EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

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aneesh84
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EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by aneesh84 »

I would like to know what kind of preventive maintenance should I do regarding the EGR valve and the maintaining clean injectors.

I have 2.0 110 HDI 1999 Xantia Estate. The car runs well as of now at 114 thousand miles. my 2 issues are

1. Should i be doing some regular cleaning of EGR valves? if yes how? spraying into air intake with WYNN's EGR cleaner?

2. Should I be using some injector cleaners like Forte's diesel injector cleaners? I usually drive 5 miles to work and back, so the engine usually is driven cold. Under such conditions i have measured fuel economy as 45 miles a gallon which i believe is not too bad. no smoke at idling. however i just want your opinion about preventive maintenance.
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Monkeyfeet »

Hi Aneesh. Re the egr - Is it black-smoking or running poorly yet? I'm guessing that at 45mpg and what you're saying about being preventative is simply that. I know someone who regularly cleans his egr with petrol but I'd recommend a proper cleaner before it gums up too badly and causes rough running. Spraying the air intake won't really do the job, the flow is from exhaust to intake through the egr.
As an alternative idea; My 407 used to chuck out a black cloud if I floored it but since fitting the egr blanking plate its fine. No alarms either. Up to you really.
As for injector cleaner there's always debate and comments about personal favourite brands on the forum.
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Stewart(oily) »

I have just removed the vacuum pipe from my EGR valve, It is in the closed position and does nothing, it also cannot fail in this position. I will fit a blanking plate if I ever have the manifold off.
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aneesh84
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by aneesh84 »

No black smoke at normal running, unless you floor it. I dont have any complaints with the car. Can you please explain me the procedure of cleaning the EGR valve. Also can you point me its location. If it has been discussed before, I would appreciate if you can post the url. I will attempt it this weekend. Any recommendations for the type of cleaner to buy for the job.

Removing the vaccume pipe is also an option. But isnt it true that the EGR helps in quicker heating and hence better economy if i mostly make short runs?

So you do believe it is good to pop in a bottle of injector cleaner into the diesel tank once in a while? I even heard that acetone helps, but cant trust it yet!
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isisalar
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by isisalar »

Hi Aneesh
I mistakenly posted something pretty relevant to this today, in the French car chat section, header refers to Shell V power diesel, which is a pretty good place to start with injector maintenance. Followed by a good Italian tune up.
All have their own favourite additives but the only one I have found effective is Slick 50 fuel sytem treatment, use in a slightly stronger concentration than recommended and if nothing else you will certainly notice a difference in performance while it's in.
Sounds like your HDI is running fine if your getting 45mpg on 5 mile runs.
Cheers
Paul
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by wheeler »

The best preventative maintenance to the EGR valve I'd to blank it off.
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Chlorate »

The EGR valve is just an emissions control feature. Exhaust is fed back into the intake to reduce combustion temperature, thus reduce the amount of nitrous oxides (NOx) in the exhaust.

Due to the aforementioned reduction in combustion temperature I would doubt that it would help heat the engine (I haven't noticed any change in mine). However I did notice an improvement in low-end performance and (dare I say) a small improvement in fuel economy when I disabled my EGR.

It's only fitted to the car because it was mandated in Europe at the time. In the UK the only thing the MOT emissions test on diesels checks for is smoke density (I think this is correct, anyone?) so blanking off your EGR will actually help!

I'm very much in the "disable the poxy thing, they're more trouble than they're worth" camp. However if you follow the vacuum hose down the back of the engine you'll see the actuator stuck on the exhaust manifold, hard to miss. I should imagine it's not too tricky to remove and clean.

Edit:
Oh I see you're in Portugal....
Check with local regulations then! You may still get away with it.
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aneesh84
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by aneesh84 »

[img]http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk%2Fforum%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ff%3D3%26t%3D27176&ei=hq-XUvb2I4qy0QWH_4HYBw&bvm=bv.57155469,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNGNmyVF9TBZ4YX0uFv8QYl25leZlg&ust=1385758981458079[/img]
Xantia Estate 1999 2.0 HDI 110
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aneesh84
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by aneesh84 »

aneesh84 wrote:Image
So I just need to take off pipe 1 to close the EGR valve?

How does it actually work? is there some kind of pneumatic supply from pipe 1 to activate the EGR valve?

then what are there 2 other valves between pipes 1 and 2 and between 3 and 4.
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Chlorate »

The best way I think is to remove the hoses from 2 and 3, remove the T connector and short piece of hose and connect the long hose back to the vacuum pump back to 1. This disables the EGR valve entirely since no vacuum is being supplied.

Those two electrical jobs are solenoid valves that open and shut to allow vacuum to the wastegate and EGR actuators.
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Peugeot 106 XN... stolen and destroyed by Kent Police :evil:
Northern_Mike

Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Northern_Mike »

It's a vacuum pipe. It sucks the valve open - no vacuum = shut valve. Pull the pipe off at the EGR valve end and stick a tight fitting screw in the end (of the pipe) and seal it in there with a bit of tape round the end then you can always put it back quickly should you need to.

I did this on my C5. I didn't like the way it drove or the small drop in economy so I put it back. If it's working, I'd simply leave it alone. It's very rare to hear if EGR problems on these engines.

I also did it on our 2.0 90bhp Siemens fuel system Berlingo. It ran better but threw up the EML after a while then went into limp mode, so I put it back to normal

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aneesh84
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by aneesh84 »

Northern_Mike wrote:
I did this on my C5. I didn't like the way it drove or the small drop in economy so I put it back. If it's working, I'd simply leave it alone. It's very rare to hear if EGR problems on these engines.
You mean disabling the EGR valve causes drop in economy? I thought it was the opposite.
Xantia Estate 1999 2.0 HDI 110
C5 2005 2.0 HDI 138
Nissan Leaf 2018 40Kwh
aneesh84
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Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by aneesh84 »

Chlorate wrote:
Those two electrical jobs are solenoid valves that open and shut to allow vacuum to the wastegate and EGR actuators.

Any idea why 2 solenoid valves are needed instead of 1?
Xantia Estate 1999 2.0 HDI 110
C5 2005 2.0 HDI 138
Nissan Leaf 2018 40Kwh
Northern_Mike

Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Northern_Mike »

aneesh84 wrote:
Chlorate wrote:
Those two electrical jobs are solenoid valves that open and shut to allow vacuum to the wastegate and EGR actuators.

Any idea why 2 solenoid valves are needed instead of 1?
One opens the turbo wastegate, one opens the EGR.

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Northern_Mike

Re: EGR Valve preventive maintenance + injector cleaners

Post by Northern_Mike »

aneesh84 wrote:
Northern_Mike wrote:
I did this on my C5. I didn't like the way it drove or the small drop in economy so I put it back. If it's working, I'd simply leave it alone. It's very rare to hear if EGR problems on these engines.
You mean disabling the EGR valve causes drop in economy? I thought it was the opposite.
In my experience, about a 5mpg drop.

These engines were designed to run with EGR. It's not a poor add-on like on the old XUD motors.

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