egr valve

[franko]

What are the benefits of cleaning out the egr valve as mines never been done 06 reg

[jonnyaykroyd]

That depends on how the accumulation of soot in the valve and the possible corrosion in the solenoid affects the car in time. too much soot can block gas flow which will put on the engine management light, cause increased nox emissions but otherwise the driveabilty of the car will not be affected. this would be an mot failure though because the management light is on. if the blockage of the valve or corrosion in the solenoid causes the valve to stick open then you will have either a total loss of power of maybe a bit of turbo lag depending on the degree to which the valve is not sealing closed when its supposed to be closed.

Cleaning it should keep it operational but use intake cleaner, not something like break cleaner that will only cause soot to cling more.

Im on my second round of problems with egr. I've unplugged it until i have time to get it mapped out. car drives great without it and my relatively new intake manifold is not getting gunked up with soot.

Imo the benefits of egr (lower nox, lower combustion temps) are not worth the hassle that contamination of the intake causes.

[franko]

Cheers mate so why are so many people blocking them of I thought it was to get a phew more horses

[DieselWig]

Blanking the EGR valve completely prevents exhaust gases from being recirculated. Recirculated air is relatively warm and dirty and hence is less ideal for power during combustion - it does however mean that unburnt fuel has a second chance to be burnt and so emissions are improved....when the EGR is working.
However, the EGR valve due to its task, gets clogged up with soot and stops functioning properly. It will often get stuck open, allowing excessive exhaust gas to mix with the clean intake air and poor performance and consumption can be the result.
In short, either keep it clean by regularly de-sooting it, unplug it or blank it. Note that the latter two options will fail the MOT unless you undo the mod and get the emissions light reset (either through OPCOM/Tech2 or by many (30?) engine re-starts).
So, in summary, at least clean your EGR for better performance and potentially better economy!