D4 VEA 'check engine' light / EGR fault thread
 

I thought it might be useful to have a single thread for those that have had the 'check engine' light pop up on their D4 VEA-engined car because of EGR valve problems.

Please post roughly how old the car was from new, and how many miles it had done when the light popped up.

For me: V60 D4 manual, 'check engine' light came on after 5 and a half months and about 6,000 miles from new. Going into the supplying main dealer this week to have a new EGR valve and EGR cooler fitted, which the dealer tells me is the recommended fix.

XC60 D4 Manual. 5 1/2 months old, 7,500 miles from new. Booked in for standard change, as described, on 28th Jan.

The good news is the dealers are not blanking this. They know the issue, I think they are expecting this to become a full recall.

Can't remember exactly when but about 3-4mths into ownership and with perhaps 5-6k on the clock. Dealer reset it on first attempt and then replaced it completely at the second visit (within days).

XC60 D4 FWD Geartronic: Engine warning light came on at approx 7500 miles, 9 months old. EGR replaced by dealer. No problems since.

Just had a call from my dealer telling me not to bring my car in on Friday - it seems Volvo HQ is advising them not to fit the new EGR valves they have been shipping, but to wait for a newer revised valve which will be shipping soon. Apparently the EGR cooler is fine, but the valve is being updated again.

If your car is booked in for this work, probably worth contacting your dealer.

Do you know if the 'new revised' valve will be fitted at the factory to new build cars customers are waiting for to be delivered, or will cars on order be shipped with the current faulty one?

Regards

@Volvorocks - no idea, I'm afraid.

As far as I can work out (and this is just my opinion), this EGR problem isn't a full factory recall as yet: Volvo is just gearing up its dealers to replace the components under warranty if the customers' cars get a 'check engine' light.

I do not know if they plan to fit the new components when the cars are in for routine servicing, even if the owners don't report a problem, or what they will do about new cars being built or at dealerships ...

Normally revised parts are fitted as soon as parts are available. There will be a "from chassis no." at some point. Dealer can probably tell you.

I lack faith in dealers. One suggested that the V60 Polestar was naturally aspirated - and had to go and check when I queried it!!

Regards

Goodness!! I don't think Volvo have used any naturally aspirated engines for years and years. Find a better dealer. Clan might know when Volvo release the info.

There is an issues with the EGR valves and EGR coolers on the D4 lumps,

But volvo are on with it and the valve has been modified twice since the first D4's were released and the cooler has also been modified,

They have updated journal a couple of times as to what we do to fix these and at moment it does seem to be working,

With the parts been modified we are struggling abit getting parts but this also seems to be improving

I must admit I chuckled a bit when my dealer called me to say "don't bring your car in, Volvo has told us not to fit the updated EGR valves they sent us and they're going to issue another updated part."

I wonder what's going wrong with the valves? I mean, it's just an electric motor, a cam, pushrod and a flap that opens and closes .... they're not THAT complex :)

Would you say that, for want of a better example, that D4 cars delivered say mid April, the alteration would be factory fit and reliable?

Regards

Not looking forward to reaching 5,000 - 7,000 miles, will constantly be worrying that the car will be about to go into limp mode.

Hope they do a recall before I get there.

Wonder what percentage of cars this is affecting ? Anyone here with a new D4 engine that has reached say 10k with no problem ?

The production line always gets the updated parts first so if the service departments are getting them the production line cars certainly will.

I'm on 11k and no issues. Had it in for a recall today (can't recall what it was as the fleet manager dealt with it, but when I collected they informed me they did 2 recalls on it (had to dash to pick my daughter up from nursery so didn't get chance to ask details)

On almost 11k and no issue as yet. TBH I half expect it to occur as it seems to happen to so many other owners. Do you get an engine warning light and still able to drive or does it just stop and need towing?

In my case, warning light came on, no limp mode or change in power etc. The light went off again after a day or so, but service department still advised bringing car in for investigation (and subsequent EGR repair/replacement).

They are perfectly drivable with EGR issues and i don't think they even go into limp mode, it just tends to be engine warning light that comes on that seems to be the main complaint,

The D4 engine been a complete new design uses its EGR alot more than any volvo engine ever has this is one way amungst loads of others it is made euro 6 compliant,

I have seen a couple of these for there 18k services now with no issues and apart from the EGR issues ive not really seen any other problems with these VEA engines,

Just short of 19,000 miles, no problems. Did have two times that I had to press ignition twice and check engine was briefly there but never happened again and I was in a rush so didn't think about it again. Will keep an eye on it but nothing so far has given me any concern (famous last words!).

