(T) EGR Heaven and Hell

I've got to share the experience my Multi has given me today.

I picked up a 2003 JTD 115 about a month ago and am smitten with the looks, practicality and sheer nerve of the vehicle. Being a 6 year old car there are a few niggling faults here and there. The anti roll bar link rods need doing (knocking from the front driver's side) and it's always been a little down on power. I have also experienced the Engine Control Faulty warning light a few times.

I replaced the MAF about a week ago after running with the old MAF unplugged from a few weeks (a smoky but potent experience).

When I plugged in the new MAF, the sluggish performance that had led me to unplug the MAF in the first place returned.

Annoyed I persevered and after a few 'floor it in 2nd gear' moments, I got more more power from the car, but it still wasn't right.

A quick poke around on the the forum suggested EGR issues, so today I decided to grab a can of Wynns Carb Cleaner and do battle with the EGR.

I did as one forum member has suggested and tried to split the EGR in situ. However a rounded off 4mm Allen bolt on the solenoid halted my progress. I couldn't get the solenoid off and therefore couldn't give the innards of the EGR a good clean.

So I hastily reassembled the EGR, as I had to pick up the kids and take them bowling. However, nothing could prepare me for the abysmal performance I was about to experience. Inadvertantly, I had got the EGR stuck fully open. Meaning that rice pudding skins within a 10 mile radius of my Ugly Bug were feeling pretty safe and smug. My car was so gutless I could have cried. What had I done? I was forced to brave a stressful journey home out of Liverpool city centre, with hordes of baying drivers snapping at the heels of my stricken sickly wilderbeest of a car...

Safely home (and now in the grip of a biblical rainstorm) I resolved to fix the problem. I donnned my waterproof and the steeliest Clint Eastwood look I could muster, and popped the bonnet, ready to give that EGR a right good going over.

And boy o boy is the EGR a swine to get off. Secured by 7 of the least accessible bolts known to humankind. 1/8 of a turn on each bolt if you're lucky meant a length removal process.

However, eventually, after an hour of cussing and chronic backache I had the EGR in my hand. As soon as the unit was out of the car, the problem was clear. After 70000 miles of use, the soot had completely jammed the valve.

So I grabbed a toothbrush in one hand and a can of carb cleaner in the other and within minutes the valve was opening and closing happily with finger pressure. The black furry innards of the valve had made way to shiny metal and a reassuring spring in the valve's step.

I put everything back together plugged in the EGR and the MAP sensor cable and secured the engine cover. All that was left was the test drive...

The result? Awesome. Just Awesome. I went from crawling away from the lights with queues of disgruntled drivers frothing at the mouth behind me, to spinning wheels off the line and beating chavs in Golf TDIs.

The moral of the story. If your Mutli JTD is feeling asthmatic, suspect the EGR - but for goodness sake, don't do what I did - give yourself plenty of time and do the job properly.

Thanks to all the former posters on EGR troubles - your postings have saved me hundreds of pounds.

to make things easy when you put egr back just replace the allen screws with normal screws then you can do it more easy ,not the 3 long screws, the others

Excellent result fellow scouser.

...and very nicely written too. It made me smile .

It's made me want to have a go at mine now. My other half has a C-Max 1.8TDCi and that has MILES more grunt than my Multi. Looking at the torque figures for the two engines though, that isn't surprising - 150lbft for the Fiat, 207 for the Ford. I've had loads of diesels, though this is my first with a JTD, and it does seem very lacking in torque compared to most of the others. It revs nicely enough and it's very smooth, but it hasn't got the low-down deisel grunt that I love. Before the Multi I had a Mondeo ST 2.2 TDCi with a remap and that absolutely flew. Any gear, 1500rpm, squeeze the throttle and it was off.

If the egr clean doesn't improve things, perhaps I need to have a look at a remap .

Happy to raise a smile. Every cloud and all that! My happiness at the new-found youth and vigour of my Multi is tempered with spanner rash and hamstring pain (due to hunching over the bonnet for 3 hours) that would sideline a Premiership footballer.

