General Sick croma
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General Sick croma
Thank you for attending the Croma sufferers support group.
Is that price for the EGR or EGR+Swirl Flaps? What's wrong with the flaps - I don't remember these being a problem in general.
What's wrong with the sunroof? Have a search here - I and others have done lots of playing/cleaning/greasing to make them work. It will NEVER work perfectly - you could pay for a new motor and find it's still slow or laboured in use. I just use mine to tilt (rarely, only if it's been parked in the sun), and don't bother with the sliding - it will work, but it sounds like hard work and I give it a helping hand to close if I do open it right up. I've tried driving with it fully open and it was bloody awful anyway, so you're not missing anything. It was like a noisy swirling hurricane in there - I think you need to lose the back window in a convertible if you don't want turbulence. Besides, the air con probably uses less fuel than driving with the roof missing anyway.
Is that price for the EGR or EGR+Swirl Flaps? What's wrong with the flaps - I don't remember these being a problem in general.
What's wrong with the sunroof? Have a search here - I and others have done lots of playing/cleaning/greasing to make them work. It will NEVER work perfectly - you could pay for a new motor and find it's still slow or laboured in use. I just use mine to tilt (rarely, only if it's been parked in the sun), and don't bother with the sliding - it will work, but it sounds like hard work and I give it a helping hand to close if I do open it right up. I've tried driving with it fully open and it was bloody awful anyway, so you're not missing anything. It was like a noisy swirling hurricane in there - I think you need to lose the back window in a convertible if you don't want turbulence. Besides, the air con probably uses less fuel than driving with the roof missing anyway.
Not happy fan resistor,heater box £280.00,then they said the EGR is knackared £350-450 for an Egr (broken swirlflaps)with upto 6 hours labour
I'm with Doofer. Shut the sunroof and never use it again - it will only keep breaking. EGR valve is only £100 max and it's only a 10 minute job.
Swirl valves are not generally a Croma problem. Only BMW 3 series.
According to the garage the egr & the swirl flaps are shot the flaps have broken there quoting me for flaps egr & inlet manifold very strange,where can i get a egr for £100 ?
avoid angel tuning but you can get egr and dpf removed from other decent non rip off places.
if flaps are really broke i cant see why you would want to replace them later cars dont have them, making them stay open or removing them will be better.
if flaps are really broke i cant see why you would want to replace them later cars dont have them, making them stay open or removing them will be better.
dave can you recommend any dpf egr removal firms in the gloucestershire or surrounding area ?
You can get an egr from eurocarparts for about £70 depending on what promotions they are running. I'd always suggest fitting a swirl mod gasket (don't confuse this with swirl flaps) when refitting the egr. I got mine off ebay for about £3.50 delivered from a company in Poland. You need to buy a couple of the small regular crushable gaskets as well so you're about £5 all in for all three parts. There's an even better one that doesn't need the crushable gaskets but I'm not sure where you would get it.
I've got the sunroof and I've had it fully open about 10 times in the last 5 years - it's a great idea done really badly and nothing will make it work well. I put Halfords silicone spray on the runners and that helped for a while but nothing will make it work well. Save your money it's not worth it. If you do fully open it you can probably close it by getting someone outside the car to push it from behind while you pull it from inside. But just don't open it, and never any more than the first notch.
Can't speak for the swirl flaps personally but as others have said think seriously about getting them removed altogether.
Don't worry too much about changing the egr - a reaonably cheap socket set with a selection of hex, Torx and regular bits is a must for any Croma owner - I think it's either a T35 or T40 along with a 13mm, 1/4" or 3/8" ratchet and maybe a couple of short extension bars that will be enough for this job.
I'd expect that the first few times it'll take longer than 10 minutes - personally if I was doing it outside at this time of year I'd make sure that I had at least an hour of decent weather and daylight.
Good luck, let us know how you get on.
