Quote:
Originally Posted by Zebster
It wasn't a 'tweak'. It was a disablement.
Disabling vehicle emission control systems is illegal so no, it shouldn't be mentioned. At best, disabling the EGR and/or gutting the DPF is cheapskate bodgery to save a few quid by owners who can't properly afford to maintain their car, at worst it's environmental thuggery with little real benefit for the vehicle owner.
In this case it would have been better to have simply cleaned the possibly sticky EGR valve, something I did to my previous Honda for free.
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^^^^ That.
In the past, before I grew a conscience and reached puberty, I have disabled EGR on a number of cars. On some old 1990's Land Rovers it used to make a slight difference to response and economy. But on any Volvo engine (D5 and 2.0D) I've tried it it makes no difference at all.
EGR and DPF systems on Volvo cars (excluding perhaps the 1.6 PSA engines and wet DPF) are a very good design and on an otherwise healthy engine - don't give trouble, and have no impact on how quickly the oil gets contaminated with dirt.
Whether you agree with the tightening of emissions controls on cars or not, many of the localised controls (clean air zones in London, Birmingham etc.) are a direct response to high levels of NOx emissions measured at the roadside from diesel vehicles. It's quite possible that if owners maintained their cars and didn't make illegal modifications, owners of Euro 5 vehicles wouldn't have to pay eight quid to get to work in Birmingham now.
As others have said I also have a personal opinion that the OP doesn't fully understand what he is doing, the EGR valve would not be operational in a fast acceleration run as part of an emissions test on an MOT, so disabling EGR should not impact that part of the test - it is the presence or interreference with the EGR system which is examined. So don't congratulate yourself thinking you've done the world a favour - you haven't - you've done yourself a favour at everyone else's expense.