I deliberately detached my swirl flaps from the actuator and fixed them in the open position. The improvement on mine (2.4) was quite significant.
The first thing you need to do is see if they still open or close freely by hand and all move together. If not, are they stuck open or closed, or somewhere in between? I don't know how difficult it is to remove the inlet manifold on the 1.9, but the 2.4 is a nightmare!
If they move freely, then I suggest that you fix them in the fully open (anti-clockwise) position and see how it runs with them like that.

They seem to move fairly easily. I can see why swirl valves are a good idea (if properly implemented) so I'd prefer to get them working again to fixing them in the open position. Having said that, these are obviously not properly implemented or the linkage wouldn't have fallen off and I would rather fix them in the open position than spend £££ on a new inlet manifold.

When fixing them in the open position, how did you get round the fact that the one on cylinder 3 is driven by a motor underneath?

Do you find your fuel economy affected at all by having the valves fixed open?

I assumed that when you said the link bar was detached, that you meant the one from the actuator. Did you mean one of the linkages on top of the flaps, so that all four don't turn in unison?
I just disconnected the bar that goes from the actuator to no 3 flap.
I haven't noticed any difference in economy either way, but the low down pick up is much better and a whole lot smoother.

halilson said:

I assumed that when you said the link bar was detached, that you meant the one from the actuator. Did you mean one of the linkages on top of the flaps, so that all four don't turn in unison?
I just disconnected the bar that goes from the actuator to no 3 flap.
I haven't noticed any difference in economy either way, but the low down pick up is much better and a whole lot smoother.

Click to expand...

Another part that the car seems perfectly happy to do without

It's the linkage that connects the top of all four valves that's come detached. It's just lying there not connected to any of them. I suppose that means that cylinder 3 is the only one with a functional flap...

There's your problem then! The other 3 are probably moving at will, giving the lumpy running that you describe. If they all move freely then you might get away with just refitting the linkage, but if no. 3 moves freely as well then it sounds like the actuator linkage has also come off.

BrianMcL said:

Another part that the car seems perfectly happy to do without

Click to expand...

Mine has been remapped, DPF removed, EGR blanked off and swirl flaps disconnected.......and it's never run so well! Plus it flew through the MOT

halilson said:

Mine has been remapped, DPF removed, EGR blanked off and swirl flaps disconnected.......and it's never run so well! Plus it flew through the MOT

Click to expand...

Hadn't thought about the dpf being removed but that's a seriously expensive item to be able to do without. Was the engine remap needed to remove the warning lights?

The reason that I removed it was because I was getting a turbo pressure fault which I put down to a blocked DPF. Once it was removed the Turbo fault disappeared. You have to have it remapped from the ECU as it won't run properly and, as you pointed out, the dash will light up like a christmas tree!
I figured that the cost of the remap was similar to a new DPF but was a permanent fix.

halilson said:

The reason that I removed it was because I was getting a turbo pressure fault which I put down to a blocked DPF. Once it was removed the Turbo fault disappeared. You have to have it remapped from the ECU as it won't run properly and, as you pointed out, the dash will light up like a christmas tree!
I figured that the cost of the remap was similar to a new DPF but was a permanent fix.

Click to expand...

Probably a lot cheaper than a new dpf and no more fuel spent on regen cycles

Did you get the engine performance boosted while you were at it?

I thought that it would be rude not to

Rude indeed

Did it make much of a difference?

To be honest I can't compare before and after because it used to go into safe mode (when pushed hard) prior to the remapping. It is very quick when I want it to be, but it should be as standard with all that torque available.
One thing I can confirm is that the fuel economy definitely improved from low 40's on a run to high 40's. I did over 500 miles to Nottingham and back without refilling!!

halilson said:

There's your problem then! The other 3 are probably moving at will, giving the lumpy running that you describe. If they all move freely then you might get away with just refitting the linkage, but if no. 3 moves freely as well then it sounds like the actuator linkage has also come off.

Click to expand...

Number 3 is still attached and the others move quite freely - possibly too freely - there's a bit of slack in the bearings. I've managed to get the top linkage back on. It took me ages - I couldn't find any kind of pliers that would grip it properly down that gap so made a clamp thing to hold it with out of a length of steel pipe. The linkage was too worn to stay on at first so I cut some washers out of neoprene sheet (that I just happened to have lying around ) and glued them to each of the little sockets to hold it there - I believe other people have done this with B&Q rubber washers - I made them a bit bigger diameter than the sockets so that it helps the linkage not to tip over. Hopefully they'll keep some of the dirt out of the ball joints too. It's stayed on for 20 minutes while I took it for a spin and seems to be working. The car is pulling more progressively now and is more drivable, but that "misfire" / hesitancy is still there . It's only when under light load with the MAF sensor connected, as if the engine is thinking "I can't be bothered to put any fuel in that cylinder just now".

Is it possible that the engine has "learned" some bad habits while attempting to cope with randomly twirling swirl flaps and needs to be reset or doesn't it work that way? ...and if so, how do you reset it?

It is a 'learning' ECU plus the chambers are probably full of crap now. Stick some BG244 cleaner in your fuel and run it for a few days. Hopefully that will sort it out.