Another VW EGR valve problem.

JabbaTheHut

I have a 2011 1.6 VW Touran. Just over 165,000km on it. It went into limp mode today and also brought on the engine management light.

I plugged in VCDS and it gives me this error:

1 Fault Found:
7343 - EGR Sensor 2
P0407 00 [168] - Signal too Low
MIL ON - Intermittent - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 165108 km
Date: 2016.11.30
Time: 17:33:29

There were 4 Fault Frequencys, but I cleared the codes, and the fault reappeared within 5 mins of driving. I understand that it is not uncommon for the EGR valves on these engines to fail. And a search of the fault code does indeed suggest it is the EGR valve that is at fault.

So, assuming it IS the egr valve, does anyone have any experience of the reconditioned ones on ebay for €200 or so? They are supposed to be genuine ones as opposed to aftermarket ones.

Or is giving them a good clean worth my while?

I believe a new one from VW is around the €600-€700 mark. Pretty steep, but assuming it'd last another 160,000 kms , perhaps I'd be better off.

Edit: I know it's pretty cold out there, but noticed in the last week or so that from cold, it took a good 15 minutes to reach full temperature. Maybe this has nothing to do with it, but could the egr valve be causing this, which would also point to it being in trouble?

nailstar

I've just picked my 2.0l 2011 Passat up from the garage this evening after egr valve replacement...

I'm a female so not very savvy but the error I got was P0403 'exhaust gas recirculation control unit'
I'm having trouble since last weekend, same as you went into limp mode and the coil light kept flashing, the garage done some kind of 'regeneration' but it happened again after about 100km.
I also noticed it took a lot longer for the temperature to rise but thought it might be the colder weather.
I know they gave me a bit of a reduction on the labour cost as I had only got a full service last week, but my total bill was €607 today, I was expecting it to be about €850.
Not sure if this is any help to you or not and I assume it wasn't a VW one they fit, I have 167,000 km on it

JabbaTheHut

I think the regeneration is for the diesel particle filter, in the exhaust system. That, it seems, can also fail, but I'm not sure if that's my problem or not. That's kinda why I'm here at the minute.

At least it was a little bit cheaper than what you were expecting. Hope it goes well for you.

Tigger

P r Reillys do the new type egr valve for vag cars for 400 if you haggle

Toyotafanboi

Around €800 fitted at a main dealer. 2 year warranty and peace of mind :pac:

Parts are around €450 iirc, even if you get them fitted elsewhere to reduce labour it's possibly better than an ebay recon.

JabbaTheHut

Tigger wrote: »

P r Reillys do the new type egr valve for vag cars for 400 if you haggle

I found out that micksgarage does it for €384. I don't know what make it is though. A Bosch or Mahle or the makers that produce for VW would be fine. I know the local motor factors quiet well from dealing with them for 25 years, allbeit not so much for the last few years, so will give them a buzz in the morning.

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Around €800 fitted at a main dealer. 2 year warranty and peace of mind :pac:

Parts are around €450 iirc, even if you get them fitted elsewhere to reduce labour it's possibly better than an ebay recon.

€800 fitted? That seems cheaper than any posts I've seen regarding a dealership. Has the genuine valve come down in price?

I forgot to add, that it's a UK import, so it's doubtful that I'd get any goodwill.

nailstar

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Around €800 fitted at a main dealer. 2 year warranty and peace of mind :pac:

Parts are around €450 iirc, even if you get them fitted elsewhere to reduce labour it's possibly better than an ebay recon.

Main dealer quoted me €1150

dodzy

nailstar wrote: »

Main dealer quoted me €1150

Sweet Jesus. KY at the ready.

George Dalton

Those non genuine reconditioned valves are a waste of time. They just don't last. We took one off a 2012 Passat on Tuesday that had been on the car less than 6 months.

Given how labour intensive the job is, you are definitely better off paying for the genuine part. The newer part is improved anyway so shouldn't fail again. It is also worth noting that even if VW don't fit the valve, the parts are still covered by the VW 2 year warranty.

JabbaTheHut

Yeah. That's why I would go for a genuine part. I believe it's a dose to do, so don't want to be ripping it apart again.

JabbaTheHut

So, I spoke with a VW dealer. He said the valve is €750, plus a charge of another €100 for a software update, if it is done by an independent garage.

Special Circumstances

Delete delete??

George Dalton

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

So, I spoke with a VW dealer. He said the valve is €750, plus a charge of another €100 for a software update, if it is done by an independent garage.

He said the parts are €750? Or the whole job?

JabbaTheHut

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Delete delete??

I wasn't going to, but at more than a grand for the job I'd nearly consider it.

George Dalton wrote: »

He said the parts are €750? Or the whole job?

I think he said it was just for the parts.
I rang another couple of other dealers. Both said it would be €390 +VAT retail for the part. One said I'd be better off getting gaskets as well, around the €50 mark, and another said I'd need gaskets and 3 other pipes at about €50 each. Neither of them mentioned anything about a software update

George Dalton

Yeah I don't know what yer man was on about with the €750 price. The valve is €389.61 + VAT and as the other dealers said you are better off getting new gaskets etc as well.

The software update is pretty much irrelevant IMO. The valves fail due to poor design and manufacture, no amount of software is going to make up for that!

JabbaTheHut

I've asked one of the dealers about some goodwill, and am waiting for them to get back to me. There is a full service history on it, but I'm not holding out much hope. Having said that, with the amount of them failing (one of the dealers told me they replace at least 10 a month), it's a design flaw by VW. If a car was well looked after or not, it is still going to fail.

JabbaTheHut

So the dealer contacted me. It is not covered by any goodwill.

Special Circumstances

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

So the dealer contacted me. It is not covered by any goodwill.

"EGR?? No no they rarely give trouble" kinda conversation was it?

Toyotafanboi

The goodwill threshold with is usually vehicles up to 5 years old for issues like this.

JabbaTheHut

Special Circumstances wrote: »

"EGR?? No no they rarely give trouble" kinda conversation was it?

Lol. Not quiet. I reckoned from the way I was talking that he knew I wouldn't believe him. He put it in a way that they give trouble, but not always. There was no point in me trying to tell him anything different because he knows exactly what the story was.

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The goodwill threshold with is usually vehicles up to 5 years old for issues like this.

Well, I was told that there was only a 2 year warranty with it, and the goodwill was never going to cover that. It's just over 5 years old since November, so I am destined to have to fork out.

show me the money.1

You could get someone to code the EGR valve out for €300 job done never to give trouble again.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, it had a 2 year warranty when new but VW are fairly flexable in terms of offering goodwill up to 5 years of age, but the cut off is fairly strict at 60 months.

What was the date of first reg?

JabbaTheHut

November 4 2011. Close, but no cigar. I can understand that there has to be a cut off alright.

Toyotafanboi

Jaysis, that's tough.

Best bet then is to buy the parts genuine and get someone decent to fit.