Just got an engine warning light on my way back from Wales. The car has started to behave oddly...

1. Doesn't turn on as easily as it used to (lots of starter motor)
2. Power steering is making a bit more noise (sounds like a far away vaccum cleaner)
3. Around 80% of torque and power has disappeared under 2500 rpm. Fine over 2500, but just overly revvy for a diesel.

Dropped by my garage to plug it into the OBDII thingy and it read an error code P0111 which is the air flow sensor.

Deliberating on what to do at the moment. Doing a bit of research on the interwebs. Will keep you all posted on what happens.

Bit annoyed as it's the first thing that's gone wrong engine-wise since it was born.

Shame Sorry I can't help, not the best time of the year to have trouble. (if any time of the year is a good time )

Cheers 50p! That's cars for you!

I reckon it's either a clogged up EGR that's affected the MAF or it's just the MAF.

I've unplugged the MAF and it behaves a bit better but still a bit laggy and underpowered.

Might take the EGR out at the weekend and give it a clean just for the hell of it.

Aye, TinyTim has advocated blocking off the EGR (but keeping the electric sensor connected) many times on here, if your going to clean it then it might be worth considering? Although it sounds well out of my league...

Mine, all the talk on here about EGR has never mentioned a fault coupled with a power steering noise.?

Any roads, good luck

Sorry to hear your having problems before christmas.


Maybe worth checking the air intake for vacuum leaks before purchasing a new MAF. (check the pipes between the engine and MAF)

If you have to change the MAF the good news is it should be an easy 20 minute job...

Disonnect the battery, loosen air hose and MAF jubilee clips, remove air box cover, disconnect MAF electic connector, remove MAF. (note there are interlocking blocks on MAF/hoses for a perfect fit).


Underneath the MAF you will find the part number (probably 'Bosch' 0281002618) and the date of manufacture.

GM (General Motors) used these on a few of their other diesel engines like Vauxhalls so are not unique.
Recommend replacing with a new, trusted, genuine Bosch item.

Got a brand new one for £51 of E-Bay a couple of months ago... bargain!!!.. was listed for a vauxhall but fitted it with no engine management lights, issues or ECU resets needed.

Sadly, probably cos of the time of year, can only see two on E-Bay at the mo.... £140 for Genuine Bosch, brand new. (searched with "0281002618" + tick the "item description").

Hope you get it easily sorted... keep us posted.

Thanks for that chumbamoo & 50p.

Car is in for MOT today and when speaking to the garage they were talking about blocking off the EGR as well.

Thanks for the info on the MAF sensors. Will look into it.

Ok just an update and to close this off. I got a replacement MAF and fitted it and the engine is now back to normal.

The engine light is still on but i'll get that cleared when I drop by the garage.

The part was a genuine used bosch MAF from eBay. So it's been taken out a car that's been broken down. £25.44 delivered and took around 1 minute to fit.

Job done!

Whilst that part was being shipped I took the MAF and EGR out and gave them a clean but that didn't make any difference, so was definitely MAF instead of EGR.

I actually now have an EGR blanking plate (my plan B) so when I get around to it I might have a play!

Hi cmm
Good to see you got it sorted. Cheaply too, always a bonus.

Great news.. well done for sorting it and thanks for posting the fix.

(too many threads never leave results once sorted to help other owners..... frustrating if you have the same problem!).


For any other Sedici or SX4, Multijet owners having similar problems....


We changed our MAF before the engine management light illuminated as a precaution after finding a cheap one on E-Bay.
After fitting and reconnecting the battery no trip to the dealer was needed to reset the light.

Looks like once the light is on it needs to be reset.



Would love to hear how you get on with the EGR blanking plate if you decide to fit it.


TinyTims advice makes sense but a thread mentioned it activated the engine management light and couldnt be reset??? Dont know if it was fitted incorrectly or if this is a side effect?


Anyone who doesnt know what the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve does...... (to my way of thinking) It sends about 20% of the burnt exhaust gasses back into the engine to be reburnt. The gases contain exhaust soot that can eventually clog up your EGR valve and cause poor engine running/economy.
Is this also why there needs to be so many regular oil changes???

There is also a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) fitted to the exhaust. These help to illiminate the black smoke commonly seen coming from diesels on heavy acceleration.
Have read these are a similar comparison to catalytic converters on modern petrol cars and will be a standard item on future diesels due to environmental issues!

Together, these are rumoured to clog up and restrict the engine and cost extra miles per gallon!!!

Anyhow..... hope the MOT went well.

if EGR valve blanking plate is fitted there is no need to reset management light but you MUST reconnect all the wiring.......
see my other posts re this and DPF's

Just an update, the car went into limp mode on boxing day and I broke down outside a FIAT garage! Diagnostic shows a few error codes including a wrecked DPF... so that'll be a cheap job!

