Thread: Effects of a clogged EGR

Hey guys,

I've had my A4 140Tdi for about 3 months now and it's running great, however I'm beginning to think that it's drinking a bit too much fuel, seems incredibly smoky when I floor it and I've had to top up the oil level twice now.

Are these symptoms all linked with a dirty EGR?

The oil bit worries me the most as I owned a BMW-engined Diesel ZT for four years before this and never once had to top the oil up. And, if this is the case, is there a step-by-step guide anywhere on how to clean the EGR? Or, even better, is there a way to blank it off?

Smokey usually means burning oil, which is more likley to be the valve stem seals/turbo seals rather than the EGR. When mine went it lost total power, at first I thought the auto box had gone, really struggles to move. The EGR is also expensive around £250 + labour + VAT.

Hmmm, might get that checked out sharpish then!

Thanks for the heads-up, mate!

Blank the EGR valve. Ebay 'EGR blanking plate Audi A4' and tick the box including the description for search purposes. You should find them.

You will need to remove the EGR function from the ECU by remapping the vehicle. R-Tech charge £40 iirc.

Aaah, excellent! I did that with my last diesel and it made a big difference. I'll definitely get that done!

Cheer for that!

I removed the cooler and EGR pipes, blanked both intake/exhaust sides up and all the vacuum lines without any mapping to the ECU or faults logged.

What colour is the smoke? Black (unburnt fuel) or blue (oil)?

Just clean the EGR, takes about an hour.

Originally Posted by *Adam

I removed the cooler and EGR pipes, blanked both intake/exhaust sides up and all the vacuum lines without any mapping to the ECU or faults logged.

What colour is the smoke? Black (unburnt fuel) or blue (oil)?

It's difficult to say, as I only ever see the smoke in the headlights of cars behind me. I'll try to get a good look at the colour of it tomorrow. Suffice to say that there's a fair bit of it, and judging by what Stepho said about the Stem/Turbo seals and the fact that my A4 seem to drink oil, I've got a feeling that it's probably slightly blue.

Originally Posted by Wrath

Just clean the EGR, takes about an hour.

Anyone got a guide on how to do this? I don't fancy tackling anything without having a rough idea on what to do...

Here you go:

Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI PROBLEMS PROBLEMS PROBLEMS.... HELP!!!!

Hi,

I think I may be suffering from similar issues, and would be interested to know if these sound like EGR issues or something different.

-On starting the car turns over fine and will idle for about 5 seconds before cutting out as if it had been starved of fuel or air. You can then re start the engine and it will run for a few seconds before then cutting out again. This is accompanied by black (Sooty) smoke which is why I thought either over fuel or lack of air.

I had a diagnostic plugged in by the RAC guy who could find no boost pressure or injector codes, and only a bizzare code he had no idea about which I now think from reading a post on the site as an engine mount vibration sensor, which has probably tripped due to engine rumble before it cuts out (My guess).

Before this had happend it also displayed the following (Possibly un realated)

- Engine would run and idle fine, however if dipped the clutch while driving and let the revs drop off they would keep dropping past the idle point and the engine would cut out. You could then restart and it would run fine.


- Once when driving there would very little power and the car would slow, then if you put your foot down there would be a delay before hearing the turbo run up (loud) and a burst of power.



Any body have any ideas or suggestions?

Ross

A clogged EGR valve causes some weird symptoms but usually there is smoke. Whether or not the car has symptoms I would always recommend cleaning the EGR. My car gets a regular bit of acceleration so wasn't too bad but my stepdad's Seat had a huge buildup of carbon and the effects after cleaning we even obvious to my Mum. Get some Wynns carb cleaner from Halfords and do it today.

I disconected the pipe between the turbo and the EGR valve and managed to get the car going (Although very smokey). Very little torque when driving back home, but am convinced that it is to do with the EGR & not an injection problem. I have used that stuff not too long ago, but if its as baddly full of carbon as some of the other posts I have seem its going to need to be dowsed in petrol for a night to remove. Not got much time today but I shall post the pictures of what I find before I clean. Not driving until I know I have sorted the problem!

Nah, don't leave it soaking. Take it out, apply a bit of Wynns and use a fat screwdriver to scrape the carbon out. Every so often use a bit more Wynns. Did this with a Seat Leon that was quite bad, took about 15 minutes to scrape it all out.