General VEA engine EGR issues AGAIN

[emmajayne]

2015 V60 D3 with soot filled EGR cooler, blocked EMAP pipe, cracked inlet(intake?) manifold and potentially stuck/sticking EGR valve.

DS Motors in Clydebank Glasgow diagnosed the above issues today 04Jul2022. With a bill looking like upwards of £2k unfortunately if all parts need replaced.

I previously had the EGR cooler replaced at 53k miles back in 2020, which Volvo paid for on goodwill. The same issue has occurred again but worse and I'm concerned I cannot get any goodwill again. I have the warranty invoice from the previous repairs which states:

"TR641872,GGC 100%.INTERMITTENT EML ON DASH
CONFIRMED FAULT,ECM-P04D900.TRACED,EGR COOLER
BLOCKED WITH SOOT,NO EXTERNAL AIR LEAKS,HAS
MODIFIED HOSES FITTED,CARRIE OUT DYNAMIC CYL LEAK
TEST NO LEAKAGE.R&R EGR COOLER,CLEAR DTC TESTED OK.
Calibrating/Identifying with VIDA
X V36003021 EGR COOLER, EXCH"

The past month the dreaded "reduced engine performance" message and terry the turtle showed up quite regularly. I am now at 83k miles on the car so since the last repair in July 2020 I've put 30k miles on the car with a lot of motorway driving. I am always in a rush so never sitting below speed and do regular drives into the highlands about 80 miles away from Glasgow, so I just don't think the issue is my driving of the vehicle. Or maybe that is very wishful thinking.

Has anyone on here had luck with getting Volvo goodwill on these very common issues? Advice very much needed as I can't find £2k to get this car back to health. Not in this economy

[SnineT]

Nope it's not your driving nor is it limited to Volvo,


I guess this isn't a job you'll be wanting to undertake yourself, there are you tubes of egr and rad cleaning to help though, one of the more interesting comments I found in one was the user had it cleaned and it was ok for a week or so, the actual problem was a blocked pipe that has a sensor in it, once this was removed and cleaned things were fixed,

I'm hoping the adblue on mine negates this issue but yours is one where it had the whole 9 yards of burnt residue flowing through it.

[emmajayne]

I had a call back from the mechanic to inform me he had a footer with the motor and thinks replacing the emap pipe (I think?) and cleaning the rest where possible is enough to rectify most of the issue for now . He said the valve appears to move fine. So fingers crossed he can get the thing running okay again cause that rough idle and stalling was giving me the heebie jeebies!

I think in order to fully avoid this headache again I'm going to have to just go petrol and sack off the dirty diesel. Ad blue systems seem to be fitted on newer diesels yeah?

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by emmajayne

I had a call back from the mechanic to inform me he had a footer with the motor and thinks replacing the emap pipe (I think?) and cleaning the rest where possible is enough to rectify most of the issue for now . He said the valve appears to move fine. So fingers crossed he can get the thing running okay again cause that rough idle and stalling was giving me the heebie jeebies!

I think in order to fully avoid this headache again I'm going to have to just go petrol and sack off the dirty diesel. Ad blue systems seem to be fitted on newer diesels yeah?

I'm glad you're getting somewhere with it, if the pipe cleaning doesn't work suggest the oxy sensors in the exhaust, sit down though cos they aren't cheap and don't suggest it until you know for sure the car is still bad after he's cleaned it, ask for the sensors to be checked for open circuit before you spend out and tbh they should be chucking a code at you if one is bad,

I hope it works out for you Emma and if you do go petrol be aware they aren't that great either, the small engines appear great to begin with, poppy and economic etc but they work harder which makes the supporting parts work even harder, Mazda and Toyota make good petrol engines, without knowing how much your budget is the newer hybrid Volvo B engines appear a good bet but be aware hybrid is extra weight so really dire mpg once the batteries are used up for the day, not so much of an issue if you are doing urban trips though.

[SnineT]

It is the Emap pipe Emma, if he gets it clean it will have to soak for some time, if it has to be replaced it's £200-£250 which is quite a lot for a pipe, the pipe alone is about £80 so your man might not smash you up to the degree Volvo do.

[emmajayne]

I got the car back from the mechanic. He replaced the EMAP pipe and cleaned sensors in the inlet manifold. Gave me a few more recommendations and charged me £170 for everything. My love for the car is completely gone though and I think I'll sell up and move on to something else!

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by emmajayne

I got the car back from the mechanic. He replaced the EMAP pipe and cleaned sensors in the inlet manifold. Gave me a few more recommendations and charged me £170 for everything. My love for the car is completely gone though and I think I'll sell up and move on to something else!

Has it fixed it though?

I know that feeling and if it appears it's generally a good idea to follow your instincts and move on, having said that though good cars are thin on the ground right now, with the pandemic induced shortages people are holding on to reliable ones and a lot of what is for sale right now is ones that have been trouble or repaired where they'd normally have been scrapped,

Run it through WeBuy and see what the initial offer is then subtract 25% as a worse case scenario of what they will finally offer for it.

[SnineT]

Also go to Tesco if you have a clubcard, look for Redex diesel cleaner, it's black in a clear bottle 250ml's, shove the whole bottle in with at least 3/4 of a tank,

If you use the clubcard it's just over £2 a bottle right now, it can't hurt and will help ungum things like injectors, fuel pumps, valves, plan a trip where you can 50 miles or so of 70 mph road.

[emmajayne]

Originally Posted by SnineT

Has it fixed it though?

I know that feeling and if it appears it's generally a good idea to follow your instincts and move on, having said that though good cars are thin on the ground right now, with the pandemic induced shortages people are holding on to reliable ones and a lot of what is for sale right now is ones that have been trouble or repaired where they'd normally have been scrapped,

Run it through WeBuy and see what the initial offer is then subtract 25% as a worse case scenario of what they will finally offer for it.

Well I haven't had the faults come back, granted I have stopped driving it to work and back. But I've driven it since twice and it's felt better than it has in ages. So hopefully that's enough to keep it good for the time being. The price of cars at the moment is mental!

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by emmajayne

Well I haven't had the faults come back, granted I have stopped driving it to work and back. But I've driven it since twice and it's felt better than it has in ages. So hopefully that's enough to keep it good for the time being. The price of cars at the moment is mental!

Well pleased for you given the outcome and that your mechanic actually appears to be one and not unreasonable looking for every drop out of you, glad you updated as it gives others the confidence to shorten the odds on finding the actual fault,

I used to fix the other half's dads Zafira in a similar fashion, it had some valve that used to carbon up and stick, nice easy fix as it was on top of the engine at the back and took seconds to remove, good fill and shake of carb cleaner and good for another 20k.