45 min transformation of the 1.9jtdm....

[wynne71]

2009 159 1.9jtdm with a remap, 96K miles.

Last week I started to feel the sluggishness in 2nd and 3rd when pulling from lower revs. All fine above that, just annoying and sluggish.

As I have done 3 other EGRs I got all the gear out and cleaned the valve thoroughly.

Hot soapy water for the casing. Carb cleaner for the finishing job. Slight grease of the spring assembly. Check the solenoid operates smoothly.
Sprayed into the intake, cleaned what I could.

Dried all the components. Put it all back together.

Let it tick over for 5 mins. Test drive, different car!

Dead easy to do, should be part of the service schedule I think. I'm happy for it to still be there, the engine was designed with it in mind, so am a little reluctant to get it "deleted".
Oddly the gaskets are the standard large hole ones, thought a 2009 car would have had the amended small hole gaskets. Might order and fit those at another time.

Anyone in the midlands are wants the job doing, drop me a PM and am happy to help.

[Alfa.Romeo]

My '58 2.4 has the bigger hole gaskets too. And it is an easy DIY job, just dont drip some of the soapy carbon on the wall in the bathroom Was not very popular that day

[wynne71]

I did the whole job on the drive, bucket of hot soapy and a tooth brush.

[wynne71]

Kicked out a cloud of muck as I booted it straight after.
Tried again this morning and it really is different.

I'm sure if this was added to a service schedule many issues later down the line would be rectified.

Daft design.

[Alfa.Romeo]

Originally Posted by wynne71

I'm happy for it to still be there, the engine was designed with it in mind, so am a little reluctant to get it "deleted".

It is a silly idea to be honest. Its only really there to bring down NOx emissions, so has no real benefit to you and definitely no benefit to your engine. At least the DPF keeps the exhaust tips clean, cant think of anything positive the EGR does for my car

[Redmatt75]

Originally Posted by Alfa.Romeo

It is a silly idea to be honest. Its only really there to bring down NOx emissions, so has no real benefit to you and definitely no benefit to your engine. At least the DPF keeps the exhaust tips clean, cant think of anything positive the EGR does for my car

Apparently it helps the car to warm up slightly quicker in cold weather, but apart from that, totally agree - a waste of time.

[Pud237]

Originally Posted by Redmatt75

Apparently it helps the car to warm up slightly quicker in cold weather, but apart from that, totally agree - a waste of time.

There is an EGR heat exchanger that has the engine coolant piped into it - so the exhaust gas even from a stone cold engine will help start heating up the coolant, so the in-car heaters start working sooner. When I capped the EGR at the exhaust manifold on my old 2.4 10v JTD I did notice it took noticeabley longer before the coolant temp gauge started showing anything.

[heardster]

Cleaned my EGR last night, took it out.........runs like a dream, wasnt particulary filthy anyway but thought it was worth checking after 91k miles! pull in 1st and 2nd is much improved.

[wynne71]

Good to hear. Always a good feeling when you do a job and it makes a difference.

Feeling sorry for my friend with a Saab 9-3 Aero Ttid. His is running a bit rough, seems that the newer EGR system in the twin turbo 1.9 derv is very complicated. If the system gets clogged up, the inlet valves clog up with soot and cause the engine to be rough or even go into limp mode. And I don't mean the EGR valve, I mean the actual engine head valves! Gulp......

[Unkle Munkle]

Originally Posted by wynne71

2009 159 1.9jtdm with a remap, 96K miles.

Last week I started to feel the sluggishness in 2nd and 3rd when pulling from lower revs. All fine above that, just annoying and sluggish.

As I have done 3 other EGRs I got all the gear out and cleaned the valve thoroughly.

Hot soapy water for the casing. Carb cleaner for the finishing job. Slight grease of the spring assembly. Check the solenoid operates smoothly.
Sprayed into the intake, cleaned what I could.

Dried all the components. Put it all back together.

Let it tick over for 5 mins. Test drive, different car!

Dead easy to do, should be part of the service schedule I think. I'm happy for it to still be there, the engine was designed with it in mind, so am a little reluctant to get it "deleted".
Oddly the gaskets are the standard large hole ones, thought a 2009 car would have had the amended small hole gaskets. Might order and fit those at another time.

