need tae get it vag com
 

S1M0N_29

Guest
Sorry to drag up an old thread but this one seems to have some answers in it!

I have the same issue P1453. I will trace the wires tonight, already looks like some one has repaired the plug so ill have to check that aswell.

What pin numbers are they on the ECU plug?
 
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