2004 Ford Mondeo - EGR Valve - How Much?

Hammyman

BigDee2 wrote: »

Did you renew any gaskets? is it really necessary?

I called up a Ford dealership for these but they did not have them in stock.

Regards.

You don't need to renew any gaskets because they consist of a big rubber O ring and a small metal one on the TDCi.

loonyknownothing

BigDee2 wrote: »

Hi Loonyknownothing,

True, I don't know if my car's EGR valve is at fault but I'll clean it out first and see how it goes.

Did you renew any gaskets? is it really necessary?.

I Didnt Change Mine. It Shouldn't Matter But It Will Depend On The Condition Of The Gaskets. Mine Were Fine And In One Piece

Hope This Helps

Loony

BigDee2

Hi Hammyman,

I removed the EGR valve without any problems following your instructions.
The EGR valve was not as bad as whats shown in your picture but I gave it good cleanout anyway.
There wasn't so much sticky gunge there, mostly dry.

Some hints/notes/questions:

- with the EGR valve unmounted, I started the engine with the vaccum hose connected and had it revved up.
I was expecting to see some movement of the valve - there wasn't any.
Even after the cleanup of the EGR valve, I done this check again and saw no valve/piston movement.

- I used cotton buds around to clean the inside near the piston in the rectangular hole.

- I did not get round to cleaning the inlet manifold as I couldn't get the third electrical connector block off (the one near the engine head)

- the gaskets were re-used.

- the EGR valve was reconnected, engine started and revved. Still got a lot of smoke, so the cleanup of the EGR valve appears to have made no difference.

- I then tried something I saw on youtube - I blocked off the connection (where the metal gasket is) between the EGR valve and the EGR pipe.
A coke can was split open and I made a shape from the can material using the original metal gasket as a template.

- the EGR valve was installed again but this made no difference to the car smoking. Can I assume that the EGR valve is faulty?

- the temporary metal piece was removed and the EGR valve installed as it should be.

- What do you recommed as the next step?

- Something else I noticed, the car has been smoking for some months now but only after the cleanup and refit of the EGR valve today, the engine warning light has come on in the dash.

- Does this imply that I need to take it to a garage and get them to find check what the problem is on thier diagnostic machine?

- Any idea how much does this engine check and reset approx cost?

Thanks
Regards

BigDee2

Hi Loony, yup, didn't change the gaskets. Thanks for your advice.

BigDee2

An update to my previous post #24.....

When I checked my car after the EGR valve was cleaned, the car was still seen to be smoking but that was when my car was stationary. I did not take the car for a drive until a day later.

So....when I did take the car for a 20-30 mile run, I immediately noticed:-

- the pickup was quicker from stationary
- the engine was running much smoother
- the engine noise is much better. It kind of had a rough "clunking" sound. This has almost gone
- I have not noticed the excess smoke like before unless I of course I hit the accelerator hard on pickup. Even then, it's less than before
- I noticed that the trip computer is showing/calculating a higher mpg than before
- the enginer warning light has gone out :j

The only issue I have is that when I'm cruising at 60-70mph, I'm still getting some "hesitation".

- could this indicate a problem elsewhere?
- do the above observations imply that the EGR valve is working fine now?

Thanks.

Hammyman

Quite possibly. Is yours the TDCi? Assuming that its been regularly serviced and the fuel filter changed when applicable, check for split hoses between the turbocharger and the intercooler.

BigDee2

Yes, it's the 2.0 TDCi 130bhp.

It has been regularly serviced by a garage up until now.
In fact the service is due about now, so in a few days I'll be doing the service myself.
I'll change the fuel filter aswell and check the hoses.

Thanks.

BigDee2

OK. I carried out the service about 2 weeks changing the diesel fuel filter also.

Changing the fuel filter or cleaning the EGR valve has not solved the problem.

Having done a 100 mile motorway journey yesterday, I noticed a constant stream of smoke through my rear view mirror.
If I accelerate or deccelerate even even slowly, a get a massive puff of black smoke. If I'm using the cruise control at say 70mph, I still see the smoke, but as soon as I switch off the cruise control, I get a puff of smoke. This was more noticeable when I driving in the dark with the car behind with it's headlights on. Not pleasant to drive.

I have today looked at the pipe between the EGR valve and the intercooler and also the pipe between the intercooler and the turbo.
I could not see any splits. The car was put on axle stands, revved at ~3000rpm and I looked around for any obvious leaks. None that I could see.

The one thing I have noticed is that the area around the back of the headlight and washer bottle (near the EGR side of the engine), there is oil splattered in that area. It's probably been there for about as long as I've had this problem, as a guess.

Having done the basic checks, I'm now considering taking the Mondeo to a diesel specialist and get the engine diagnosed. Any advice here?

Regards.

Hammyman

I think thats probably the next port of call. You've about exhausted whats possible to do without specialist gear. There's companies mentioned on the former MEG forum who do recon injectors considerably cheaper than Ford.

BigDee2

Resolved !! :j

The Diesal Specialist located the problem. It was a split in the hose between the EGR valve and the intercooler.

The split was at the top of the hose near the jubilee clip, at the back. You could not see it from the front.

I've done about 300 miles now and the car goes like a dream - no black smoke, no hesitation, better fuel economy, engine sounds quieter and the pickup is better too.

Thanks to Hammyman, benham3160 & loonyknownothing for their help.

Regards.