Focus 2005 Mk2 1.8Tdci With Egr Valve Fault!

[lucky162k]

Hello to you focus enthusiasts,

After owning a focus for over two years I can't classify myself as enthusiast anymore, more like frustrated of owning a money burner!

Anyway basically got an EGR intermittent fault on the car and is making the car run rough at times! Plugged it in with my scanner and showed Exhaust Gas Recirculation Sensor Circuit Low and took it to the main dealer to check and verify the fault and they basically said complete EGR needs replacing and will cost me around £1,000! I'd rather get rid of my car for that and get a reliable one with a decent badge, but am going through my last year of uni so can't think straight at the minute and concentrate on that so am wondering if I or a back door garage can do something to solve it for less and make the car last me for another year until I free myself!

Mind you I have already replaced the EGR valve two years ago but that was covered by the warranty from the car dealer and talking to the Ford mechanic he said it is a re-occuirng fault on the TDCI engine; GREAT!!! So my questions are:

1) Can I keep driving around with intermittent EGR fault on the car?

2) MOT is due in December, will an EGR fault will cause failure in the MOT on emmissions etc...?

3) Will cleaning the EGR valve solve the problem? If, yes is there a guide on here how to do it?

4) I leanrt that some poeple blank the EGR valve to bypass the problem! Do you recommend I do that? Will that affect car performance and the MOT? Is it expensive to do?

Appreicate your help on this one people...

Thanks in advance.

[IINexusII]

Fit a blanking plate, costs less than £5. there are plenty of posts about the same thing

that should fix your issues

[lucky162k]

Cheers, just had a read through! Ordered a plate now to fit it this weekend!

Will be following this guide here: [http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/42915-guide-fitting-egr-blanking-plate-16tdci-engine/]

Relevant enough to my car?

[1stghia]

sorry double post

[1stghia]

yes and no thats mk2.5 my mk2 1.8 has the valve fitted as per pic when taking trim from near bottom of the windscreen be careful as I stress fractured mine and required a replacement :( but it was cheap so hey ho :)

[lucky162k]

Hi people,

I need your help, well I've ordered the stainless steel blanking plate an coming tomorrow so thought in the meantime I clean the egr valve with the wynn's egr cleaner!

I bought it this afternoon and done it but when I have put the hose back on the egr outlet I've managed to snap the small tiny black pipe and sealed it with insulating tape for now! See photos attached!!! What is it? I think is an airflow sensor?!

Going to blank the egr valve this weekend and in the meantime am wondering to change the broken pipe too if I can?!

Your help is appreciated, thanks!

[lucky162k]

.

[lucky162k]

Can someone help me please, thanks!

[FatHead1979]

It's a Intake manifold air pressure sensor, I snapped mine at the other end but found a seller on eBay flogging them cheaper than anywhere else.. You can't just get the tubed part (I checked) search for item 261338465825 & you'll find it looks the same as your part. I taped mine up initially & it seemed to run OK, blanking the EGR made a big difference on mine. I did replace the tube & sensor in the end in part because it was so cheap & easy just to unbolt the sensor, pull the tube off & refit.

[FocusSmudge]

You may find you'll have to remove the wipers and scuttle panel from the car in order to gain better access to the EGR valve to fit the blanking plate.

Nice to see another user from Cornwall on here B)

[Tdci-Peter]

For anyone with EGR problems on a 1.8TDCI (and possibly other diesels):

Blanking the valve will not affect MoT tests. MoT only tests for smoke, and blanking the EGR can reduce smoke, if it is opening too much or at the wrong time. But blanking it will not stop the MIL light coming on, with the EGR DTCs. And the MIL light itself is now a potential failure.

The PCM tests the EGR at each power off, and if it is not moving properly, I think it lights the MIL lamp on the next start.

I had the problem on my car (56 plate 18.TDCI). It was electrical bad connections in the actuator, not a problem in the valve itself. The actuator is really quite easy to remove, whereas the valve is a real pig, it is in the inlet manifold.

The connections were in the black plastic cover at the end, first the connections to the pot track (the feedback pot that senses the valve position), and then in the connection to the motor. Just a tweak with pliers was needed, and it has been perfect for the last couple of years now. A PDF with photos is attached here with lots more info.

I suspect these electrical problems are common. The electrical bits really did not look well designed in there, though the mechanical parts of the actuator & valve looked much better designed.

Peter.

https://www.fordownersclub.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=38763

[paul_sheffield]

21 hours ago, Tdci-Peter said:

For anyone with EGR problems on a 1.8TDCI (and possibly other diesels):

......

