2010 1.6TDi EGR Valve replacement query

BigJim

Active Member
Jan 23, 2016
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MJ, i have my lady's car booked in at your place on friday, i assume you are still there at SEAT? be good to get some help with this, as its the classic EGR failure, car isn't even 4 years old as yet, and done 49k, mostly motorway miles in last 8 months, and they're already trying to wriggle out of any kind of ownership of the issue, so went one step ahead and started the ball rolling with SEAT uk, and even though i have done that, i have had nothing but bad attitude from service desk staff....!!
 

VeeFource

Active Member
Dec 5, 2014
126
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I had the EGR go on my old 2.0 FR which I imagine is very similar to the 1.6 & 1.4. But mine was nearly 4 years old and I wasn't the original owner so figured I wouldn't get far with a goodwill claim. So I looked into having the EGR mapped out but the big disadvantage with this is it means the cooler will no longer function and one of it's main jobs is to get the engine up to temperature quickly. So if you map out the EGR you're going to about double the time it takes for your car to warm up which means no heat for ages in the cabin and worse fuel economy during this time too.

So in the end I did the job myself which was a real pain in the butt as these newer designs have the valve mounted on the back of the engine above the steering rack and below the turbo. Being careful it took me most of the weekend, especially as the January weather didn't help with having to keep going inside to warm up. A big tip for anyone doing this job themself is to undo the top engine mounts and tilt the engine/gearbox forward because getting to the swine thing is the worst thing about it by a country mile.

When I took the unit apart I could see the valve mechanism would keep jamming due to the way it had worn and this was despite the car only having done 32k miles too! I got a replacement which was supposedly a revised design but I'll be damned if I could see any differences and I'm a design engineer so would usually know what to look for.

People whom say you should avoid short trips are sort of right, but only because these are usually town trips which means the EGR's working a lot more than cruising on the motorway and will be wearing out faster per mile. Ultimately though, the poor design of these things mean they'll wear out no matter what kind of driving you do, it's just that you get more value out of them if you do more motorway work simply because the mechanism isn't moving around so much per mile.

It's one of the reasons I went back to petrol, because unless you're doing mega motorway miles or really prefer the way a diesel drives, the savings are generally wiped out by the cost of replacing overly complicated (and therefore expensive) parts.
 
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MJ

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Apr 22, 2008
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MJ, i have my lady's car booked in at your place on friday, i assume you are still there at SEAT? be good to get some help with this, as its the classic EGR failure, car isn't even 4 years old as yet, and done 49k, mostly motorway miles in last 8 months, and they're already trying to wriggle out of any kind of ownership of the issue, so went one step ahead and started the ball rolling with SEAT uk, and even though i have done that, i have had nothing but bad attitude from service desk staff....!!

I've not worked for David cooks for over 12 months and they are no longer a seat dealer.
 

BigJim

Active Member
Jan 23, 2016
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ah no worries then pal, i have got all the info i need i think and already started the ball rolling with seat uk, she's only had the car since april, she went in for a brand new one, and was talked into this used example, and on the whole its been great, but this egr fault is a pain in the ass...
 

BigJim

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Jan 23, 2016
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they better bloody had, otherwise its like someone else has mentioned, about the sale of goods act.... with is being such a common fault that occurs so regularly across the whole VAG range
 

cheshire cat

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Dec 28, 2002
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When I took the unit apart I could see the valve mechanism would keep jamming due to the way it had worn and this was despite the car only having done 32k miles too! I got a replacement which was supposedly a revised design but I'll be damned if I could see any differences and I'm a design engineer so would usually know what to look for.

interestingly I recently took a duff one apart not huge mileage but at least half full of crap and the snail cam mechanism a bit dry and stiff but the surprise was the non operating vac capsule, which had glass shards in there which of course punctured the diaphram. additionally the blind bush for the flap valve had dropped out and was leaking gas into the engine bay which could have melted something else:wtf:
 

VeeFource

Active Member
Dec 5, 2014
126
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interestingly I recently took a duff one apart not huge mileage but at least half full of crap and the snail cam mechanism a bit dry and stiff but the surprise was the non operating vac capsule, which had glass shards in there which of course punctured the diaphram. additionally the blind bush for the flap valve had dropped out and was leaking gas into the engine bay which could have melted something else:wtf:

That's appalling. Think VW need to review their supply chain quality standards by the sounds of it!
 
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cheshire cat

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Dec 28, 2002
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to be fair I think it was window glass shards, the end of the vac capsule does have a rather large opening where the arm comes thro' and I guess isn't well placed below the windscreen this one was vac for the flap and electric for the valve circa '12 is the latest electric only and still unreliable ?
 