I've got the sunroof and I've had it fully open about 10 times in the last 5 years - it's a great idea done really badly and nothing will make it work well. I put Halfords silicone spray on the runners and that helped for a while but nothing will make it work well. Save your money it's not worth it. If you do fully open it you can probably close it by getting someone outside the car to push it from behind while you pull it from inside. But just don't open it, and never any more than the first notch.
Can't speak for the swirl flaps personally but as others have said think seriously about getting them removed altogether.
Don't worry too much about changing the egr - a reaonably cheap socket set with a selection of hex, Torx and regular bits is a must for any Croma owner - I think it's either a T35 or T40 along with a 13mm, 1/4" or 3/8" ratchet and maybe a couple of short extension bars that will be enough for this job.
I'd expect that the first few times it'll take longer than 10 minutes - personally if I was doing it outside at this time of year I'd make sure that I had at least an hour of decent weather and daylight.
Good luck, let us know how you get on.
About your swirl flaps.
When they say knackered what do they mean?
4 basic things can go wrong with them:
1) actuator bar across top of cylinder head keeps popping of the top of the valve arms
2) top and bottom bearings/seals are shot and letting air out and thus loss of boost
3) actuator and or lower link failure
4) valves seized
Only 2) is a major problem.
On my Croma my swirl valves no longer operate and remain in the default fully open position. The used to work a some point as you could (a long time ago) see the sweep marks around the top of each valve.
As for physically removing valves because of 2) above then to do this on has to have the whole inlet assembly off the back of the cylinder head. This is a big job.
I'm hoping your valves just aren't moving anymore due to linkage or actuator failure, or they are just stuck. Is so then all you have to do is check that the valves are in the open rest position, don't attempt to move when you start the engine.
When they say knackered what do they mean?
4 basic things can go wrong with them:
1) actuator bar across top of cylinder head keeps popping of the top of the valve arms
2) top and bottom bearings/seals are shot and letting air out and thus loss of boost
3) actuator and or lower link failure
4) valves seized
Only 2) is a major problem.
On my Croma my swirl valves no longer operate and remain in the default fully open position. The used to work a some point as you could (a long time ago) see the sweep marks around the top of each valve.
As for physically removing valves because of 2) above then to do this on has to have the whole inlet assembly off the back of the cylinder head. This is a big job.
I'm hoping your valves just aren't moving anymore due to linkage or actuator failure, or they are just stuck. Is so then all you have to do is check that the valves are in the open rest position, don't attempt to move when you start the engine.
I chose to fix my swirl flaps in the open position and haven't looked back since!
As S130 says, there are several different reasons for Swirl flap failure. The garage sounds like they are the typical 'replace everything and hope that the problem goes away' establishment. The flaps open above 2000 rpm, so get someone to gently rev the engine while you look at the rods and see what is or isn't happening. They should all move together in an anti clockwise direction.
I gutted the dpf myself and then got Celtic tuning to remap the ecu. I got the egr deleted too. The car runs much better and the mpg has improved too.
As for the sunroof, don't listen to the non believers! Mine wouldn't close properly when I bought the Croma, but a bit of tlc and regular maintenance and it works fine. I use it on a weekly basis and if you drop the back windows an inch, you don't get the buffeting noise.
As S130 says, there are several different reasons for Swirl flap failure. The garage sounds like they are the typical 'replace everything and hope that the problem goes away' establishment. The flaps open above 2000 rpm, so get someone to gently rev the engine while you look at the rods and see what is or isn't happening. They should all move together in an anti clockwise direction.
I gutted the dpf myself and then got Celtic tuning to remap the ecu. I got the egr deleted too. The car runs much better and the mpg has improved too.
As for the sunroof, don't listen to the non believers! Mine wouldn't close properly when I bought the Croma, but a bit of tlc and regular maintenance and it works fine. I use it on a weekly basis and if you drop the back windows an inch, you don't get the buffeting noise.
