If you have a diesel, there are two ways to get rid of the unloved EGR. Blank it - which on the Multijet is a real pain, or keep it closed electronically. I’ve done the latter, and here is how I did it.

I am not the originator of this idea. It has been around for years. I first used it on a Merc 5 cylinder diesel, then on my present Merc which has now clocked over 150k miles, and recenty on my Panda Multijet. I’ve modified the circuitry, and the results may not be the slickest because I am no auto-electric whizkid, but they are simple enough and work faultlessly.

Before you read on, here is my disclaimer. If you do this it’s entirely at your own risk and I am not responsible if you mess up or if it doesn’t work on your vehicle.

The cost is peanuts - all the components can be bought for less than a fiver total - and it can all be done with clean hands and easy access under the bonnet.
The mod involves making up a small circuit (see diagram and photos) and wiring it into the Maf/Egr loop. Its purpose is to fool the ECU into believing the EGR is working when in fact it stays shut and out of use.



HOW TO:

THE CIRCUIT.
Look at the diagram and make up the circuit by soldering all the components together as shown. It looks complicated at first sight, but in fact it is very easy with a bit of patience. Make sure the transistor is wired the right way round, and the diode also. The circuit will not work if either are incorrectly wired. R1, R2 and R3 refer to the resistor values listed below.

You will need:
2.7k ohms resistor.
22k ohms resistor.
BC337 NPN Transistor.
Diode.
Option on some EGR’s only - not needed for 1.3 Multi, which is why it’s a dotted line on the diagram - 643 ohms resistor (in practice there is no 643 ohm resistor, so soldering, say, 560 and 82 ohm resistors together in series does the job).
You can get these components from Maplins or from Bright Components on Ebay.

I made my Merc one to fit into a discarded credit card holder. The Fiat one I just heat-shrunk together once I’d soldered it up. See photos.

MAF.



Wire No 4 is spliced into the wire attached to the end pin of the MAF plug (furthest away from the cable on the plugtop). Double-check that you have the right wire by running the engine and measuring the voltage at the pin with a multimeter. It should read around 1.8 - 2.2 volts at idle. This is the signal wire. It’s easier to do this if you pull the plug off the MAF then unsnap the top of the plug, which will expose the five wires of the MAF. I didn’t wire directly into the plug, but cut the wire further down the harness and used an inline crimp connector to piggyback. My wire was brown, but always check as above. Reconnect the MAF plug once this is done, because the MAF signal is always needed.

EGR.



Unplug the EGR. The plug on the harness will have two rows of three pins. The top row is unused, leaving you just the lower three pins to choose from. Check the voltage on each. One should read 12 volts, another 0 volts and the third, which is the pwm signal (pulse width modulation) will vary, but should hover around 3 volts. Follow the diagram and connect Wire No 1 to 12volt, Wire No 2 to pwm, by splicing into the harness.

LEAVE THE EGR UNPLUGGED - it is no longer operational and will remain closed.

It really is that simple. Fire up and test. Enjoy the results.




A few pointers:

Pull the EGR plug and check the wiring BEFORE starting to make the mod. This is where the dotted line comes in on the diagram. Some EGR’s have only two wires, so Wire No 3 would not be used. If the EGR has only two wires, then forget Wire No 3 and its resistors. This wire will not be needed.

Study the photos - they will help.

Weatherproof all wires and the exposed EGR connection.

Cable tie everything so that your mod does not flap about as you drive.

Hope this is useful to you diesel owners.

Cool stuff....I'm gonna get me electronics hat on and do some investigating. Thanks!

Prontissimo said:

Cool stuff....I'm gonna get me electronics hat on and do some investigating. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Hope it works for you.

I know the circuit looks a bit complicated (at least, to me it does because I'm no auto electrician) but it all goes into the heat-shrink tube shown in the photos. If I'd taken the trouble, I could have hidden it in the standard plastic sheathing just like Fiat use (eBay purchase) and no-one would ever know it was there.

And does this impact on MOT/emissions? I guess not if your vehicle as been through MOTs.