No limp mode for me and the light has been on for three weeks now. Not a worry, just an inconvenience to go to the dealers to get it sorted.

i suppose the higher mileage vehicles are perhaps less prone to the issue, as probably spend extended periods of time at higher speeds ?

would better quality fuel help ? it's one of the reasons i try to use power diesel whenever possible (apart from using BP equivalent at the moment, as for ever £50 i put it, AMEX gives me a fiver back !).

Possibly so. If it is the case that cars used for more long journeys at speed are LESS likely to get EGR problems, that could imply the problem is caused by soot / deposit build up rather than an actual component failure.

I make no claim to be a techno-piston-head. But I have just read this and thought I would post it here, apologies for the length but I think it's worth it for the forum members who are interested:

Because the EGR’s recycled exhaust gas displaces some of the air within the combustion chamber, the engine’s efficiency is reduced. For this reason, the EGR system doesn’t operate during times of heavy acceleration. It also doesn’t operate during idle, because the presence of exhaust gases at idle tends to cause uncontrollable rough running.

EGR systems operate primarily when the vehicle is cruising under light load. Because there is less demand on the engine when the vehicle is cruising under light load, the engine can afford to temporarily lose some capacity. Also, because of the cooling effect of the EGR system, the engine can run cooler when the vehicle is cruising under light load. Because the engine is cooler, the engine’s lubricating oil is cooler as well. Cool oil lasts longer and works better than oil that has been continuously overheated. Therefore, the EGR system is important for the cool running of the engine and also in the protection of the engine oil from continuous heat.

In the real world, EGR valves often don’t work very well.

What goes wrong is this: the exhaust gases from the vehicle’s engine contain much more than just carbon dioxide: they also contain dozens of chemical by-products, left behind after the fuel was burnt inside the engine. One of these by-products is a fine dust, known as particulates. This dust is mostly unburnt carbon fuel. The more efficiently the diesel engine burns its fuel, the less carbon dust is produced. However, no diesel engine works with anything like complete efficiency and, over time, the carbon dust inside the exhaust gases begins to clog up the EGR system, reducing the movement of the EGR valve. This clogged EGR valve causes the engine to run badly due to an imbalance in the fuel/air mixture. Because the engine is running badly, the fuel is not being consumed efficiently. Because the fuel is not being consumed efficiently, more carbon dust is produced. Some of this carbon dust within the exhaust gets recycled by the EGR system, clogging the EGR valve still further. The more the EGR gets clogged, the more carbon dust is produced. The more carbon dust is produced, the more the EGR valve clogs. This viscious circle continues until the EGR valve jams completely open or closed.

If the jammed EGR valve is not repaired or replaced quickly, all sorts of problems may occur.

Four of the most common are rough running, high fuel consumption, turbocharger failure and, sometimes, total engine failure. Here’s how it works:
When the engine is cruising, the EGR valve is supposed to open to allow the carbon dioxide in the exhaust to cool the combustion chamber. However, if the EGR valve jams open, exhaust fumes are being fed into the engine at all times. This can mean poor acceleration and rough running, because the excess exhaust fumes are depriving the engine of oxygen. Because there is insufficient oxygen, there’s too much fuel, so the unburnt fuel starts spewing out of the exhaust as black smoke, especially when the engine is at idle. Fuel consumption is likely to rise substantially. Also, due to a lack of oxygen (which is needed to complete the combustion process), the engine sometimes starts to misfire, sometimes seriously (this misfiring may produce an unusual metallic rattle or knocking when the engine is under load). If the engine is left in this condition for too long, the engine life will be shortened considerably. In the worst case this problem may cause melted pistons and therefore engine failure. The valves in the cylinder head may also begin to stick due to being heavily coated with carbon.

However, other really nasty problems occur when the EGR valve jams closed: without the cooling effect of the exhaust gases, the engine starts to overheat. Over time, this overheating causes the engine oil that feeds the turbocharger to break down. When the engine oil starts to break down, the bearings in the turbocharger fail. When the bearings fail, the turbocharger will fail, and replacement won’t be cheap. If the turbocharger is replaced without solving the EGR problem, the next turbocharger will also fail before too long.

It gets worse: when the engine overheats, more lubricating oil can enter the combustion chamber and the engine can start running on lubricating oil even if the diesel fuel supply is cut off. The engine may then begin to run on its own engine oil instead of diesel fuel. The driver may be unable to switch off the engine except by stalling it. Eventually, the engine sucks away all the lubricating oil and the engine disintegrates.

