I'm having a problem with my 1998 2.5V6 manual Omega which is driving me crazy. The car has eaten 3 EGR valves in the last month or so and my local Vauxhall dealer isn't proving to be particularly useful. I've owned the car from new, it's only done 35000 miles and it's in mint condition, I still adore the car and I would cry my eyes out to have get rid of it due to sudden poor reliability - I've just been towed home 40 miles along the M6! Clearly there's something causing these valves to fail and I'd like to get it sorted out - any ideas? or is there a good Vauxhall specialist that I can entrust the car to in the Stockport area?
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It would be helpful to know in what way the EGR valves have been 'eaten' in such a short time.Have they failed electrically or have they failed mechanically or both? One possible reason for the problem is too much exhaust back pressure caused by a restricted cat. or silencer. This can be tested by installing a pressure gauge in place of the oxygen sensor and noting the reading at 3000RPM.It should be very low ie less than 2lbs per square inch.
David Davies (Tune-Up Raglan)
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Disconnect the thing from the inlet manifold and replace the gasket with a blank, blocking the valve off. That will save you worrying about it and should also release a slight performance advantage.
Wont harm you car, may harm the surrounding trees!
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I must admit I'd thought of this but there must be an underlying cause. It would be like wallpapering over those cracks in the living room walls!
Seriously, how would it effect the emissions etc?
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This sounds a reasonable suggestion. I've recently changed the exhaust and the car seems to have been running a bit hotter - not indicated by the internal temp gauge but hotter generally from under the engine bay and front end of the exhaust. There's also been a faint smell of burning plastic - but I'd put this down to that usual "new exhaust" smell.
The car generally runs very well when its all working, I run it on Optimax and a 0-30 fully synthetic oil goes in at annual oil changes. Usually cruises all day at 75-80 and gives 32 mpg!
Car at main dealers this morning, lets see what they come up with and thanks for the suggestion.
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Dealer reckons breakdowns within EGR valve is being caused by electrical fault coming from problem with main ECU (ouch!), just off to Abbey National this morning to fund a new one.
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a new ecu? Expensive piece of kit. I bought one from a breakers yard for £80 using one of those online breakers search tools. I was most impressed to find one that matched the serial numbers exactly.
My ECU was blown by a knackered DIS module so it may be worth having a peek at that just to check its condition (located below the wiper motors, attached to the rear of the engine)
Best of luck
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Thanks for the advice, did the DIS visually look knackered?
new Vauxhall ECU - £750 hence the raid on Abbey National.
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Get a breaker part and have a local independent fit it for you. An ECU's an ECU's an ECU, mostly. Certainly not worth a £700 premium for a new one.
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Fit it yourself, takes 20 seconds under the bonnet!
The DIS packs are located in a way that rain water has a tendancy to land on them and cause them to rust prematurely. Mine was a mess when I removed it. The coils were rusty and had since expanded cracking the outer casing.
If its damaged you will definatley notice it visually.
Bosch sell the units for £500 btw
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Thanks for the advice on this one. Asked the dealer to look at it and the DIS "seems fine". New ECU fitted and car working fine again. Hopefully its sorted.
Thanks everyone for the helpful comments on this issue.
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