Finally happened – Error code P1206

The brief history:

Bought the car 5 years ago, oil change light on (previous owner had oil changed but didn't reset the oil change light). The local dealership changed the oil and found DPF was clogged so did a forced regeneration.

Running fine until......a few weeks ago....Engine failure light came on.

Took it to the local dealership, DPF clogged, unsure why it should be clogged but they did a forced regeneration.

Decided we needed to know more about the state of the DPF etc, so got a laptop, an ELM327 and a copy of Multiecuscan.

Running fine for next 600miles and it did a regeneration during that trip. Before the trip DPF was 97% clogged and on return was 67% (both Normal Clogging).

Then on the next journey (yesterday)....the dreaded Engine Failure reappeared.

Got the laptop, plugged it in and took the following screen grabs. 2 with just the ignition on and 2 with the engine running.

You guessed it, my questions are:

What's causing the problem?
Are there further tests should I do?

Any help very much appreciated.

Cheers

Ron

Been reading up on this P1206 and trying to work out what is causing the fault.

One thing I noticed in the parameters tab of Multiecuscan is that EGR valve only opens up to about 45% with the car stationary and revving the engine from tick-over to about 3000rpm.

Anyone got any idea if this is normal or is it that the EGR valve is sticking and it's opening is restricted?

Could this be something to do with the the P1206 error?

Cheers

Ron

Looks like an EGR issue to me. At idle my EGR is 3.998% and control is off. Have youtried the EGR cleaner? Remove the air filter and spray in as per the instructions. Also the DPF cleaner in the fuel should help clean up the clogging.

Thanks, I've read about these cleaners and additives...do they work.

There's a whole load of them (well, in Halfords there is!), which ones are recommended?

Cheers

Ron

Personally i have only ever used Wynns Diesel EGR Spray. Works for me.

Hi,

Thanks.

The sun was out yesterday so I thought I'd take off the egr to see how clogged up it was....I got so far but then came up against a 4 difficult to shift fixings on each end of the right angled corrugated pipe. 2 socket head bolts at the egr end and it looks like 2 M6 nuts on the manifold end. Doused them in WD40 but I'm reluctant to put too much force onto them, round over the socket or snap the M6.

Any suggestions on how to shift them much appreciated.

Cheers

Ron

i used a pair of universal spanners to shift mine as the cap heads were weak.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Multi-Function-Adjustable-Quick-SnapN-Grip-Universal-Pipe-Wrench-Spanner-Set-/381721426051

Ok, here's the update:

First of all checked the MAF....all looked clean and figures in MES looked about OK.

Next, pulled out the MAP sensor (just along from the EGR). It was covered in gunk....cleaned it up and put it back. Figures in MES looked OK.

Whilst pondering on how to undo the bolts which hold the EGR to the inlet manifold I decided to undo the four M5 bolts which secure the solenoid to the main body of the EGR.....yup, the void next to the solenoid plate and the EGR body (where you can see the return spring) was full up with soot. On closer inspection the valve/spring assembly was quite free moving but the solenoid pin was pretty much stuck fast.

Finally worked out what was going on with the bolts. Well, they looked like M6 nuts on an M6 stud. Looking at them a bit closer from where you could just see the bored through tapped hole in the manifold it turns out that they were M8s with a 10mm (across the flats) head and a short bit of M6 thread stuck on the top.

What's that all that about then?

Any rate, got the EGR off and over to the bench.

I read somewhere to clean up the metal work with oven cleaner.....did this, amazing stuff....might even try it on the oven.

The solenoid pin should run in and out freely with little pressure against the spring within....it didn't. Tested with 12v battery...it just groaned.

Found and did this, how to get into the solenoid and get it working again: https://www.fiatforum.com/croma-ii/201645-egr-valve.html

Reassembled.....all now working fine. Tested with MES actuator. My guess is that this happens a lot and really these EGRs should be serviced occasionally.

Car runs fine....time will tell if this was the cause of the P1206 error code!!

Cheers

Ron

Attached photos in wrongish order, can't see how to reorder.

Well, it's a few months on and fingers are still crossed.

The problem with this sort of occurrence is that it makes one keep an eye on things...possibly too much. For me this has been monitoring the DPF to the extreme and plotting a graph of DPF clogging against mileage.

Quite interesting (how sad!)

Here it is:

Cheers

Ron

Regen cycle looks about normal. My old 320D would regen between every 500-800 miles. That was with doing 22k a year.

Obviously keeping on top of things like regular oil changes (of the correct spec), clean EGR, and an intake with no boost leaks will ensure regens are kept to a minimum. A well maintained engine will ensure a happy DPF. One of the company fleet cars at work had nearly 200k on the clock, still on the original DPF and had no issues (was regularly serviced)

Agree, but the EGR isn't on the service list and to service it requires its removal...or does it?

Cheers

Ron

Poperon said:

Agree, but the EGR isn't on the service list and to service it requires its removal...or does it?

Cheers

Ron

Click to expand...

Generally, EGR's are not serviced as far as i know. They only get looked at if there's a problem.

Once the warranty period is up, keeping the EGR clean is as important as changing the oil IMO

My engine management light came on on my 2007 1.9 multijet when it was 9 years old 55k from new, it was the EGR valve sticking. I bought a new valve a tin of carburettor cleaner and a box of rubber gloves for £110. It took me 2 hours to strip out and replace but when I started the engine light still lit. After a drive into town to get it plugged into an analyst m/c the light went out on its own , it’s now at 66k with no problems.

I had a ton of problems on my 2006 1.9 multijet and they were solved the moment i did a full dpf and egr delete. No more carbon build up issues. I sprayed methanol into the intake manifold to clean up the carbon gunk crom before and my manifold inlet looks clean as a whistle now.

I'm a mechnic and DPF's on Doblo's are simply poorley designed. In truth the only way to fix these issues is to remove and delete!