Prontissimo said:

And does this impact on MOT/emissions? I guess not if your vehicle as been through MOTs.

Click to expand...

My Panda hasn't been through an Mot since I did this mod, but both my other cars have, and on one the tester remarked how low the smoke readings were.

I've got no Mot worries at all with the Panda - from my experience it'll sail through the emissions test.

This is what the mod looks like before fitting. Not much to look at is it?



And here's the whole kit, fitted:

So does this mod give much more mpg mph/throttle response?Thanks

ytareh said:

So does this mod give much more mpg mph/throttle response?Thanks

Click to expand...

Anyone who's blanked off their EGR will know that performance is improved and economy is better. Although this EGR Delete mod is really intended as a 'peace of mind' mod - clean air through the engine without the egr sucking volumes of dirty half-combusted products back through the combustion chambers - it also makes for an engine with longer life. No EGR problems ever, because it stays closed all the time.

But the add-ons are good. The turbo spins up a little easier giving more punch, and this allows a lighter right foot for the same acceleration. More economy, better performance and a cleaner motor.

We've all got our favourite 'test hill'. There's one particular hill near me that I previously had to drop down to second to get up quickly. Now I notice that I can get up it in third with the engine pulling just right.

sorry to bring up and old thread, but has anyone tried this?

does it work?

my Engine warning light keeps coming on because of the EGR and im thinking this may save the hassle of replacing it?

Hi,
I don't know if this circuit works, but deleting emissions control equipment (CAT, DPF, EGR) makes the car illegal to drive on the road in most countries including the UK. The MOT was changed nearly two years ago to inculde a check of emissions control equipment, but last time I looked the testers handbook had not been updated so it's hard to know how far the tester will investigate. It's also an insurance catch 22 as you can't tell them you have done it, as it's not road legal, so technically they could cancel your insurance if they found out following a claim.
Swirl / restrictor plates are a good compromise. They aid mixing of the gasses.
Robert G8RPI.

Speaking just from my own experience, I can say this:

On both my cars with this mod (slightly different from one to the other because of differing basic circuitry) the EGR is disconnected - that is, I have permanently unplugged it, so it does not operate at all. It stays closed and inoperative all the time. I have been running one of the cars like this for several years now, with straightforward Mot passes, and one tester remarking how clean the exhaust readings were.

It's not a new mod - go over to other forums and you'll find guys who have done something similar to their own vehicles.

Fitting blanking plates with holes in them is not the same thing. The holes allow a considerable amount of exhaust products back into the combustion chambers, and are only put there to try and stop the ECU throwing a fault code. Kinda defeats the object of the exercise really.

You pays your money ....

Sweetsixteen said:

Fitting blanking plates with holes in them is not the same thing. The holes allow a considerable amount of exhaust products back into the combustion chambers, and are only put there to try and stop the ECU throwing a fault code. Kinda defeats the object of the exercise really.
You pays your money ....

Click to expand...

Hi,
The purpose of swirl / restrictor plates is not to reduce the amount of exhaust gas recirculated, it's to improve the mixing of the exhaust gas and inlet charge. likewise EGR is not to reduce particulates, it is to reduce oxides of nitrogen which are not currently tested on the MOT.

g8rpi said:

Hi,
The purpose of swirl / restrictor plates is not to reduce the amount of exhaust gas recirculated, it's to improve the mixing of the exhaust gas and inlet charge. likewise EGR is not to reduce particulates, it is to reduce oxides of nitrogen which are not currently tested on the MOT.

Click to expand...

Looks like a bit of confusion here.

Swirl flaps and egr valves are two different animals. Swirl flaps help create turbulence in the inlet manifold which is supposedly beneficial in mixing the air and fuel at low engine speeds. They are usually governed by the ecu via a motor with rods and linkages. They do not mix combustion air and exhaust gases. Some guys - including me - choose to remove swirl flaps completely because they create troubles of their own as mileage increases. They are not interconnected with the egr valve setup.

