EGR insufficient flow

rickyquicky

Active Member
May 12, 2010
43
0
My 2.0tdi BKD engine recently came up with a fault code which was 'EGR insufficient flow'.

The EGR valve was changed about 9 months ago for the same fault, which was supposedly cured until recently.

Now it has came back, I have been told it could be the MAF sensor, and the engine management is mistakenly throwing out an EGR valve fault.

Anyone with experience know? Can a MAF fault show up as EGR on diagnostics?

The only 'fault' that is evident is that perhaps the car is not a fuel efficient as it used to be. TIA :)
 

CAFFN

Guest
I had the same problem on my Ibiza. Valve was changed, but didn't help. They then removed the entire EGR-system and cleaned all parts of it. Has been a few months, no problem since then.

Oh, and it's more fuel efficient to :)
 

MJ

Public transport abuser
Apr 22, 2008
5,508
13
Manchester
m.facebook.com
the bkd has a vacuum operated control flap on the egr cooler - check to see if thats functioning correctly, if it blocks then it'll throw up this fault.
 

DarrenJ

Seat like you mean it!
Dec 3, 2008
470
0
Galway, Ireland
It's usually the opposite fault code you get - i.e. egr excessive flow.

Insufficient might mean that it's something outside of the egr that's causing the fault.

The egr valve seats on the exhaust manifold. Soot builds up and it doesn't seat properly closed so you get a constant flow. My MAF died as the egr problem got terribly blocked.

You can nearly see that the valve isn't seating properly, it's seating proud:

DSC00703.jpg


Compare that to:

DSC00707.jpg


These two things - maf and egr tend to get buggered at around 60K miles - had to tend to mine at 63K

Fairly bad:

DSC00702.jpg
 

DarrenJ

Seat like you mean it!
Dec 3, 2008
470
0
Galway, Ireland
We get this fault code all the time at work. Usually cured by changing the EGR filter. This gets blocked with soot and means that there isn't as much EGR flow as required.

Where is the EGR filter? I know there is an EGR cooler. Is it part of this? I have mine disconnected from the vacuum pipe anyway but would be interested in taking a look at the filter and cleaning it.
 

davidmills2002

Active Member
Jul 14, 2008
100
0
Buntingford, Hertfordshire
Where is the EGR filter? I know there is an EGR cooler. Is it part of this? I have mine disconnected from the vacuum pipe anyway but would be interested in taking a look at the filter and cleaning it.

I work as an engine test engineer and operate an engine test cell so isn't completely representative of the layout on a car. The VW I have in my cell is a rare American 2.0L CR Tdi and has the EGR filter mounted to the EGR cooler. If you trace the EGR valve to the cooler, you should come across the filter. When I have to order a replacement usually costs about £90-£100 if I remember right.
 

davidmills2002

Active Member
Jul 14, 2008
100
0
Buntingford, Hertfordshire
Where is the EGR filter? I know there is an EGR cooler. Is it part of this? I have mine disconnected from the vacuum pipe anyway but would be interested in taking a look at the filter and cleaning it.

Also I don't know if it's the same for all VW's, but the filter is sealed in a metal tube and so you can't remove it to clean, just have to replace it.
 

DarrenJ

Seat like you mean it!
Dec 3, 2008
470
0
Galway, Ireland
Also I don't know if it's the same for all VW's, but the filter is sealed in a metal tube and so you can't remove it to clean, just have to replace it.

I know what I'd do with mine if it was still attached up - I'd hit the body of it where the filter is a few taps of the hammer and let the soot fall back down!

After all the research I have done on the EGR valve (which prompted me to disengage it) I have never heard of this filter! I'm sure many people would be interested in knowing that one exists.
 

davidmills2002

Active Member
Jul 14, 2008
100
0
Buntingford, Hertfordshire
I know what I'd do with mine if it was still attached up - I'd hit the body of it where the filter is a few taps of the hammer and let the soot fall back down!

After all the research I have done on the EGR valve (which prompted me to disengage it) I have never heard of this filter! I'm sure many people would be interested in knowing that one exists.

I know I'd never heard of an EGR filter until I came across them at work. Make sense though to filter the EGR gases before chucking them back in the cylinder.
 

DarrenJ

Seat like you mean it!
Dec 3, 2008
470
0
Galway, Ireland
My tdi's emissions stink after a decat and egr disconnection and it's far more smoky on start up until it gets warm, but always smells. I was thinking this is to do with the egr not working and recycling a certain amount of the emissions and the cat not burning up the rest of emissions.

Hows yours holding up after the tune up? heavier clutch? More smoky?
 

theboneman

Active Member
Mar 5, 2016
47
0
I've just stripped the EGR valve off and cleaned it wasnt as bad as I expected. Stupid allen screws tho.

EGR valve isnt opening. Before i rebuilt it it pushes back ok and seems fine. So think its not getting vacum to open. New fault is however throttle position sensor low voltage.

Still have turbo overboost but not as bad since i used fuel cleaner.

anyone help with the egr system??

Seat Altea 2.0tdi bkd engine
 
Progressive Parts, performance parts and tuning specialists