S-type 2.7diesel (x200) EGR valve replace both sides

[StuartS]

A couple of disclaimers… I’m not an expert or professional so I’m not saying these steps are exactly “correct” but it’s what I did. Also I’ve never done a write up on a job before so I don’t know how much detail is required. and also I kept forgetting to take pictures. Whoops!  Sorry about that.

Okay Here we go…

In case you’re thinking about replacing your EGR valves. I’ll tell you my reason for doing it. The main problem was permanent restricted performance mode. And a P0404-00 fault that said Permanent Exhaust gas recirculation control - circuit range / performance.

Also (using iCarsoft reader) there’s an item in the ECM data which read something like “Difference between EGR set point and actual“.

I’m pretty sure its what the workshop manual calls the “ECM-throttle controller deviation PID” you get the idea It shouldn’t deviate too much. The workshop manual says its supposed to be between  -15% and +5% at 1500rpm to be in range (see pic below).


 

 At 1500rpm mine was showing +18% and sometimes climbed above +22%   (incidentally with both new ones installed it is bang on 0% deviation)

Some people have had success with spraying EGR cleaner in through the intake via the filter box I tried it and used a whole can with no luck. Once I got the old ones out you could see they were really bad. Very coked up and jammed. (see pic below) If you’re lucky and yours are not too bad it might work for you No way was it going to work for me. These are the originals and done 109k. So that’s why I decided to replace mine. I Got a pair of new aftermarket valves for £100



THESE ARE THE STEPS TO REPLACE TO PASSENGER SIDE EGR


Remove the filter box bolt.


Undo the sensor clips one on top and one on the far side. You can also see in the picture the top of the EGR pipe where the gas goes back into the manifold. I forgot to photograph this being removed but its just a clip at the top end and two bolts directly into the EGR valve. Go ahead and remove that anytime you like but it has to come off.




Remove this front intake as it is joined to the bottom of the filter box



It’s still attached by a thin rubber hose which I didn’t detach but there’s plenty of play to put the entire filter box assembly up out of the way on top of the motor.



Now you need to get the Power steering fluid reservoir out of the way

 

At this point I realised I should have got the fuel filter out first because its really in the way.



So remove the fuel filter first. In the workshop manual it talks about unclipping a tang but I figured we need access below so there’s no point leaving the housing where it is so I unbolted the whole thing. Pretty easy just two bolts.




I marked the middle one with a cable tie so I don’t hook it up wrong later


Once you have all these disconnected the remaining connectors are still in the way and annoyingly drip diesel just where you’re going to do fiddly work later so you can unhook them from soundproofing material and sort of hook them up out of the way towards the windscreen wiper. Sorry forgot to photo this.
Now remove the fuel filter assembly. Don’t forget to keep it upright coz its full of diesel. 



Now there’s space to unbolt the power steering fluid reservoir and that can be tucked out the way in the space where the filter box was.




You can touch the EGR bolts at this point but not enough room to get a socket in.



Got to get this bugger out the way



I’m sure you’ve all got one of these and they’re awesome for hose clips but will NOT work on the flipping EGR clip at the back of the cooler more about that later.



Once you’ve undone this end of the pipe there’s a bolt way deep at the back to undo. Also this ‘U’ shape bit of hose needs to come off completely. The workshop manual says you only need to disconnect at the front but You should take both ends off because believe me its right in the way.



Once that’s undone you can pull the pipe up out of the way cable tie it or wedge it. I used a screw driver.



Next we have to undo this power steering fluid connector to get this pipe out of the way.



Obviously once you disconnect that the fluid will start running out. Not too quickly though a good trickle. A smart man (or professional) would fashion some sort of a bung to plug the hole. I’m neither smart nor professional maybe just lazy but I knew I had a 2 litre bottle of fluid to top it up so figured I’d just work fast and keep an eye on the reservoir so it didn’t empty. Btw I noticed fluid was old and brown so I’ll put that on the todo list




Once undone it tucks quite nicely up on the fuel rail giving you room and making sure you don’t rain fluid out from that side as well



Now finally you can get in nicely with a small socket. 


Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the next couple of steps but they are well documented in the workshop manual.



 

Now you can wiggle it free and remove the valve from the cooler and attach the new one.

In good old fashioned Haynes manual style now do the reverse. I personally found the closing retaining clip the hardest part of the entire job. Mainly because I tried every tool in the box except the correct one. In the end I got it to closed with pinchers or what some call end cutters. Just to be clear I mean anything end-on like this for example…




 

STEPS FOR THE DRIVER SIDE EGR

The first problem I faced was this flipping black material. I guess you’d call it bulkhead sound insulator or firewall insulation divider or whatever. It goes right down past the EGR valve and also quite far behind the engine and it’s a really really in the way.



First thing I did was try to cut it in half with some snips thinking I’d re-attach it later HUGE MISTAKE. It’s some sort of compressed fibre that disintegrated immediately showering everything with fluff and fibres. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I definitely shouldn’t have done that. MAJOR FACEPALM!!! But at least I screwed up so you don’t have to. I went ahead and ripped it all out. Henry hoover and some rags sorted out the fluff. Not the best start but now it’s gone there’s already much better access.



To do the job you’re going to need to be able to reach your hand in not just downwards but in through from the front direction.



So you have to start removing stuff. First remove the coolant expansion tank. Forgot to photo that but it is tricky you undo the bolt move the whole tank to the left and try to reach under to disconnect the sensor and unclip the expansion tank lower hose junction spring clip.