Arianne

I bought a kit for £25 to remove the EGR on my TD5 Landrover because of rough idling, it took 10mins to fit and the Landrover has passed its MOT every year since the EGR was removed, plus the engine is much more responsive.

The EGR on the Landrover is known to cause issues as it sticks causing the engine to always get the exhaust recirculated - what it is designed for - but issues have meant that alternatives have been developed, I wonder if the same will happen here once the cars are out of warranty?

So, picking up Arianne's excellent article - VPower is supposed to contain more detergents and lubricants, which make make the valve less prone to fine dust build up/EGR sticking ?

Yikes but thanks Arianne.

Starting to get that paranoia you get when you feel something is going to happen!

Not yet had any issues with mine (at 10,800 miles) but seems like you could seriously damage your engine if it does fail!

I think all these bolt-on solutions that are designed to meet emissions will slowly strangle diesel engines. All sound hugely technical and therefore prone to breakage and guess the prognosis of it happening seems to be dependent on your type of journey - or maybe just bad luck.

I don't use my local dealer any more due to some issues with them and my allotted one is about 40 miles from where I live. So guess if I did have a problem near home I'd have to drive for about an hour to get help.

I wonder if they will replace the EGR anyway for modified one at 18,000 miles service regardless if no issues experienced as it does seen like a matter of time before it sticks or gets gunked up?

Let's put it this way, even though I had my EGR replaced at about 6k, I will be discussing this with my local dealer when the car goes in for its first annual service in March. If there's a replacement which has been upgraded then I want this version fitted before either my Swiss summer holiday or my next Austrian ski holiday. Engine warning lights, limp running and a dollop of anxiety is not what I paid a shedload of money to experience!

Unsure about the fuel issue - I would like to believe that Shell v-power nitro diesel might help (just filled up with £79 of it today, as it happens) but our first EGR valve still failed at about 6k - and almost all of the fuel for our XC60 is the premium Shell stuff, she's never drunk supermarket fuel.

Personally, I also am beginning to wonder if petrol might be worth considering at some point downstream. So much simpler, more reliable, cheaper to maintain and I prefer the performance of a petrol engine car. Of course, it depends upon your annual mileage, pump prices and depreciation. And petrol engines are seriously out of favour for SUVs when, like many of us, we're buying brand new and selling the cars on to the used market / dealers.

But my annual mileage is due to fall further in September 2015 when, thanks to the Scottish Government, they open the Borders Railway. Instead of driving to work we will be able to use the train (steam trains too!). This will be one of the most scenic 35 mile stretches of railway in the UK, although I remain unsure about the economic business model upon which its supposed to make a profit!

That JLR F-Pace is due to be released with a V8 petrol, according to AutoExpress :) Will I buy that one? In my dreams!

Arianne

That's not the main purpose of the EGR valve. It's to reduce NOx. From Wiki.

Petrol engines have EGR valves as well.

From Autospeed...

Roy, TBH I didn't know whether petrol engines had EGRs or not. Thanks for the update. My point about petrol engines was a more general one though - about simplicity compared to diesel.

That said, the eye-watering residuals make petrol on an SUV a non-starter. Unless buying used when a chunk of the value has already been taken out.

Arianne

Hi Arriane. I think EGR's first appeared on petrol engines in 1973.

I'm not sure diesel engines are more complex. They didn't used to be regarded as such due to the lack of an ignition system. True they have gained an EGR but petrol engines already had that. The only thing I can think of that petrol engines don't have is the DPF, but against the complexity of the petrol's ignition system seems to me the petrol is still more complex. Diesel's were regarded as being more robust due to the need to cope with higher combustion pressures.

I think the only real way to get a less complex engine is to buy a classic car pre 1973. 245's are pretty simple really. The exhaust stinks though.

Roy

Hi Arriane

By way of reassurance, my V70 has done 200,000 miles without having it's EGR cleaned., let alone replaced I'm sure the D4 EGR problems are just teething troubles and will soon be sorted.

Totally agree, especially given that almost all car engines have EGRs these days and we arent seeing issues all over the place - I don't think any other engine has an issue therefore it is probably just the new design that needs tweaking.