I concur! When I first got my car mine used to crawl and judder back slower than Kevin Nolan - sometimes needing a helping hand to remember where it was supposed to be going, but after some very helpful tips on here with regards to cleaning and lubing the runners (and also regular use and occassional maintenance) its now spot on! Hals tip on dropping the rear windows a notch is spot on too.
Love it!
I'm a non-believer! I did use white grease on mine, will try silicone grease next time. It's a rubbish design though - basically the huge heavy slab of glass runs on pegs in a track. It should be rollers or something more elegant. The whole thing is a brilliant grit and muck trap too.
I will try dropping the back windows one day too. Perhaps I'm too old, but I prefer everything shut and the air con on - it's much easier to hear Radio 4 that way.
I really really like the daylight you get through it though. Peugeot and others fit glass, but it doesn't open.
I will try dropping the back windows one day too. Perhaps I'm too old, but I prefer everything shut and the air con on - it's much easier to hear Radio 4 that way.
I really really like the daylight you get through it though. Peugeot and others fit glass, but it doesn't open.
I agree after listening to you guys that the garage is a replace and hope it works !,can anyone here recommend a good specialist in the cotswolds ? As for the sunroof well the garage said it was the motor in the sunroof ? Yet the roof opened then closed then opened and wouldn't shut then tried the manual shut and the fitting was rounded off great any ideas ?
The quote was from a reputable garage who phoned up for genuine fiat parts ouch ! Really need someone who knows these cars .
When I tested my roof at the dealers it wouldn't shut so the salesman tried to force it shut. I nipped back to my car and grabbed some wd40 and it closed perfectly. If they haven't completely killed your motor spray all the runners and rubbers with wd and with the engine running, inch the roof backwards and forwards one bit at a time. Then 2 increments etc until it opens and closes in one go. Don't try and make it close completely in one go. :thumbup:
Airwolf, I am in GL8, and have a well regarded local VW / Audi official service point. 3 years ago I picked up the car after MOT and it was showing a glow plug error, which lasted for 20 seconds after start up.
They told me I needed a new or repaired ECU. I got a local private mobile Alfa specialist who checked the problem, found one faulty glowplug and obtained and fitted 5 new glowplugs, and also checked the injector calibration, and other connections.
The local service garage are decent enough, and claim their computer has had software updates, but they have never been able to reset either the service mileage or the oil degredation mileage counter which is vital to maintain the DPF. It makes me think they get different error code translation.
The Pierburg EGR is also used on some vectras, but get a genuine Pierburg.
In 5 years I have never risked pressing the sliding roof button, and as my car stands outside it might be better if the power supply was disconnected.
My 2.4 is now 7.5 years old, and is overdue for a cambelt, waterpump etc.
at 40,000 miles, due to age, must decide soon.
Keith
They told me I needed a new or repaired ECU. I got a local private mobile Alfa specialist who checked the problem, found one faulty glowplug and obtained and fitted 5 new glowplugs, and also checked the injector calibration, and other connections.
The local service garage are decent enough, and claim their computer has had software updates, but they have never been able to reset either the service mileage or the oil degredation mileage counter which is vital to maintain the DPF. It makes me think they get different error code translation.
The Pierburg EGR is also used on some vectras, but get a genuine Pierburg.
In 5 years I have never risked pressing the sliding roof button, and as my car stands outside it might be better if the power supply was disconnected.
My 2.4 is now 7.5 years old, and is overdue for a cambelt, waterpump etc.
at 40,000 miles, due to age, must decide soon.
Keith
Me too. Sunrooves (or should that be sunroofs?) are so 1980's anyway.
Something so unnecessary that requires so much maintenance? Frankly I just couldn't be arsed - life's too short.
Doofer is right. The design is abysmal and the execution flimsy. Even British Leyland would have done it better.
Aradite it shut, remove the fuse, turn up the aircon and just enjoy the light and airy feeling bestowed by its presence.
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I'm sure 1000's of Mercedes owners would disagree with you.....
