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As far as driving styles go, I think the key may be engine load/ throttle position versus rpm.If you're not in the appropriate gear or are in the low end of the rev range and you "step on it" harder than the engine can burn the fuel, you are "loading" the engine and some of this oily unburnt fuel (smoke from the tailpipe) gets recycled through the EGR and potentially gunks up the valve.I believe a lighter foot starting off from a stop, if at all safe and possible, is a potential solution to prevent this from gunking up. Wait until the engine is at 2000 rpm + before pressing down harder on the pedal.

This actually makes a lot of sense - and I wonder if this is part of the problem with my engine. I do tend to accelerate rather quickly :smirk: , so perhaps over time I have been building this up.Dan - the additives make the exhaust smell better. I really can't notice any difference in fuel economy or smoothness or anything like that (could be a placebo effect) - psychologically, I think they make me believe my engine is running cleaner. Although, obviously, this is turning out to be not the case at all.Anyhow - I'm late for a movie, so gotta go. Have a great weekend everyone!Ross

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Ross, you're in Alberta. Any chance your dealership has been overfilling your oil?Make sure one side of the stick is reading below MAX.

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I change my own oil - much, much simpler because I have the drainplug oilpan (thanks again, George!) And I am really careful about oil levels.I really do think it is a just a case of dirty fuel. I really have no other explanation for it. Last night we went to a movie ("Waitress" - your girlfriend/wife will probably enjoy this much more than you will, but hey... the sacrifices we make!) and the engine light went off again, like it always seems to do. Anyhow, today I am hoping to take a look at that intake. I am sure there will be a veritable coronary blockage in there!

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There are some settings you can do through the computer that apparently fix the problem in VW's.

That sounds wonderful - I wonder if we could talk to Reg or anyone else about this mod for our cars? Such a simple solution to this problem - just increase the air volume intake per engine stroke.

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I would suspect that putting a plate in to block the EGR will put the car in permanent limp mode.

Disconnecting the wiring plug will do that. But the guy who made this plate says he's run it in his CDi for years, driving over 150,000km, and has no problem. Even the emissions tests show no difference, so he reports.. :dunno: B:sun:
Where the heck do you find this stuff and these people. :) It's like there's this underground movement, haha. I'm reminded of the Seinfeld episode where they buy shower heads from Russia with higher flow.-Iain

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I've encountered the EGR problem this past week. I have 100300km on the car however, back at 20000km they replace the EGR in an attempt to correct my turbo issues (I don't think it was gone, didn't help anyway) and now they are replacing it again. I'm waiting for the part to arrive so I decided to have a look inside my EGR. It wasn't blocked with crud the way some of you guys valves are but dirty nonetheless. Cleaned it up with a little brake cleaner and q-tips and problem solved. I drive the highway every day for 200km at about 110km/hr and about 30 - 40 km city driving. I too try to keep lower revs when gearing up.

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Is the EGR the thing that the CCV tube is hooked onto? ie where should I be looking for this? I usually can't get much above 130 these days so I'm thinking mine must be clogged again too (and that would explain my abysmal consumption numbers).-Iain

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Ross, how many km are on your car?

Hey Mike - just coming up to 82,000 kilometres.By the way - I changed the oil (5,000 kilometre interval) and transmission fluid (20,000 kilomtre interval) this morning, so I decided to go for a nice high speed run this afternoon just to "clean out the cobwebs" (there is a wonderful two-lane divided highway south of Lethbridge going to the US border - wide, flat, deserted, and mirror-smooth); I filled the tank and put in a mega-dose of Milligan's, and then proceeded to drive for about two hours at maximum speed (god, I love the prairies!). The engine light has been off since last night and everything felt fine - until the last 20 minutes, when my favourite light came back on and the car promptly went into limp mode again. Man, this has me totally dumbfounded! Two hours running at a constant 3,000 RPM should be more than enough to clean out any diesel engine, but not mine apparently...I was in Canadian Tire today and looked that the Pennzoil diesel additive that people have talked about - is it the one in the blue bottle, about $7-8.00?

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Ross,

This is the one I use. It works very well.

......................................Posted Image

Cheers,

B :sun:

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Yeah - but I adjust the dosage. That thing says you can use it for the whole tank, but if you read further 1 bottle also treats a gajillion gallons.

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Yep - that's the one I saw - I'll give it a try. After I'm finished with the chainsaw... :exitright:

Oh, are you giving your EGR valve a RedGreen repair job?MG
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I just brought my car in for service...b service at lonestar. The egr valve is over 400 to replace for the second time. The part is supposed to carry a 2 year warrantybut...... since it was replaced under warranty the first time it's only covered for the 8000 kms left on the regular warranty. it tubed at 94000 which was months later. I havent had it replaced and my milage went from 3.9l/100km to 3.6l/100kms. at 420 dollars I may not replace it. I am hesitant because if it breaks again in 20000kms then its another 200 in labour...again.

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sweet. i could spend the 440 or do it my self....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Mixed cleaned out his EGR valve while it was on the car. The pictures are on pg.2 of the broken intercooler scoop thread in this section. He also has a link to them in this thread.

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I didn't have the right tools with me today to take the EGR valve assembly off and clean it - but I did have a look at my air intake - there is a rubber hose that connects to the intake after the airbox - and mine was filthy! I popped off the rubber hose and stuck my finger inside the intake, and it came out covered in oil. Man, I need to do a thorough cleaning right away!

Here are some pictures of what I am talking about. This is looking straight down, right at the back of the engine:

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Two years of continuous driving will do that, I suppose. I can see where Hyatt would have diverted the coolant hoses as well - but I don't think that is something I would do. Unless, of course, this keeps coming up every year...

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I would suspect that putting a plate in to block the EGR will put the car in permanent limp mode.

Disconnecting the wiring plug will do that. But the guy who made this plate says he's run it in his CDi for years, driving over 150,000km, and has no problem. Even the emissions tests show no difference, so he reports.. :dunno: B:sun:
Has any one disconnected the wiring plug on their EGR? What were the results and did it cause the Check Engine Light to come on or any other issues good or bad?I unhooked the vacumn hose to my EGR valve on my VW TDI. I gained 3 MPG US Gallons and my intake manifold is remaining clean with no soot build up and the idle is a little smoother too with no ill effects after a year plus of driving this way.Wondering if this would work on the Smart Car CDI too. What are peoples experience here?

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Has any one disconnected the wiring plug on their EGR? What were the results and did it cause the Check Engine Light to come on or any other issues good or bad?

I got an engine light. And an error code. And limp mode. :dunno: I concluded that you cannot simply unplug the EGR like a TDI. If you want to disable the mix valve you have to add the block plate and just leave it plugged in.Bil :sun:

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Would a block plate have the same effect as a clogged valve? Or are you blocking something different?Also just wondering - did the code disappear after you re-connected the plug? (like can you safely remove the EGR valve, clean it out, reinstall it and plug it back in and it'll be ok?)-Iain

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Would a block plate have the same effect as a clogged valve? Or are you blocking something different?Also just wondering - did the code disappear after you re-connected the plug? (like can you safely remove the EGR valve, clean it out, reinstall it and plug it back in and it'll be ok?)-Iain

A plate closes the exhaust inlet but allows the valve to continue operating so the electronics think everything is normal.If you turn the car on with the plug disconnected, it will induce an error code that must be cleared. But if you take off the valve actuator, clean it and reinstall it, all with the car off, there is no problem.

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Ok - what I meant was, if the egr valve is clogged anyway.... wouldn't the gunk that is clogging it have exactly the same effect as blocking it with a plate?-Iain

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