EGR Replacement or Not

[Haro]

Looking likely that the some part of my EGR system is going to need changing, now the emissions warning light is permanently on.
Since is a 2018 204ps CXEB engine, I'm paranoid that throwing away a large fee on the EGR is a waste, if the engine block is going to need changing.

Am I causing extra damage to the engine if the EGR value is blocked or not working?

A bit of background:
2018 204ps 4 Motion DSG.
CXEB engine.
Had from 6 months old.
Now cover 56,000 miles.

During nearly 6 years of ownership, it's always consumed oil, especially on long journeys with a loaded van. I even carry a bottle of oil in the door pocket, which I've had to do with all the 2.0L diesel VAG cars I've owned. Oil usage was mentioned to VW all the way through it's extended 4 year warranty period, with the normal bollox VW answer "its's well within the VW tolerance for that engine of 1L per 600 miles".

Once out of warranty, it's been serviced etc by a very good local independent VAG garage. Knowing the issues with these engines, we always mention the oil usage to them, but they never raised a concern, he had a good look round during the cam belt change last year, to see if he could see any other issues with oil leakages and changed the crank seal as it looked a bit damp.

So fast forward to 6 weeks ago, annual service, one of mechanics/owners mentioned that he'd cleared a load of intermittent faults logged in the ECU (EGR, Throttle Body, Barometric pressure sensor, etc), we'd not had any dash warning lights, so he said keep an eye on it. A week later the Emissions warning light came on, which they cleared only to come back on another week after that.

Knowing about the CXEB engine and EGR issues from this forum, I went back to discuss replacing the EGR etc, they said monitor the oil usage over the next few months, if it remains consistent, they would replace the EGR etc, if it was getting worse then it would need an engine block rebuild in the future (they are doing 1 a month at the moment), so I'd be wasting my money on a replacement EGR system, as if it had cylinder bore damage, it would knacker the new EGR anyway.

I've never monitored the oil usage, but since the last oil warning light & approx 1L top up, it's now done 1,100 miles and counting.

So back to my original question - What is being damaged by driving with Emissions warning light ON (except for possibly the environment)?

 

[Salty Spuds]

First thing I’d do is get a miller’s oil analysis done, £40 ish well spent. That should indicate the state of the block.

 

[Haro]

First thing I’d do is get a miller’s oil analysis done, £40 ish well spent. That should indicate the state of the block.

How do I go about doing that, in terms of extracting the oil and sending it off, thanks in advance

 

[DXX]

So back to my original question - What is being damaged by driving with Emissions warning light ON (except for possibly the environment)?

Environment - you are partially burning oil with the added emissions that with go with it, oil and re-gen’s.
Engine - sooting of EGR and induction system, clogging piston rings with carbon, forcing carbon along with blow by gases into the engine oil and crankcase, clogging DPF with soot, added re-generation and the risk of fuel dilution.

IMO don’t drive it until you have an investigation and repair carried out.

 

[Haro]

Environment - you are partially burning oil with the added emissions that with go with it, oil and re-gen’s.
Engine - sooting of EGR and induction system, clogging piston rings with carbon, forcing carbon along with blow by gases into the engine oil and crankcase, clogging DPF with soot, added re-generation and the risk of fuel dilution.

IMO don’t drive it until you have an investigation and repair carried out.

I suspected that, bothered me that the garage told me to carry on driving it.

 

[Salty Spuds]

How do I go about doing that, in terms of extracting the oil and sending it off, thanks in advance

Google is your friend

https://www.millersoils-shop.co.uk/oil-analysis-kit

 

[DXX]

You’ll also need a small syringe and 1.5m of clean plastic tubing that will fit the syringe and go down the dipstick tube.
The data you enter on the form must be accurate to get a valid and useful analysis.

 

[DXX]

I suspected that, bothered me that the garage told me to carry on driving it.

They don’t care, damaged engines generate income.

