Cleaning EGR Valve
Discussion
My 2.0D BMW X1 is only just over 2 years old and recently had a little episode related to the EGR system. Car lost power, ground to a halt and stopped. It then restarted and drove normally but I took it in for the dealer to look at. Turns out there was an EGR fault recorded in the ECU. They were a touch vague on what work they did, but I think they just cleaned out the EGR valve and sent me on my way.
My concern now is that it's really only a matter of time before this happens again. Am I right to think that?
If that's right, can I prevent this by doing a routine clean (or anything else)? Having never owned a diesel before I don't even know what the EGR valve looks like, where it is or how to clean it so any help would be appreciated.
I can't disconnect the EGR as the car is still under warranty and I need to keep up the service history and good will should the cam chain decide to give up the ghost.
My concern now is that it's really only a matter of time before this happens again. Am I right to think that?
If that's right, can I prevent this by doing a routine clean (or anything else)? Having never owned a diesel before I don't even know what the EGR valve looks like, where it is or how to clean it so any help would be appreciated.
I can't disconnect the EGR as the car is still under warranty and I need to keep up the service history and good will should the cam chain decide to give up the ghost.
Heaveho said:
The best way to keep it clean is to thrash it regularly for extended periods of time if possible.......I run a Ford Connect, which potentially could present me with the same problem you've experienced, but fortunately it gets regular heavy right foot treatment from Newcastle to Southampton and back.
The benefits of this were recently shown when it was given a free terra clean by a mate who has the machine, very little soot from the back during the process. You could have this done to yours maybe once a year if caning it regularly isn't an option?
I can't be sure what benefits to the egr there might be, but I tend to run the van on high quality fuel such as BP ultimate or Shell nitro diesel, it's obviously more expensive to fill up, but it goes significantly further on a full tank compared to supermarket stuff.
Whilst it doesn't do really short journeys, they are mostly urban so that won't help. However it will usually have a decent motorway run once a week. The EGR fault occurred the week after a 1200 mile return trip to Le Mans, which I thought would have been enough...The benefits of this were recently shown when it was given a free terra clean by a mate who has the machine, very little soot from the back during the process. You could have this done to yours maybe once a year if caning it regularly isn't an option?
I can't be sure what benefits to the egr there might be, but I tend to run the van on high quality fuel such as BP ultimate or Shell nitro diesel, it's obviously more expensive to fill up, but it goes significantly further on a full tank compared to supermarket stuff.
Fuel might not help, more often than not it's supermarket, I'll change to a brand station. I've just bought some Millers Eco Max additive to try too.
stevemiller said:
Have a look here not a BMW but still a M47 engine -http://tuning-diesels.com/75Zt/R75serv.htm
I carried it out and it was worth doing!
Cheers , that's helpful. Looking at the pics from that website, I'd be concerned about at equal amount of crap everywhere down stream of the EGR valve. Is the inlet manifold likely to collect just as much soot?I carried it out and it was worth doing!
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