D4 VEA 'check engine' light / EGR fault thread

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by AlienInThisWorld

V70, 2015 build, D4 engine, Engine warning indication in July 2021, at 5.5 years old, 114,000 miles accompanied by a 'thrumming' engine tone (on the M5 whilst driving from Barnsley to Falmouth, with heavy rain howling down horizontally). The car was taken into Truro Motor Co who diagnosed a blocked EGR cooler and replaced it. Happy days.

Being a little student of cause and effect I asked the service reception staff what was the root cause of the problem, because I was concerned that my proclivity for driving in Eco+ mode might have something to do with it. They suggested to me that it might be better to let the engine rev more freely by using the 'Normal' or 'S' setting. I've been doing this ever since.

Then it started to unravel. Engine warning indication in December 2021, at 6 years old, 122,000 miles accompanied by the same 'thrumming' engine tone (on the A628 whilst driving from Barnsley to Manchester, with heavy sleet howling down horizontally). The car is booked into the Sheffield dealership for diagnosis and repair. I daren't drive it at the moment which is not what I bought a Volvo for.

Additional information: This car has a history of increasing oil consumption from about 50,000 miles to date, and it is now demanding a 0.5 litre top-up every 500 miles or so. I've been questioning this with The Sheffield dealership who have done all its servicing but have just been met with 'one of those things' non-explanations.

There is no oil leak visible, so I'm led to think it is being burnt, evidence the EGR cooler blocked with soot.
So where is it getting into the combustion process?
Possibilities I've identified are turbocharger bearings inlet side, inlet valve guides, piston rings, outlet valve guides, turbocharger bearing outlet side.

Any suggestions as to the root cause and how to cure the problem, not just treating the symptom would be gratefully received, because with oil the price it is I'd expect a fluid of that price per litre to be served in cut crystal glasses.

The oil consumption issue could well be blocked holes in the oil control piston rings. The design of those rings was changed in 2016 to stop this from happening.

My wife's 2015 V60 D3 suffers from this problem and oil consumption is a similar rate of 0.5 litre every 500 miles.

Having said that, her D3 doesn't make a thrumming noise. It actually runs very nicely.

So perhaps you have two issues and not one. (Sorry.)

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

The oil consumption issue could well be blocked holes in the oil control piston rings. The design of those rings was changed in 2016 to stop this from happening.

My wife's 2015 V60 D3 suffers from this problem and oil consumption is a similar rate of 0.5 litre every 500 miles.

Having said that, her D3 doesn't make a thrumming noise. It actually runs very nicely.

So perhaps you have two issues and not one. (Sorry.)

Additionally, I have heard that some VEA engines suffer from degraded valve stem oil seals, which will allow oil used to lubricate the valve gear into the combustion chambers, thus increasing oil consumption and also adversely affecting the quality of combustion.

Sadly, these are expensive problems to resolve.

When I was a nipper, it was a doddle to remove the cylinder head from an engine and examine valves, valve seals, cylinders, pistons etc. Nowadays, it probably isn't quite so easy.

Does any forum member know a way to diagnose these issues without the expensive partial disassembly of the engine?

[belgian]

Originally Posted by belgian

Good comment. I am also suspicious that maybe the EGR valve or cooler may not be the cause of this particular problem, as the car runs fine with no power loss or irregular run at all for the moment. That's why I paid a visit to the volvo dealer where I bought the car to have it diagnosed more precisely.

Their first reaction was of course to replace the EGR Valve and cooler at 1600 €, because the ones installed are still the original parts. The replacement parts are improved apparently, so they want this to be replaced first. If that does not the trick, they would look further. So I am afraid that no dealer will touch the car before the new EGR system is installed, so I bought the parts for repair by myself. Will reset the fault codes after that and go from there.

More reason to believe that the EGR valve is not sticking, is that you can move the actuater by hand without any hickup, when the cover is removed.
I checked MAF air flow sensor with my OBD2 unit, and seems to be working fine. Don't know what to check next.

Bummer. I replaced the EGR valve and cooler this week, and it did not solve the "reduced engine power" message. It came back after a few miles of driving. I replaced the air intake pressure sensor as well, since it was very dirty with soot. The EGR valve itself seemed to be ok and the cooler was pretty dirty, but not competely blocked

Anybody have an idea what to check next ?. fault code is P00BC.. thanks

[Bican]

Any hissing sounds? I would check the pipe that connects air intake and valve cover. The only error is P00BC? There are also stories of blocked pipe to exhaust pressure sensor. Check if the reading from EMAP closely follows MAP.

[belgian]

Originally Posted by Bican

Any hissing sounds? I would check the pipe that connects air intake and valve cover. The only error is P00BC? There are also stories of blocked pipe to exhaust pressure sensor. Check if the reading from EMAP closely follows MAP.

No air leaks which i can hear.
I read also on another forum that the emap pipe could be a clogged, so this is the last thing that I can check.

I have a icarsoft V.1 OBD2 reader so can't check the graphs you mention. What diagnose software do you use ? did you find the problem on your car ?

[spaceman2844]

Originally Posted by Bican

Any hissing sounds? I would check the pipe that connects air intake and valve cover. The only error is P00BC? There are also stories of blocked pipe to exhaust pressure sensor. Check if the reading from EMAP closely follows MAP.

See my post on this thread re symptoms of blocked EMAP pipe on my D4 VEA XC60

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...09#post2545209

[Bican]

Originally Posted by belgian

No air leaks which i can hear.
I read also on another forum that the emap pipe could be a clogged, so this is the last thing that I can check.

I have a icarsoft V.1 OBD2 reader so can't check the graphs you mention. What diagnose software do you use ? did you find the problem on your car ?

I am using Car Scanner Android app and Wifi OBD dongle from VGATE.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed after I replaced EGR and cleaned my cooler. The EGR graph smoothed out and the car stopped hesitating at low speed.
the old EGR on tickover

the new EGR on tickover

correlation of EMAP and MAP on my car:

[Bican]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

Additionally, I have heard that some VEA engines suffer from degraded valve stem oil seals, which will allow oil used to lubricate the valve gear into the combustion chambers, thus increasing oil consumption and also adversely affecting the quality of combustion.

Sadly, these are expensive problems to resolve.

When I was a nipper, it was a doddle to remove the cylinder head from an engine and examine valves, valve seals, cylinders, pistons etc. Nowadays, it probably isn't quite so easy.

Does any forum member know a way to diagnose these issues without the expensive partial disassembly of the engine?

I'm afraid the issue with the oil consumption is a result of the carbon build up in the engine on intake valves and gradually on piston oil control rings. Driving in the ECO mode is perfect way for creating it. Another factor is long oil change intervals.
You might want to try changing oil frequently with flushes like TEC 2000. What kind of oil do you use? Switching to Millers or some other would help too. Certainly using better grade diesel does not hurt either or adding additives.
Also taking valve cover off might tell you more. Even buying a cheap endoscope camera and looking around intake and under valve cover might give you some insights.
That is what I would do before dismantling the engine.

[belgian]

just removed the emap pipe for inspection and there was no visual blockage at the inlet and bolt. Looked pretty clean to me, so don't suspect it to be the culprit.

will go for a new MAF sensor as a last resort, but don"t expect it to be the cause. If it weren't for the upcoming car inspection due in spring, I would continue driving as is, since the engine runs fine.

[007]

Well after five years of fault free driving I thought all the EGR boggles were long gone. Seemingly not.

At 81,000 miles it failed the MOT on emissions Wednesday.

Opacity reading was 0.8 and should be 0.4 max.

Garage cleaned EGR cooler and inlet manifold and it re tested at 0.01