BigJim

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Jan 23, 2016
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good news on my end, dropped the mrs car at the stealers on friday, had its diagnostic, egr cooler failure, as i already knew, anyways, they then said they would get on to seat uk, blah blah blah, get s call monday from the service manager, with good news, the £990+VAT bill was mostly being taken care of my seat uk, leaving £144 to pay, and as we carried on talking, he hadn't realised she had bought the car from them, this £144 turned into £72.... result!
 

BigJim

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Jan 23, 2016
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MJ

can you talk me through the official procedure for drivers side drive shaft removal from a 2011 leon?

cheers dude
 

gray1978

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Nov 12, 2015
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I just wanted to add my Ibiza to the long list of low to mid mileage 1.6 TDi engines having EGR problems. 2010 plate, 62k miles and coming up with a P040100 fault. Don't know the full details yet, had it in the garage last week who confirmed the fault but due to Easter weekend they're not looking at it properly until Tuesday after the Bank Holiday. Worst case is full replacement which they've quoted me £630 for but I'm hoping it won't be as bad as that.

My question is what are people's experiences following an EGR problem and replacement? I'm going to get it fixed but can't decide whether to get rid straight away or keep hold of it. I was planning to keep the car for a few years yet but this EGR problem (and to a lesser extent the emissions scandal) is giving me second thoughts. Am I likely to have more problems? Anything I can do to 'look after it' a bit better, e.g. use decent fuel, use additives, more regular oil changes?

If I do change it I've no idea what to get, but it will be petrol! I only use it for doing the 40 mile commute to work every day, I like small hatchbacks. Polo... dull! 1 series... expensive? Mazda 2? Another Ibiza?!
 

gray1978

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Nov 12, 2015
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Get it replaced, use decent fuel, keep the car and don't worry about the emissions recall.

Cheers MJ :cheers: That's pretty much what I was thinking. It may cost me a bit of money to keep it on the road, but will certainly be cheaper than a new car.

I wouldn't say I'm 'worried' about the emissions recall, it's just that as a previous owner of a MkIV Golf, MkVI Golf and a current Ibiza and Octavia owner I'm feeling a bit let down by VAG at the moment [:@]
 

sharefe

Active Member
Nov 23, 2014
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West London
I have a seat Altea 61 plate bought from car giant 1.5 years ago with full service history at 15k miles and have serviced it with the dealers at 20k and now it has done 31k.

In March while driving the car showed the error coli and went into limp mode turned off and back on it was OK. A week later again coil light and limp mode. This kept on until both maf and coil error and would not reset.

I took the car into the dealer west London Brentford on 15th April they have had the car for three weeks they now advised me that seat will give goodwill on all costs of parts and 50% of labour at 250£ to pay by me.

Can anyone advise if I can claim this back?

Or

Have any advice that can help on this.

Thank you
 

cheshire cat

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Dec 28, 2002
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not clear what the problem is but if it were me I'd bite the bullet and pay at least you will then have some form of warranty/comeback I don't think it's even worth going back to CG but then again it's only a phone call AFTER SEAT has fixed it
 

sharefe

Active Member
Nov 23, 2014
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West London
not clear what the problem is but if it were me I'd bite the bullet and pay at least you will then have some form of warranty/comeback I don't think it's even worth going back to CG but then again it's only a phone call AFTER SEAT has fixed it

Knowing that it's a faulty part that had caused the problem should not seat take on the full cost of the repair?
 

gray1978

Active Member
Nov 12, 2015
42
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I'm assuming, given where you've posted this, that it is the dreaded EGR valve issue (your post isn't specific)?

In which case, given the mileage of the car, the fact that it's a known problem with VAG EGRs and you have full dealer service history, I would think you could maybe get a bit more good will from Seat. There are various posts about this issue and differing experiences in terms of good will received. A bit more wrangling, if you can be bothered, might save you a few more quid. The only thing counting against you is the age of the car, i.e. now out of warranty.

Just be thankful that the problem has arisen now, and not say when you've done 60000 miles, the car is 6 years old and you haven't had it dealer serviced. Because then you're looking at a bill of £600 to £1000!

The EGR on the MkV Ibiza is a pig to get to which bumps up the labour charge, not sure about the Altea, but if £250 is based on 50% seat contribution then it sounds like it might be a similarly nasty job.

You also don't say whether it's a diesel or petrol, but general wisdom around here says that using a good quality fuel, i.e. not supermarket stuff, might help prevent the issue re-occurring again in the future.

Best of luck!
 
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