In 6 months this will be a non-event, keep the faith :)

EGR warning light came on after 600 miles from new. At the time I was querying the wheel spin from the front on an AWD car.

it turned out not to be AWD but FWD. different from what I had ordered, I had also queried the salesman on the lack of AWD badge when picking up, to be told 'its a model difference' . I then queried again the same salesman the day after picking up regarding the wheelspin, to be told it takes a few seconds for the AWD to activate.

I did not get underneath to check, as I thought I was being paranoid, after ordering an AWD and having told specifically on at least two occasions it was definitely AWD.

Car was replaced with an AWD, however ongoing electrical problems, random warning lights and todays inability to select any gear (its on a truck on route to the dealers again) , seem to be at odds with Volvo's reputation for quality.

As posted on other threads, the AWD is currently not exceeding 26mpg in mixed gentle driving, and the dealer is telling me that everything is normal??

The dealer sounds really bad, either knows nothing about the car or is lying. AWD has always been clearly marked. 26mpg is not normal with gentle driving and reasonable length journeys. I'm getting about 39mpg.

I see you've had advice to reject the car. Seems you thought you were getting a new D4 AWD and were not told that they do not exist yet. I would follow the rejection advice, given the miss-selling and major problems with the car .

I'm trying to work out what engine you actually have. The press releases I've seen are as clear as mud! How many CC's does it have? OK just looked in my handbook and it's this one....2011 Press release....The new five-cylinder 2.0D diesel is, in principle, the same engine as the well-established 2.4-litre diesel, but its displacement has been reduced with a shorter stroke to optimise fuel consumption. The injection system also has a different type of piezoelectric fuel injector compared with the D5 engine. These injectors minimize fuel consumption with their exceptionally rapid and precise injection pulses under high pressure to promote extremely efficient combustion.

Sorry forget what I said about the engine. I picked the wrong one.

The AWD D4 has a 2.4 litre 5 cylinder with a single turbo..... Comparison between D5 Twin turbo and D4 version.

New Single Turbo 2.4D

The main focus for Volvo's new 2.4D engine was to reduce fuel consumption and consequent emissions. The injection system features a different type of piezoelectric fuel injectors to the D5, which aims to cut fuel consumption through extremely rapid and precise injection sequences. The high injection pressure results in an effective combustion. To promote the drivability, the single turbocharger has been optimised to produce high torque from low revs.

Mutual Technology

The two new diesel engines share a number of technology solutions. The engines have lower compression, more efficient combustion and the latest generation of engine management. Volvo Cars' powertrain experts have reduced internal friction and pump losses in the diesel engines. The pressure drop in the intake and exhaust system has also been reduced.

The new turbo diesels have also been equipped with ceramic glow plugs, a high-tech solution that delivers improved starting properties owing to very quick warming up. They reach a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius in just two seconds, making the engine easy to start and helping to cut emissions. In certain driving conditions, such as at really low engine revs, the ceramic glow-plugs can also be used to increase the temperature in the cylinders, further improving combustion efficiency.

Hello Roy, indeed this is reassuring. Thanks for your posts which are excellent. I still have a 'bottom of my stomach' gut feeling that petrol technology is becoming a more tempting proposition than it has been in recent years. Dare I say "DPF"?

Having said all that, I reckon the next family car will probably still be diesel!

Moving on....what a tale of horror for mwoods666 - puts it into perspective.

Best wishes, Arianne

S60 D4 Engine Check
 

My S60 D4 R-Design Lux Nav (181hp)
Had Engine check come on over the weekend.
Registered Dec 2013
Purchased Nov 2014
Miles current 8700

Going in to dealer 21st Jan
No idea if it is related to this thread.

I guess there will always be some teething problems with a brand new engine and modifications are always likely to be needed. As long as they are fixable relatively easily with [hopefully] no further issues then that would be a bonus.

Volvo have used the last 12 months to find out any issues with the new engine so that it can be rectified by the time the XC90 comes out.

To a certain degree we have all been guinea pigs.

The timing of the launch of the new VEA engine, I believe, was a tactical move in readiness for the new flagship XC90 this April.

I bet the EGR won't be an issue on the XC90 as it will have been fitted with the latest component, which is probably why forum members with EGR problems are having to wait for modified parts as the supply is being used up on production engines first.

Just my thoughts.

Manufacturers with sporty sub-brands usually do this kind of launch with these models as the people who drive those vehicles don't mind the odd issue, it gives them the opportunity to quiz the dealers and manufacturer.

More difficult to do when you do not have such a sub-brand of enthusiasts or petrolheads. Launching new tech to a customer group who view a trip to the dealership as a chore is always a bigger risk.