With that remove you can see where we are going. The aim is to be able to reach right through here (see arrows)


Next I removed the front of the air intake manifold and the large air hose, and the radiator top hose that goes from radiator to the  T junction.  I also removed the  timing belt cover because it sticks out at the side but to be honest I’m not sure if you need to take this off because it only buys you a couple cm extra space as you can see in the next pic. And it turned out to be a pain to put back on. But I can almost get my hand through now.


Next got to move this black box. Don’t know what it is but it’s really in the flipping way (that phrase works for most engine work 🙂 . Just a single bolt at the top



Then underneath is two connectors with spring clips. You know the type that ping off and you have to search for them.



Once those connectors are off it just has an earth cable which is long enough for you to tuck the box up out of the way onto of the wheel arch.



Now we have to remove these two lines



A word of caution my rubber hoses were really dry and brittle at this location and one crumbled when the clip was removed. I guess this is partly because they don’t seem to carry fluid. I reckon they must be routing to a pressure/vacuum sensor (educated guess). Also they are subjected to constant heat at this particular location but If you follow the hoses forwards up near the fuse box you’ll find the other end would have been a better place to remove the clips where they go into the sensor (if that’s what it is). In this location they get less heat. My rubber at that end was in really good condition. But it was too late for me. Luckily there was enough length to just snip the dodgy end of the hose off clean and re-attach so I got away with it.

Once these hose connectors are unclipped you have to undo a bracket right at the back of the EGR cooler that holds the metal lines in place.



When that bolt is removed these have just enough play to be tucked up out of the way high up against the wheel arch. Another word of caution… I say “play” but there isn’t much. Its more springy then loose… These lines feel firmly attached somewhere way out of sight behind the motor. Now Just Imagine cracking/buckling one of these lines in a totally inaccessible place!!! NIGHTMARE.  The way I did it, meant I have effectively strained the line, but it felt okay based on experience (and feel) and its a steel line and my lines are in good condition. I personally thought it was a reasonable risk if done carefully. BUT… You’ll have to decide for yourself based on how yours feels and if they look corroded or whatever. But bear in mind they don’t have to be tucked right up against the wheel arch you could suspend them up just a few inches with a wire coat hanger or cable ties. Not quite as good for access but def safer. That said I put them right out the way and now access is getting much better.



Now we have to remove these two buggers. These are the main feed from the brake fluid reservoir to the ABS.



I put cable ties on so I know where to re-attach them. Disconnect at both ends.
When you disconnect from the reservoir end obviously you’ll have brake fluid pouring out of the reservoir. I made a makeshift cap/stopper with a nitrile glove and hose clip. It worked pretty well.


The two lines should come straight out now. Don’t do what I did and turn them upside down (facepalm!!). Obvs they’re full of brake fluid which I tipped all over the place (facepalm!!). Definitely going to need to prime these when I reassemble to avoid introducing loads of air into the system. Especially because the air will then be ABOVE the ABS and this can be a real pain to bleed.




Where they went round the wheel arch they were held in place with a double clip which is annoyingly right in line with the EGR bolts so that has to come out too.

 
 

And now FINALLY!!! We have great access to the EGR BOLTS.

From the front



And also from above



Now you can undo the 4 EGR valve bolts and the clip at the back of the cooler. Sorry I once again forgot to photograph this bit (I was too excited) but here it is in the workshop manual.



 

Now you can wiggle it free and detach the valve from the cooler and put the new one on. Reverse the steps to put it all back together. Fill the coolant and you’re done.

 

Don’t forget to prime you ABS pipes. I stupidly poured all the of fluid out of mine but even if you were careful there’s going to be some air getting in them so you would have to bleed the whole system. I just used my trusty Sealey brake bleeder. Attach both lines to the reservoir end, and before attaching to the ABS end I gave it one or two pumps and when the fluid came pouring through I connected the pipes. Worked a treat! I tested my brakes carefully and they were perfect so I haven’t needed to bleed them. But I was fully PREPARED to. What I mean is if you follow these steps should assume to have to bleed the brakes after and get all the stuff you need to do a bleed. If you’re lucky like me you won’t need to.




So that's It Job done...


 

Final observations.

It took me much much longer then it need to because I re-assembled everything then realised I’d forgotten to attach a hose on passenger side AND missed a bolt on the drivers side (multiple facepalms) so effectively I did most of these steps twice. But if I hadn’t done that I reckon it was a 5hr job including head scratching. If I had to do the job tomorrow I reckon I could get it done under 4hr. I say that only because its useful information, I actually never rush I’m aware of my limitations so do things carefully and always study the workshop manual.

I’m pretty sure you DO need to remove that bulkhead sound insulation on the driver’s side but perhaps after you have taken out those ABS pipes it could be pushed/shoved down out of the way. But I doubt it. Mine was fairly ruined by how I stupidly cut it, also it got damaged coming out so I just binned it. I can’t really hear any difference in engine noise to be honest. Maybe a tiny bit but I actually enjoy hearing the engine when I’m driving it so I’m not bothered.

I gave the EGR pipes a good clean with carb cleaner and a bottle brush I got from Dunelm for a quid. I think the whole inside of the intake manifold is going to be really sooted up I saw a video on Youtube of someone taking the entire intake manifold off and soaking it in a drain cleaner and detergent, I might give that a go. Also the fuel guage has died and is pointing straight down so that might be the next job. As I mentioned earlier the power steering fluid is disgusting and brown so might do that next.





 

But for now I took it for a Jet Wash and had the sheer joy of driving it without Restricted Performance for the first time since I inherited this car nearly 4 months ago

Thanks for reading I hope this helps you.

 

Please ignore the pictures beyond this point. I don't know why they're showing and I can't delete them. One final FACEPALM!! 🙂