The egr valve is a separate arrangement that mixes exhaust combustion products with the incoming 'clean' fuel/air, via a weep line from the exhaust tract to the inlet tract. Its purpose is to reduce NOx. When everything is new the system works, but as an engine ages the egr gets clogged and eventually fails. 'Dirty' exhaust products that are recycled through the combustion chambers via the egr system also reduce engine life, causing increased wear over a number of components, add complexity, throw fault codes, require periodic expensive replacement and increase the rate at which the exhaust system, including cats and dpf's fail.

Sweetsixteen said:

Looks like a bit of confusion here.

Swirl flaps and egr valves are two different animals. Swirl flaps help the mixing of the air and fuel in the inlet manifold by creating turbulence for this purpose, which is supposedly helpful at low engine speeds. They are usually governed by the ecu via a motor with rods and linkages. They do not mix combustion air and exhaust gases. Some guys - including me - choose to remove swirl flaps completely because they create troubles of their own as mileage increases. They are not interconnected with the egr valve setup.

The egr valve is an arrangement that mixes exhaust combustion products with the incoming 'clean' fuel/air, via a weep line from the exhaust tract to the inlet tract. Its purpose is to reduce NOx. When everything is new the system works, but as an engine ages the egr gets clogged and eventually fails. 'Dirty' exhaust products that are recycled through the combustion chambers reduce engine life, causing increased wear over a number of components, add complexity, throw fault codes, require periodic expensive replacement and increase the rate at which the exhaust system, including cats and dpf's fail.

Click to expand...

No confusion by me. I'm talking about a metal plate with multiple holes in it that fits between the EGR and the inlet manifold. Nothing to do with swirl flaps. The plates are also known as restrictors, but the function is to increase the velocity of the exhaust gas, create turbulence and promote mixing of exhaust and inlet gases. As the emissions control system opens the EGR valve enough to give the correct circulation, the plate has the added advantage of causing the valve to open further which reduces the chances of it sticking.
The comment about recirculating exhaust causing exhaust, CATs and DPFs to fail at an increased rate is clearly wrong, the gas will go down the exhaust anyway, re-burning it actully makes it cleaner and less damaging.

Enjoy your comments g8rpi.
Not worth disagreeing about.
Each to his own ...

All wired in and fitted as instructed - engine warning light on - Code reads EGR malfunction.

I rechecked all wiring and direction of components and all is as instructed.

Please advise.

fitting on a 2005 1.3 multijet

Need to think about that, because as I said at the beginning, I'm no electronics wizzkid, and the original idea for this mod isn't mine.

Obviously you've checked the circuit and its installation, and are happy with it, so the problem presumable lies elsewhere.
Even though your mil light is on, presumably the engine starts and runs with no obvious hiccups? If it does, with the egr valve unplugged, then at least it proves that you can run without the egr, which is the purpose of the mod.

Does a multimeter give readings that prove continuity and show the correct resistances?

What I don't know is if Fiat modified the ecu parameters during the life of the 169 Panda. Mine's a 2009 and it works with no obvious problems, but I have no way of making a comparison with other 169's.
If you clear the code, does it return?
It is possible that an adjustment in one of the resistance values will sort the engine light out. I adapted the circuit from one I've made up for my diesel Merc, which also runs without throwing codes.

all seems to read as you said.
Engine light comes back on after a while even when all codes cleared.

Hi, I'm newbe.
Thanks for scheme, but there is one mistake. The Diode should be fitted in opposite direction. In Your scheme diode blocks signal from EGR to MAF.
That is whay Viper Panda has "check engine".
I did a circuite in my way and it works exellent.
In MAF plug you should plug into blue line (pin 5).
Thank you for your advice.

Bogo, it looks like you're right. Thanks Pal. I've been puzzling over this for a while, and the solution turns out to be a simple one.
I'll now make another with a reversed diode and test it.

Far simpler than blanking off the egr on the 1.3 engine, and more easily reversed if needed.

crap, iv just had my egr changed, and the engine light still comes on and code reads egr fault.

i shall turn the diode around and reattached the circuit and see if that works.

im wondering if the inlet pipe is blocked causing the engine warning light and flagging and egr fault?