Regarding the relative poke of the Multi, I've driven a few TDs through work, Skoda Octavias, Vectras, Passats and an Audi A3 which would wheelspin in 3rd in the wet (not intentionally I hasten to add). Also a Volvo V70 turbodiesel which was an awesome car in every respect. However, my newly refurbed Multi is a match for most of them. The great thing about the JTD is that it's so damned quite and revs so freely (with the EGR working that is!!)

I'd recommend giving the EGR a clean out if your multi is feeling sluggish or hesitant, or if you're getting an Engine Control Faulty warning light coming on intermittently (mine would come on above 3500rpm. But it's now so pokey that I never need to take it about 2500rpm. make sure you fully engage your 6mm allen key before undoing anything, you don't want to round off one of those bad boys. Also if you've got a ratcheting 13mm ring spanner, use it - you'll save around 30 minutes of your life undoing and doing up the mounting bolts.

Fuel economy has improved too. According to the MPG readout on the trip computer I was getting 51mpg at around 60mph on the motorway. Very pleased.

Next job - anti roll bar drop links... I'll keep you posted

Scuse my ignorance but if I had my 115 JTD re-mapped, would they as a matter of course clean the EGR out too?

I only ask cos mine's going in to get a clutch + belts done tomorrow and if the mapping people don't touch the EGR then I'd get the guys tomorrow to do it, whilst it's there....

Thanks for any advice.

Hedge

A read out - bearing in mind how notoriously un-reliable the guages are - of 51mpg is unreal!

I drive mine like a snail; I'm focussing on extracting the max mpg I can intitially, and yet I can't get anywhere near that much....

Hedge

I'm no expert on remapping and tuning companies but it would make sense to ensure that the engine and ancillary components (filters, pumps, sensors, EGR, injectors, pipework between various bits) were all in good order before remapping, because any performance enhancement you'd get from the remap would be stifled by a dodgy part in the system. The thing I've learned is you can't treat one component in isolation. E.g. the MAF sensor seems to control the movement of the EGR (via the ECU) and in turn the EGR seems to have a massive bearing on the actuation of the turbo.

If your Multi is more that a few years old and is feeling sluggish, I'd get the EGR cleaned out before thinking of a remap - the result of cleaning out the EGR alone might yield the result you were after, be it increased torque, power or economy.

Hope this helps...

Yup, I'm getting the EGR cleaned out tomorrow, now. The Angel people are coming over Friday....

Thanks.

Hedge

Oooh Angel! Let us know how you get on.

I found changing the droplinks quite easy. I paid £14 per link. Can I ask how much Angel Tuning are charging you for the remap? And how much after care will you get? I'm thinking of getting mine done.

Ive only heard good things about them , they will not give you 150bhp if they think your engine aint up to it.

250 quid and they're doing it at my home.
Sounds quite a straight forward exercise, what they do, so fingers crossed.
I'll let you know how we get on.
Cheers, Hedge

Hi taxiadam - I've heard various ways of doing the drop links - the clincher seems to be finding a way preventing the bushing from rotating when undoing and tightening the nuts. I've heard there's an allen key on some and on others, flat sections that can be held with a 17mm spanner. Also, do you have to get both wheels off at the same time or can you do it one side a time? A note on your experiences would be appreciated

Hi all,
At the risk of the thread becoming hijacked.....

I changed my front droplinks recently - a fairly straightforward job for anyone with the most basic of toolkits and knowledge. Changed each side separately but no reason I can see not to do both at the same time as easiest if up on axle stands and wheel(s) off. Mine had the Allen key fixing (replacement had the rear flats for 17mm?? spanner). Anyway, no way the Allen fixing was going to last and soon 'chewed'. Out of interest I ended up trying every method to get the nut off from nut splitters, hacksawing, Dremel with cutting discs, chisels, grinding off etc as a 'practice' on one side for the future as these links seem to go all the time.

Bottom line hacksawing (don't forget to oil the blade) and nut splitters were the easiest. Bit worried about the damage a grinder can do and cannot access the bottom fitting easily.

Cheers

Mark