EGR - dazed & confused

[oldman]

Hello All,
Today I removed my egr to see how clogged up it was to discover clogged full with no light through it.

anyways, whilst cleaning the worst out i discovered the shutter plate to be loose from the horizontal arm.
So I know it needs replacing, which got me a thinking:
What are the best replacements to stop the clogging::
1; clean & put back with map to remove function
2; put in a blanking plate with 5 or 7mm hole in it
...which confused me, as surely the soot would build up next to this instead, or does some build up and some go through the hole. Therefore what is the benefit? Some people say they get the CEL & some do not. How can it be different if same thing is applied?
3; straight through pipe
...no anti-shudder flap thing. Is this a concern as some people say it helps the car in turn off and stops over-run and illing it.
4; wing-nut / stealth jobbie, modify the egr to remove the vertical component part
...leaves anti-shudder valve and allows gases straight through

have read so many differing threads i was totally confused.

So, how would one know which is the better way to go?
thoughts & opinions on above and others please.
Need to make decision & purchase on monday as no transport at present.

thank you for reading my ramblings

 

[glynnd]

This is what I have with mine and after 30k of driving its as clean as a whistle (intake and egr)
Blanking plate fitted with a 5mm hole and never had a check light
No real build up around or in the hole which would make an issue later.
04 onwards cars have different software which will result in a check light if you either simply disconnect the egr or use a blanking plate with anything less than a 5mm hole.
Just by disconnecting the egr and going for a drive you will notice the check light will come on somewhere up to about 10 miles after driving, though the more urban you do the quicker it will come on. It will also extinguish itself but once you have breached the egr values the light will re appear and extinguish and re appear etc.
Try the blanking plate first, its easy to do and costs no more than a couple of quid and some bruised hands, tight in there eh?
Glynn

 

[oldman]

tight on there is an understatement and a half.
hands are cut to shreds.

mine needs replacing hence the Q.
How can a normal setup bung up, and not a blanking plate setup? just doesn't make any sense that's all.

 

[glynnd]

Just wanted to ask oldman,,
Your leon must be as slow as f@*k if you can barely see through the egr, will feel like it flies when you have it sorted!
Glynn

 

[glynnd]

The plate lets through just enough crap to keep the values below the threshold, but obviously the small amount still going through dos not build up in the intake.
I would also say that the more town miles you drive the quicker it will build up in the intake.
Glynn

 

[oldman]

not slow once moving but wasn't quick in getting there. can feel surge at about 1700 when accelerating but dies very quick, and feels to take time to spool up when moving and then bang with the surge.
started the "labours over 3k" thread as knew something wasn't right.
i think/hope this was it...

barely see, it was pretty much solid with the anti-shudder flap stuck in an open position

she is on 90k and i've had her since 30k in 3yrs now.
loads of m'way and mainly A road traffic, and very little town driving. No idea about the previous owner, i'm the second for this car.

ok, sounds fair with the plate now. just seemed weird that was all.

 

[jonjay]

I did the wingnut mod, quite easy to do and most OEM.

The benefits are
1) Stealthy - know its modified.
2) Same performance benifits as the egr replacement pipes
3) Only mod that retains the ASV for complete piece of mind
4) Car shuts of gracefully as its got ASV.

 

[tdi_will]

Ok i need to get this done and today is perfect.. BUT! Do you need replacement gaskets to remove the EGR as i dont want to remove it and find i cant put it back on without new'uns

And do you need new gaskets for the Manifold?

 

[jonjay]

I got my blanking plate from Jabbasport which came with replacement Gasket for the turbo end. You wont need one for the Manifold or the EGR one...well i didn't anyway.

 

[cheshire cat]

So, how would one know which is the better way to go?
thoughts & opinions on above and others please.
Need to make decision & purchase on monday as no transport at present.

thank you for reading my ramblings

I would just clean it --making sure the's no loose bits to swallow- and put it back for now, give you time to think( and enjoy) and better prepare, it's going to be some time before it gets that bad again,-- I've forgotten what it's like to have to have it back for Monday at least it didn't swallow it's throttle plate, first one I've heard of

 

[oldman]

cheers all
@cheshire cast -> the asv is fecked completely so no point in putting back, can't get at the asv plate to remove it
et al -> my gaskets all looked clean and healthy so no real need to replace
jonjay -> i do like this method, but a race pipe from egrvalve.co.uk is only £70 and a legit one is approx £150 by calculations and with money stupid tight guess which is winning....

 

[oldman]

well called garage for price on a new egr; 038 131501 T
and: £156+vat

they said that there is nothing in any service guide on looking at etc on this component, but an EML should come on if an issue detetced....

so based on price and what it does, i'll be getting a straight through pipe.

Any recommendations on who is good / bad / indifferent please as would like to order tomorrow at latest for delivery friday...

 

[jonjay]

well called garage for price on a new egr; 038 131501 T
and: £156+vat

they said that there is nothing in any service guide on looking at etc on this component, but an EML should come on if an issue detetced....

so based on price and what it does, i'll be getting a straight through pipe.

Any recommendations on who is good / bad / indifferent please as would like to order tomorrow at latest for delivery friday...

Oldman have you thought about buying an EGR from the breakers? I got my spare one for around £50 two odd years ago.

 

[oldman]

jonjay,
i have but no really good ones near me, and no time to hunt unfortunately.
wedding on sat and then holiday for a week and on-call with work for which i need to be mobile.

50 sounds like a bargin.
would prefer this option as well because the asv would still be in place

 

[jonjay]

Ah well, I am sure you will be fine with the race pipe anyway

 

[oldman]

speaking with guys in the office, said to try breakersyard . com and see what they can do, but then i need aluminium tube to block of the diapham part and i'm no engineer by any stretch of the imagination

cheers for help though, that's what i love about this site.

 

[cheshire cat]

Furbers at Wixhall?

 

[oldman]

is it any good? have heard of it but not been able to get out and look

 

[jonjay]

Never occurred to me to say this but why change the EGR even if the ASV is broken. What you essentially have there is a pipe already just with the plunger and a broken ASV. All the race pipes are are just pipes if you get what i mean.

I would take it off, clean it out and see whats what...

 

[obou]

just letting people know what iv done on my 04 ibiza fr tdi took egr off was covered on gunk 90,000 miles cleaned it and cut i bit of metal aas a blanking plate ( i just cut up and old spary paint can) done 500miles so far no light at all