Diesel EGR problems

Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valves cause more

than their fair share of problems. Problems with the
EGR system, like so many vehicle problems, are often
caused by a lack of maintenance: diesel owners
typically expect high mileages and low maintenance
bills. Because owners expect their diesels to go for
huge mileages without much maintenance, they dont
pay much attention to their diesel engines until
something goes wrong. By then it may be too late.
Also, many diesel owners resent paying to have their
engines EGR valve replaced at a fairly early age (it can
be expensive). However, faulty EGR valves can
sometimes be fixed by simply cleaning them.
Moreover, many EGR problems can be avoided by
simply ensuring that the vehicle is maintained
regularly and gets a decent blat down a highway at
least once a month, with plenty of accelerating and
decelerating (pottering around town at low speeds is
especially bad for EGR valves).Many owners have tried
to remove the EGR assembly for this reason, but there
are lots of fishhooks in the process. The first one is
that the removal of the EGR assembly will confuse the
ECU and trigger a check engine light. There are,
however, proper removal kits for those who wish to
take this path. This removal kit has blanking plates for
the manifold, together with a custom computer chip
that fools the ECU into thinking that nothings
changed.There are lots of reasons for removing the
EGR, and lots of reasons for not removing the EGR.The
Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve is an antipollution device, aimed primarily at reducing the
amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) spewing out of the
vehicles exhaust pipe. The engine produces nitrogen
as part of the combustion process. As the
temperatures inside the engine increase, this nitrogen

and the oxygen in the engines combustion chamber

can chemically combine to form nitrogen oxides. NOx
reacts with sunlight to cause smog. Exhaust Gas
Recirculation works by recirculating a controlled
portion of an engines exhaust fumes back through
the engine. The EGR valve is the tap that turns the flow
of exhaust gases on and off, hopefully at appropriate
times.These recycled, carbon dioxide-rich exhaust
fumes cool the combustion chambers within the
engine. This cooling effect lowers the combustion
chamber temperature. These recycled exhaust fumes
also displace some of the oxygen that would otherwise
be drawn into the engine from the surrounding
atmosphere. Because the combustion chamber is
cooler and because theres less oxygen, less NOx is
produced.Also, because the combustion chambers are
cooler, the engine as a whole runs cooler. This is
particularly important to the engines turbocharger:
turbochargers (and the oil that they need for their
lubrication) dont last long if the engine is
overheating.Because the EGRs recycled exhaust gas
displaces some of the air within the combustion
chamber, the engines efficiency is reduced. For this
reason, the EGR system doesnt operate during times
of heavy acceleration. It also doesnt operate during
idle, because the presence of exhaust gases at idle
tends to cause uncontrollable rough running. EGR
systems operate primarily when the vehicle is cruising
under light load. Because there is less demand on the
engine when the vehicle is cruising under light load,
the engine can afford to temporarily lose some
capacity. Also, because of the cooling effect of the EGR
system, the engine can run cooler when the vehicle is
cruising under light load. Because the engine is cooler,
the engines lubricating oil is cooler as well. Cool oil
lasts longer and works better than oil that has been
continuously overheated. Therefore, the EGR system is
important for the cool running of the engine and also

in the protection of the engine oil from continuous

heat.In the real world, EGR valves often dont work
very well.What goes wrong is this: the exhaust gases
from the vehicles engine contain much more than just
carbon dioxide: they also contain dozens of chemical
by-products, left behind after the fuel was burnt
inside the engine. One of these by-products is a fine
dust, known as particulates. This dust is mostly
unburnt carbon fuel. The more efficiently the diesel
engine burns its fuel, the less carbon dust is
produced. However, no diesel engine works with
anything like complete efficiency and, over time, the
carbon dust inside the exhaust gases begins to clog
up the EGR system, reducing the movement of the EGR
valve. This clogged EGR valve causes the engine to run
badly due to an imbalance in the fuel/air mixture.
Because the engine is running badly, the fuel is not
being consumed efficiently. Because the fuel is not
being consumed efficiently, more carbon dust is
produced. Some of this carbon dust within the exhaust
gets recycled by the EGR system, clogging the EGR
valve still further. The more the EGR gets clogged, the
more carbon dust is produced. The more carbon dust
is produced, the more the EGR valve clogs. This
viscious circle continues until the EGR valve jams
completely open or closed.If the jammed EGR valve is
not repaired or replaced quickly, all sorts of problems
may occur. Four of the most common are rough
running, high fuel consumption, turbocharger failure
and, sometimes, total engine failure. Heres how it
works:When the engine is cruising, the EGR valve is
supposed to open to allow the carbon dioxide in the
exhaust to cool the combustion chamber. However, if
the EGR valve jams open, exhaust fumes are being fed
into the engine at all times. This can mean poor
acceleration and rough running, because the excess
exhaust fumes are depriving the engine of oxygen.
Because there is insufficient oxygen, theres too much

fuel, so the unburnt fuel starts spewing out of the

exhaust as black smoke, especially when the engine is
at idle. Fuel consumption is likely to rise substantially.
Also, due to a lack of oxygen (which is needed to
complete the combustion process), the engine
sometimes starts to misfire, sometimes seriously (this
misfiring may produce an unusual metallic rattle or
knocking when the engine is under load). If the engine
is left in this condition for too long, the engine life will
be shortened considerably. In the worst case this
problem may cause melted pistons and therefore
engine failure. The valves in the cylinder head may
also begin to stick due to being heavily coated with
carbon.However, other really nasty problems occur
when the EGR valve jams closed: without the cooling
effect of the exhaust gases, the engine starts to
overheat. Over time, this overheating causes the
engine oil that feeds the turbocharger to break down.
When the engine oil starts to break down, the bearings
in the turbocharger fail. When the bearings fail, the
turbocharger will fail, and replacement wont be
cheap. If the turbocharger is replaced without solving
the EGR problem, the next turbocharger will also fail
before too long.It gets worse: when the engine
overheats, more lubricating oil can enter the
combustion chamber and the engine can start running
on lubricating oil even if the diesel fuel supply is cut
off. The engine may then begin to run on its own
engine oil instead of diesel fuel. The driver may be
unable to switch off the engine except by stalling it.
Eventually, the engine sucks away all the lubricating oil
and the engine disintegrates.