My acceleration off the mark has been a bit weak for the past couple of weeks- little Fiestas and Puntos would beat me from the lights until I got a turbo woosh at around 2k revs. Couldn't stand it much longer!

Took the EGR off and it was fairly sooty but not to a ridiculous point. Cleaned it with carb cleaner nonetheless and put it back on- but not much difference.

Bought a replacement (non genuine) EGR valve for ~£35 and have just fitted it. She's back to her old self! It's a nice feeling to have great off the mark acceleration again.

A tip if you're replacing yours is to tie some fishing wire around the new gasket and a pipe near the EGR, so when you inevitably lose grip of it when fitting, it doesn't fall deep into your engine bay. You can then cut the wire and pull it out once you've put the first couple of bolts in.

I had mine replaced under warranty a few years ago and within 6 months its was shot again! I bought a blanking plate with small hole in and I've had years without even having to think about the letters E G R! Even passes MOT smoke test with flying colours however when I do boot it I leave a nice carbon cloud behind, the way I see it is there are millions of far more polluting cars on the roads so as longs I never have trouble with the silly valve I'm happy.

sismithin said:

I had mine replaced under warranty a few years ago and within 6 months its was shot again! I bought a blanking plate with small hole in and I've had years without even having to think about the letters E G R! Even passes MOT smoke test with flying colours however when I do boot it I leave a nice carbon cloud behind, the way I see it is there are millions of far more polluting cars on the roads so as longs I never have trouble with the silly valve I'm happy.

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Nice! It sounds like blanking the EGR is a very common thing- even in my Astra H ownership days it was up there in the top 5 most common mods. If this one goes after a few months, blanking it will definitely be on the to-do list haha

Looks like saying she was "back to her normal self" was a curse! I've now got really lumpy acceleration (until turbo kicks in at ~2k revs), as if it's going in to limp mode. I'm going to take the car for a test with the EGR disconnected and see if it's still lumpy (I'm thinking maybe the new EGR valve is no good?). If not, I'm thinking the MAF sensor may be busted.... but it'd be a weird coincidence for it to go wrong the day that I fit a new EGR valve!

Anyone got any ideas?

Lumpy acceleration didn't go away so I bought this EGR blanking plate from ebay (credit where credits due, ordered at 5pm last night and it was here when I arrived home from work today!)

Have fitted it and the lumpy acceleration has gone from what I can see. Feels much more responsive. Will drive a few more miles with it before making a final verdict but looks like it's fixed my problem.

dry said:

Lumpy acceleration didn't go away so I bought this EGR blanking plate from ebay (credit where credits due, ordered at 5pm last night and it was here when I arrived home from work today!)

Have fitted it and the lumpy acceleration has gone from what I can see. Feels much more responsive. Will drive a few more miles with it before making a final verdict but looks like it's fixed my problem.

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How is the verdict then?
Still running fine?

I have the 1.9 150 in my stilo - the EGR is disabled in the ECU but im unsure if they blanked it too... its one of things i need to get round to checking...

I may just blank it if its not been blanked as the ecu is reporting that its disabled (never shows enabled) when checking with MES, they might have done this when it was previously remapped so im unsure.

Also - from looking at it - i wouldn't say it has a blanking plate in there but then again - they are really thin sheets of metal so maybe its my eyes.

dtimmins1985 said:

How is the verdict then?
Still running fine?

I have the 1.9 150 in my stilo - the EGR is disabled in the ECU but im unsure if they blanked it too... its one of things i need to get round to checking...

I may just blank it if its not been blanked as the ecu is reporting that its disabled (never shows enabled) when checking with MES, they might have done this when it was previously remapped so im unsure.

Also - from looking at it - i wouldn't say it has a blanking plate in there but then again - they are really thin sheets of metal so maybe its my eyes.

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Sorry know it's been a while but looking through my old posts haha

Lumpyness totally gone. I do get the occasional EGR code logged on the ECU but clearing the code and cleaning the plate fixes it for another few months

For a few quid it's gotta be worth a try. Remember to get some fishing line to tie round it while installing otherwise you WILL drop it deep in your engine, guaranteed (and of course itll suddenly downpour and be UK's record windiest day no doubt)