Anyone in the midlands are wants the job doing, drop me a PM and am happy to help.

Can you list step-by-step instructions on how to do this in case I end up having to do mine? I've got basic mechanical experience. Wouldn't want to wreck anything! Is this something that is easy to do for the DIY mechanic!?

[wynne71]

Its an absolute piece of cake.

There is a PDF of the process on here somewhere, will have a mooch.

[wynne71]

Here we are:

I didn't bother knocking the actuator pin out. As long as it has a free/easy in/out movement it is fine. Spray some carb cleaner in the hole if you want, when dry I sprayed some silicone in there to keep it free.

Locating the EGR is easy, top right of the block once the engine cover is off.

Remove the engine cover bracket with 2x 10mm bolts.

Then you have 4x 10mm bolts attaching the unit to the head and 2x 13mm bolts attaching the exhaust pipe. Just take a little car removing as the gaskets can fall into the engine bay easily!

Take the actuator off the valve with the hex bolts, drop the valve in some soapy HOT water. Tooth brush to clean and carb cleaner to get in the deep parts.

Easy!

[alfacool]

Heres one for you to have a look at.
Used it when i did my 156.
how to clean z19 egr valve (proper method))

[ananku]

How many gaskets do you need, and where is the best place to order them from? Thanks.

[cj romeo]

As well as NoX an EGRs main function is to use exhaust gas to counter pumping losses during a light cruise by pressurising the cylinders with a bit of exhaust when a full air charge isn't required.

Effectively 'blows' the engine round rather than wasting fuel just to keep it turning over.

Kind of cancelled out when it clogs up and strangles the air though, but it gets the car in the right tax band when type tested.

[Redmatt75]

Originally Posted by cj romeo

As well as NoX an EGRs main function is to use exhaust gas to counter pumping losses during a light cruise by pressurising the cylinders with a bit of exhaust when a full air charge isn't required.

Effectively 'blows' the engine round rather than wasting fuel just to keep it turning over.

Kind of cancelled out when it clogs up and strangles the air though, but it gets the car in the right tax band when type tested.

Interesting. Is that why 'low pressure EGR' is such a buzzword for newer high efficiency engines??

[Unkle Munkle]

I've checked out the instructions. Would prefer a bit more clarification before taking the job on (especially being new to diesel!).

Wynne, what is the process you used? I've got this far:

Remove the EGR unit from the head (being careful not to drop the gasket)
Undo and the unit so it comes apart once off.
Which bits do you then clean and how?
Can you do any damage (ie electrical)?
Do you clean anything on the engine head?
Is there a process you need to follow once it's reassembled to the engine?

Cheers!

[pwaes]

Originally Posted by wynne71

2009 159 1.9jtdm with a remap, 96K miles.

I thought every 159 with a remap shuts down the EGR (sometimes with a blanking plate)?

[wynne71]

You have the main process there.

The EGR is in two parts: a black plastic section containing the electrics and the solenoid and a metal part that is the actual valve.

The metal part you can pretty much do what you want with! As soon as mine is off I drop it in a bucket of hot soapy water to start the soaking.
The solenoid part can be cleaned in a few ways. If the little pin is stiff, this means that the internals are gunked up as well. Some suggest drilling a hole in the top and knocking the internals out and then cleaning. I've never done this. I did drill a hole in the top of the plastic (round part next to the electircal connector) and spray carb cleaner in there. I did this a few times and the black gunk came out the other end. Or you can spray some in via the pin, press it in and there is a small enough gap to get some in. When it is dry a spray of silicone then helps to keep it free. As long as you are happy that is is nice and free, leave it at that.

The valve part I attack with a tooth brush in the hot water. This get most of it out. Then some carb cleaner to get the hard to reach bits.
Pay particular attention to the two valve seats, these can get gunk around the inner edges, stopping them seating properly.

Once all clean, silicone on the spring (don't go mad as I first did, it only attracts the soot!) and reassemble.

Just take your time, step by step and all will be well. Just don't drop the bolts in the engine bay as I did..................