I had the problem on my car (56 plate 18.TDCI). It was electrical bad connections in the actuator, not a problem in the valve itself. The actuator is really quite easy to remove, whereas the valve is a real pig, it is in the inlet manifold.

The connections were in the black plastic cover at the end, first the connections to the pot track (the feedback pot that senses the valve position), and then in the connection to the motor. Just a tweak with pliers was needed, and it has been perfect for the last couple of years now. I have photos and more info if anyone is interested.

I suspect these electrical problems are common. The electrical bits really did not look well designed in there, though the mechanical parts of the actuator & valve looked much better designed.

Peter.

Just to confirm Peter, did you make the connection good on the actuator, and you do not have a blanking plate fitted? 

My 2006 Focus 1.8 mk II TDCi EGR started playing up at about 90,000 miles, so I fitted a blanking plate. But on the whole I'd rather have a functioning EGR valve. 

If it was just the actuator connections on yours that made the EGR work badly then I may have a go at removing the blanking plate, tweaking the connections, and seeing if the EGR works again. Shouldn't take long or cost any £ to try...

If I want a working EGR then the other alternative is to buy a working EGR+actuator from a scrapper/write off/ebay and pay an independent  garage to fit it.

Euro Car parts seem to want a staggering £435 just for the actuator+EGR assembly !!! http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Ford_Focus_1.8_2006/p/car-parts/fuel-and-engine-management/engine-parts/egr-valves/?424590210&1&e4ceb3b5acd91528e48ff341610b975641fe1aa1&000117

I don't know how many they sell at that price, as if the cost of fitting is added then it must be a significant fraction of the worth of a 10 year old Focus...

[Tdci-Peter]

Yes, fixing the connections on the actuator part of the valve stopped the EGR related DTCs from appearing, and also stopped the little power dips that I was getting for some time before the MIL light started coming on. The engine was also a little prone to unexpected stalling when pulling away. Normally with these diesels you can easily get moving with the engine just on idle, but a dodgy EGR valve can stall the engine when doing this.

I tried with and without the blanking plate. The plate cured the power dips & stalls, but did not cure the DTCs & MIL light. Fixing the actuator cured both sets of problems, and I did remove the plate for a while, and it was ok. But then the motor connection in the actuator went bad, & I put the plate back in before getting around to fixing the actuator again. It is a fiddly enough for me to really not want to do it in winter, I can not work with cold hands! I did not do anything to the motor connections 1st time, the pot was the main, obvious problem, and just puling the unit apart & putting it back would have cured a bad motor connection. The unit has worked fine for a couple of years now since the last fix.

The actuator is pretty easy to remove, and has a simple 5 wire interface (I think the plug is 6 pins, with one pin not used). Two pins drive the motor (a simple dc motor), three more go to the pot. It is easy to test the actuator once removed, using a 12v variable power supply for the motor, and a multi-meter for the pot. You can also turn the actuator by hand if a suitable power supply is not available.

I will put together a pdf with some detailed information & some photos of the internals. Annoyingly, I posted a report on another forum at the time, but it has evaporated, & I did not keep a copy.

With the actuator off, you can not see the valve seat, that is inside the manifold. But you can feel if the valve is operating smoothly.

The cost of the EGR valve is just the start, replacing it is a huge job: Exhaust, Cat & Turbo removal, entire inlet manifold removal. Replacement gaskets & seals. Not nice.

I have just added A PDF with photos & lots more info to my earlier (Sunday) post in this topic.

Peter.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by Tdci-Peter
Add note about PDF

[paul_sheffield]

Thanks for that very detailed PDF re dismantling the actuator Peter. If it stops raining this weekend (!) I'll remove the actuator and have a poke around in it. I'll report any useful finding back to this thread. 

[Mad mechanic]

If your car is below 2008 plate mot tester can't fail it for having orange pip light on or mil light can only advise (pic of engine) on dash 2008 onwards it will fail mot also a blanking plate will only work if egr valve is functioning correctly. 

Hooe this helps

 

[davetve]

hi all just to add ford 1.8 tdci kdda engine .egr faults ie lack of power , smoke .stalling  remove egr stepper drive motor . check the two bearings and valve lifting pin .the pin snaps . check out danthecarman youtube    best of luck dave

[Tdci-Peter]

40 minutes ago, davetve said:

remove egr stepper drive motor . check the two bearings and valve lifting pin .the pin snaps

Yet another failure mode for this unit!! It really is not up to the job, partly due to its location: hot with huge vibration. I put a guide to removal and inspection of the unit, with photos, on here:

As well as the pdf link a couple of posts back up on this thread. It is a common fault on this otherwise rather reliable engine.