EGR 401, again and again and again - surely this is a manufacturer fault

[Max Palmer]

So, I have a T6, 66 plate camper conversion (highline transporter). We love our conversion and the van, but I hate it's reliability - fault after fault. We've now done about 20,000 miles and the dreaded 401 exhaust gas recirculation flow: insufficient detected. fault has come up again. This is at least the third time we've had this fault since we first got the van. We've had it flushed several times, the sensor replaced, the valve replaced, the software fix applied - it's probably cost us on average £50 per month in faults in the years since we've owned the van, which is horrendous. (We've had sliding door issues, ABS sensor issues and replacements, DPF issues). I can't bear that we are about to go down this path again...

People have said we don't use the van enough (true but we've changed behaviour), we don't drive it on long drives (we do this), we don't put the right fuel in it, we don't rev the engine enough for a long period of time at >60 km/hr (we do this). It doesn't seem to matter what we do or how we change our behaviour this fault keeps coming back and it's expensive.

It feels to me like this is a manufacturer fault, reading the forums so many people get this issue and then so many others don't. I'm fed up with it. Has anyone successfully challenged this with VW? What else can we do to stop this happening again and again (I've read the DPF pinned thread)? Is a clean/flush a waste of money? Feels like every year we get another bill close to £1000. That's not fun and it's making us question ever getting a VW van again.

People say you get a warning light about DPF issues that can sometimes be cleared by attempting to force a regen. Can the same be said about the ERG issue and the related engine management system warning light? I guess the DPF and EGR systems are closely coupled.

Also, it's unclear from reading - do you get notice/warnings about regens being due? If so, where would this appear.

Finally, we're due to go away for a week in the van tomorrow. Should we cancel that plan or can we go ahead with this fault?

 

[Max Palmer]

Just phoned up independent VW garage - £1300 to replace the valve, £650 to clean, depending on what they find. Are these costs representative of what most reputable places would charge?

 

[Max Palmer]

Also, I cleared the warning light a month ago and it's taken probably 10 hours of driving before it's come on again. I wanted to see if this would come up straight away or be intermittent.

 

[Sackmycook]

First thing I would check is if your van is running the updated software version.....

 

[Sasquatch]

Sounds to me like there's a deeper more fundamental issue in there, and instead of treating the disease the spanner jocks are simply fixing the symptoms and declaring it a successful repair when it clearly isn't.

 

[Max Palmer]

@Sackmycook - is that something I can do with the Carrista and what's the minimum version I need to be running?

@Sasquatch - I agree, although that makes me think I've got big $$$ ahead - any thoughts on how to go about that or what might else be going on?

 

[Sackmycook]

It's a dealer download only I believe.

 

[Bigsidavies]

Get it coded out and blanked off. never worry about it again.

 

[Sasquatch]

@Sasquatch - I agree, although that makes me think I've got big $$$ ahead - any thoughts on how to go about that or what might else be going on?

It's a head scratcher. If a regular garage isn't getting you any further forward then perhaps try one of the vehicle emission specialists.

 

[jimc91]

I’d go on holiday, my mate’s been driving around with this fault for months- enjoy the holiday and deal with it when you get back

 

[Max Palmer]

I've decided to have a mega rant at VW about this. Anyone managed to do this successfully - would be good if I could achieve some remedy that won't cost the earth (ideally a dealing doing something under goodwill). Replacing / flushing an EGR valve 3 times within the first 20,000 miles is clearly not expected behaviour for a transporter. We're completely losing faith in our van and the brand.

 

[Alster]

Sounds to me that you have an underlying problem that isn’t being fixed- do you know the history of the van ( has it had a remap for example). I think I would try to find a good vw specialist and have a chat with them.

 

[Max Palmer]

Not been remapped. Was sourced by our campervan conversion company - was very low mileage when we got it (2,000 miles).

 

[JDC]

Just phoned up independent VW garage - £1300 to replace the valve, £650 to clean, depending on what they find. Are these costs representative of what most reputable places would charge?

That was roughly what we paid at VW Liverpool for a new EGR. They also done a software update as well.

 

[FerrisBFW]

I think its sort of normal modern diesel v Euro6 use and costs. I read lots of car stuff out there and there are lots of vehicles with DPF/EGR nightmares, and lots with no issues it seems. Retro Resus has been doing at least one BiTDI engine a week for years now. When I had mine done, they had four in total in for new engines/rebuilding. Was t5.1's now as many t6's

My last Mits L200 (57 Euro6) was costing a fortune on servicing, I never did more than 5k miles pa, and the servicing cost was always £850 plus and topped out at £1850 in the last year with less than 40k on the clock. I got shot and bought an old 5.1 Caravelle with a p00h engine. Fixed everything and blocked and mapped out the EGR. Maybe I should have done the DPF ...

I do believe 5k oil changes and keep a hawk-eye on the DPF is the only way forward for me. I would love a new van but am loathed to go get a whole bunch of issues alongside the additional bankloan debt to buy it.

 

[Spaghetti]

Just phoned up independent VW garage - £1300 to replace the valve, £650 to clean, depending on what they find. Are these costs representative of what most reputable places would charge?

I paid about £1100 a couple of years back, so £1300 is about right.