Technical Engine light on and less perfomance

[philtomos]

Hi All,

Driving home yesterday and noticed the engine light came on and the performance and dropped a bit. I looked in the handbook and it says

"If the warning light stays on or turns on when travelling, means a fault in the supply/ignition system which could cause high emissions at the exhaust, possible lack of performance, poor handling and high consumption levels."

"In these conditions it is possible to continue driving without however requiring heavy effort or high speed from the engine. In any case, contact Fiat Dealership as soon as possible."

The performance is a bit less but not massively I been looking on the web and people are talking about EGR Valve

Hope someboday could point me in the right direction

Thanks in advance

 

[s130]

Ideally you need to have the ecu fault code(s) read. Fault codes are NOT the total & definitive story/diagnosis but they give a guide to which in most cases one has to apply basic additional human diagnostic techniques and experience.

EGR issues are fairly common and if your symptoms are as you say then EGR is a possibility but not a certainty. You could take a flyer and have the EGR valve looked at but personally I would want additional diagnostic information.

 

[Doofer]

All good advice, but if you're in a hurry and don't have access to any means of reading the code then it's not a big deal to have a look at the EGR valve. I'd say it's the number one suspect from what you've described.

If it's stiff or jammed then it needs replacing. It should only be sooty in one half. If the rubber grommet around the sliding shaft has gone then the soot gets into the other half and jams it. It's pretty pointless cleaning it out once the seal has gone, as it will only jam again. Sadly I don't think there's a way of replacing the seal so it has to be a new EGR valve.

It's a pretty straightforward DIY job though.

 

[BrianMcL]

Hi Phil,
The pretty much standard advice is to unplug the mass airflow sensor first to see if that fixes the lack of power problem.

If not get a reasonably decent thickness piece of tin (I've used exhaust bandage in the past) and cut it to the shape of the egr gasket using tin snips. Drill holes in it for the bolts to go through
but leave the middle bit solid so no air gets into the egr itself. See if that fixes the power problem.
If it does you'll need a new egr - readily available online these days and an easy diy fit.

Also, definitely download the latest version of multiecuscan and buy a VAG KKR cable as it'll tell you a lot about the car and how it's been looked after. Amongst other things you can use it to read and clear fault codes.

Can you post back and let us know how you get on please?