If you are anywhere near north Brum drop me a PM, happy to help.

[wynne71]

Originally Posted by pwaes

I thought every 159 with a remap shuts down the EGR (sometimes with a blanking plate)?

There are a few methods of remapping.

Mine is a straight remap of the original ECU settings, giving more power/torque/economy. This doesn't do anything to the EGR. However, mine was a specific custom map that also reduced the aggressive nature of the regens on the DPF. I hardly ever notice them happening. Talk to these people if you are interested:

Car Tuning | Engine Tuning | Supercharger | Remapping

I didn't have the work done, the previous owner did. But I had a long talk with the chap there before and after buying the car.

The other remaps involve a physical process as well as an electronic one. Some have the DPFs cut out, some by passed and the EGRs blanked off. In either case the ECU needs adapting (via the remap) to turn these functions off.

[pwaes]

Ah, thnx for the explanation. For me, the more power after the remap was more of a nice feature. To remove the DPF and close the EGR had my first priority.

[Unkle Munkle]

Originally Posted by wynne71

You have the main process there.

The EGR is in two parts: a black plastic section containing the electrics and the solenoid and a metal part that is the actual valve.

The metal part you can pretty much do what you want with! As soon as mine is off I drop it in a bucket of hot soapy water to start the soaking.
The solenoid part can be cleaned in a few ways. If the little pin is stiff, this means that the internals are gunked up as well. Some suggest drilling a hole in the top and knocking the internals out and then cleaning. I've never done this. I did drill a hole in the top of the plastic (round part next to the electircal connector) and spray carb cleaner in there. I did this a few times and the black gunk came out the other end. Or you can spray some in via the pin, press it in and there is a small enough gap to get some in. When it is dry a spray of silicone then helps to keep it free. As long as you are happy that is is nice and free, leave it at that.

The valve part I attack with a tooth brush in the hot water. This get most of it out. Then some carb cleaner to get the hard to reach bits.
Pay particular attention to the two valve seats, these can get gunk around the inner edges, stopping them seating properly.

Once all clean, silicone on the spring (don't go mad as I first did, it only attracts the soot!) and reassemble.

Just take your time, step by step and all will be well. Just don't drop the bolts in the engine bay as I did..................

If you are anywhere near north Brum drop me a PM, happy to help.

OK - sounds a bit more fiddly than I thought. Would WD40 suffice for the pin/spring?

[stefanocirillo]

Originally Posted by wynne71

There are a few methods of remapping.

Mine is a straight remap of the original ECU settings, giving more power/torque/economy. This doesn't do anything to the EGR. However, mine was a specific custom map that also reduced the aggressive nature of the regens on the DPF. I hardly ever notice them happening. Talk to these people if you are interested:

Car Tuning | Engine Tuning | Supercharger | Remapping

I didn't have the work done, the previous owner did. But I had a long talk with the chap there before and after buying the car.

The other remaps involve a physical process as well as an electronic one. Some have the DPFs cut out, some by passed and the EGRs blanked off. In either case the ECU needs adapting (via the remap) to turn these functions off.

To add to this, not all remaps require a blanking plate to close the egr. Since the egr is controlled by the ecu, remaps (mine included) have written in to the remap to keep the egr closed at all times. I also have the dpf delete etc. I would recommend going for a straight through pipe rather than having the internals of the dpf smashed out. This way you can always convert it back to standard at a later date....

[Joomoo]

I have one question.
I have my egr deleted (closed in ecu) and I have a blanking plate with no holes.
have also remap (156hp 365nm torque, tested in dyno) and no dpf .
in the 1.9 8v there is 2 places where I can put the blanking plate, where is the best place to put it. I did the blanking plate where you put also for 16v (see in pic).
Must clean egr ?and if it sticks open i can loose power even with blanking plate?
If I put blanking plate between throttle body and egr do to exaust pressure, can egr start leaking?
Final question ... to clean throttlebody should i disconnect baterie?

[stefanocirillo]

If you have had the egr closed via the ecu, i was advised by gus at alfatune that if it manages to work its way open somehow, you will get an error on the dash..... So there shouldnt be any need for a blanking plate.