 

[Dellmassive]

Id pull the codes to see what we're talking about.

I'm assuming it will be "insufficient EGR flow" which will mean the EGR cooler is clogged.

And a normal thing to go on these engines for a 6years old van.

The part is circa £600 and around 4hrs labour, so ,£1k ISH... The new part should give You another 70k miles or six years.... So id say just get it replaced.

And yes driving with the emissions light on is not good..... As it may be preventing the DPF regens from happening..... Which may lead to a blocked DPF which is a whole new problem.

But you need to get it scanned as there may be a different problem.

Fyi - Blocked EGR cooler is a normal thing.... And needs replacing.


A leaking EGR (water to inlet or water oil) is the thing that can possibly cause engine wear/damage which is different..... So if.ypu are not loosing coolant then you should be good.

 

[DXX]

There is growing evidence that running with a DPF that is not re-generating correctly is causing turbocharger failure on CXEB engines.

 

[WinFreak]

There is growing evidence that running with a DPF that is not re-generating correctly is causing turbocharger failure on CXEB engines.

This is it, on mine the oil use was actually caused by the failing turbocharger which then clogged the already clogged dpf even more

I kept driving way too long with the regen happening every 50 or so miles and it using about a litre of oil every 1000 miles thinking the engine was toast and one day I'd get it into Retro Resus for a new one... until the turbo went and it all became clear the engine is actually fine just all the shit bolted onto it that's causing me grief.. and expensive bills!

 

[DaveCrampton]

Unsure of the right thread to post on, I have chosen here.

I elected to have a new EGR installed. It wasn't showing any (openly visible warnings) signs of any issues.

I'm planning on keeping my 2017 SE Shuttle 150 Transporter. I've used my local non dealer garage for everything these last 15 years and I trust the guy, heck he lives 4 doors down from me and takes the van away, does the work and returns it with an invoice a few days later.
I've had the van nearly 4 years and taken it from 83k to 119k miles.
Recently it had a few hiccups, like missing a beat on a roundabout. Not sure what it was, I thought it was just an oily patch but it did it again this time in the dry. Then recently it went bang but kept driving, just with an warning light on, the missus was driving at the time.
I called the garage and he said bring it straight down. A hose had blown off but he was concerned that it has oily water splashed over the engine.
So I booked it in for an elective. The garage suggested he take off the EGR amongst other things, and take a look. Later he said it looked like it may have had a flush in the past as some of the bolts had previously been removed with one lost and others put back in the wrong place. Long story short I had a new EGR valve put on as well as anything which may look like it would benefit the vehicle.
I wasn't cheap, but what is on these vehicles. ~£1275 eventually was the bill, but now I have the knowledge that it's new and should be trouble free for the foreseeable.
Yes some may scoff at what was my choice to replace even though it may have not required it but considering how much I have spent on this thing, it's not a lot for my piece of mind.
Other pricey things to compare against:-
Body shop making the dings and scratches disappear (It looks mint now) £1300
Tax for the first three years (of my ownership £650/year? (I forgot the exact amount - it was over £40k new so had the extra VED tax).
Fuel at ~10k per annum, varies but this is the biggest cost outside the initial purchase.
Insurance - £550 per year with Just Campers - I added a few things for camping.
MOT tyres etc, probably £500 per year including service etc...
As I said, I plan on keeping it, as now it's our only vehicle after the car became worth less than the MOT due, so I'm just banking on it not blowing up anytime soon and (fingers crossed) at least holding some of it's initial £20k purchase price.

 

[whodat]

Yes - can't do better than that.
If you look after it, hopefully it will look after you.
If you don't look after it, it definitely won't look after you. Driving a 1.5 to 2 tonne beast at 70mph, you want to know that you have done what you can to keep it safely on the road. Don't understand folk who 'take a chance' if the brakes aren't quite right or tyres are a bit bald etc etc. You know what I mean.
Good luck with it.