So far I've ordered a new part from clickcarparts which was £430 (the official price from FIAT was £3000 which is hilarous!). FOr a few extra grand I could get a second sedici for spares!

Anyway, it's on it's way now, it'll get delivered next week then the other bits will get fixed, whatever the cause of the DPF failure is.

So all good fun! It's not like I need money for anything!

Oh dear, what a bummer... on the breakdown that is.

50p said:

Good to see you got it sorted. Cheaply too, always a bonus.

Click to expand...

Famous last words eh? I'll keep my mouth shut next time.

Hope the fix goes well.

Famous last words indeed! ...not that i'm placing any blame on you 50p....!

Will let you know what the damage is when it's all patched up.

Ok let's can this for good! And I mean 'can'!

So backstory is, broke down on boxing day outside Pewsham FIAT with the car low on low end power and then eventually low on all power.

Turned out to be a full DPF.

Got one delivered to the garage where I broke down for £430 from clickcarparts.co.uk. This site seems to be bloody good. Good communication by email, and a darn sight cheaper than the £3000 I was quoted by the FIAT garage.

New year came around, the part got delivered and the garage fitted it. They ran a diagnostic on the car, said it was all fine and I went to pick it up today. Total bill for diagnostic, fitting the DPF and a few bits and bobs of £298.28. (£255.86 of that was labour!).

Feeling slightly raped, I drove home and noticed that the low end power still wasn't there. Got it home and got on the internet. Decided to do a temporary block on the EGR valve, based on some American 'dude' talking about EGR valves on YouTube.

Cut up a Carlsberg can, loosened the EGR and the connecting pipe and slotted it in-between. Tightened up and gave it a test drive. Drove perfectly!

This all makes sense because if the EGR isn't closing properly, lots of crap will be going through the system and clogging the DPF at a faster rate than it can regenerate.

So it'll be a new EGR valve for me.... or maybe a more permanent EGR block. Haven't decided yet, feeling pretty poor at the moment.

So to my lessons learned...

1. Listen to TinyTim in the first place

2. Don't drive for over a week with an engine light on

3. Don't use main dealer garages, especially ones around the Pewsham area

4. Carlsberg don't do engines, but if they did, they'd be the best in the World.

I have put a steel plate to block off the EGR valve in 2011. The first thing I noticed was that the 'flat' spot at 1800 rpm has disappeared.

I agree that recycling your exhaust back into the engine is bound to cause long term reliability problems.

With the plate fitted I should never suffer from a stuck or blocked EGR valve in the future.

Yeah I noticed that as well. Runs absolutely beautifully!

My only worry is the EGR block off. It's currently blocked off with about 6 layers of aluminium from a can. I'm worried that exhaust heat would burn through it.

I have a 3mm piece of steel that would fit, but that extra 3mm means that the EGR and connecting pipes don't fit flush so I bailed on that idea.

Short of mascaraing a heat-proof kitchen tray i'm not sure what to do to put my mind at ease.

You can buy a blanking plate of EBAY for a fiver. Mine has worked without any problems.

i agree; aluminium will eat through quite quickly; stainless steel is best; I cut a piece from an old kitchen sink......

Carlsberg can!!! You're a GENIUS cmm.sedici.

It's recycling, environmentally friendly and tastes good too!!!


Anyone with a Sedici or SX4 able to recommend which blanking plate is best for the 1.9 diesel??? Really don't want to see the management light again.

Found three types available...

1. Solid 2mm aluminium from E-Bay. Rumours of possibly tripping ECU fault.
2. Aluminium with approx 10mm hole cut in to allow enough gases through without causing a fault. E-Bay.
3. Genuine Fiat upgrade plate. Think it's called a "swirling gasket"... has three smaller holes drilled into it to allow gases without causing a fault.


Any of these been tried and tested? Also.. did anyone need to seal their plates to get an air-tight seal?

Thanks for taking the time to reply. :worship:

I eventually stuck a 2mm aluminium plate on because I didn't want to risk the can breaking up. As it turned out, when i took it out it looked fine.

However, around 20 miles into running a blanking plate the Engine Management light did come on reading an EGR lack of flow fault (obviously).

I did experiment with a plate that had a hole in it, but noticed that even with a 5mm hole there was reduced performance due to the effects of the knackered EGR.

Anyway, i've got a new EGR arriving today (well, an eBay one from a Vauxhall Vectra) and will just go back to having a normal EGR setup.

Will hopefully be able to clear the Engine Management fault myself with the TORQUE app for Android (which, by the way is insanely cool!).