Leaking EGR Valve

fred246

I have got an eleven year old VW ASZ 130PS engine which has covered 125000 miles. Serviced regularly. Working fine, no warning lights. However the EGR valve is leaking an oily fluid and it's getting quite messy. I have disconnected the valve and it's not blocked with carbon. I can get a new Wahler valve for just under £120. Should I change it or just forget about the leak?

Strider590

I'm unsure as to what the leak is, my guess is crankcase ventilation, oil vapour. Some people seem to think it's oil in the actual EGR.

In addressing the former, excessive crankcase oil vapour is typically the result of old or poor quality engine oil.

CHR15

I think crank case breather too.
egr valves do not create oily gunk so fitting a new one will simply fill up with oily gunk.
it's the source of the oily gunk you need to find.
egr valves do need regular cleaning though, if the diaphragm works the egr should be fine

Iceweasel

There is always going to be oily fumes in the pipes coming from the turbo through the intercooler and arriving at / passing through the EGR body - that's normal.

Check the Crankcase breather as if that is kaput then extra oil is likely to be in the pipes.

The problem is then that the oil is leaking out somewhere/somehow.

Have you checked that all the hose clips are secure and that there are no splits in the hose pipes near the EGR.

EGRs need periodic cleaning as soot-laden gases from the exhaust mix with the oil-laden air from the turbo and form a syrupy, sticky goo.

The whole concept of an EGR is poor add-on engineering which does nothing at all for the car's performance - but is a sop to the environmentalists and pollution reducing regulations.

forgotmyname

Its a mix of oil vapour and soot from the exhaust.

Over time it sticks to the inside of the EGR valve and can clog it up, The fact the
gunk is escaping is a bad sign. It also means that your boost pressure or exhaust gas is also escaping from the same joint.

Sometimes it's the seals between the EGR and the manifold sometimes its the rubber pipe thats starting to perish.

fred246

I turned the engine on with the oil filler cap removed. The cap danced around quite a bit. I squeezed on the breather pipe going from the valve on the camshaft cover to the air intake. This made no difference to the dancing. I removed the breather pipe. No gas was coming from it. Then there was a hiss and gas came out in short burts every 40 seconds or so. The valve seems to be acting like a safety pressure relief valve. Does it need a new positive crankcase ventilation valve? Is that part of the camshaft cover or a separate item? Thanks for the help.

fred246

Do I need a Mann Provent or another oil catch can? Has anyone got any experience of these?

arcon5

Iceweasel wrote: »

There is always going to be oily fumes in the pipes coming from the turbo through the intercooler and arriving at / passing through the EGR body - that's normal.

I'm not sure you understand how EGR works.

Exhaust gasses pass from the exhaust manifold or block at the manifold to a valve, when open allowing exhaust gasses back to the inlet.

Air doesn't pass from the turbo to intercooler to EGR valve at all.

arcon5

Op, do you regularly have to top up the oil?

fred246

No I change the oil every 8000 miles. Probably top it up once or twice in that time, just to keep the levels up. If I filled it to max it wouldn't be below min after 8000 miles. The car is running fine it's more of a cosmetic problem. Not sure whether just to leave it or try to do something.

forgotmyname

arcon5 wrote: »

I'm not sure you understand how EGR works.

Exhaust gasses pass from the exhaust manifold or block at the manifold to a valve, when open allowing exhaust gasses back to the inlet.

Air doesn't pass from the turbo to intercooler to EGR valve at all.

It does on my car and most others, Airfilter to turbo inlet, Turbo outlet to the intercooler, intercooler to the EGR, EGR to the inlet manifold.

The exhaust manifold feeds gas/soot back to the EGR to enter the inlet manifold. That gas can be quite sooty and mixed with a tiny bit of oil that escapes the turbo seals will create a sticky mess.