EGR valve question

[Airborne-V50]

Hi all V50 drivers!

First of all I have to say that Volvo V50 2.0D is great car, previouselly I had S40 1.8 MY 1997 and there is great improvement in V50.

My V50 is MY 2004 and I bought it in july 2006 with 74000km, imported from Belgium.
I have it for three months now and it was great without any foults until now.
The car seems to have some kind of acceleration problem and sometimes does't accelerate like it should, but there is no sign of the infamous limp hole. Since it has 80000km now, I drove it to the dealer here in Ljubljana Slovenia for a regular service. They informed me that EGR valve needs to be replaced.

I have read a lot of threads concerning this issue here on this very informative forum, and now have the big question. Is it ok if I just disconect the EGR valve?

I have no idea which version of software is in my car, so I would be very happy if somebody told me which FW uprgrade is the best for my car, so I can tell my dealer.

I am asking this because the car is 3 months out of warranty and I don't wan't to change the EGR again in short period. The EGR replacement costs here cca 400EUR.

Since V50 2.0D has been in production for more than 2 years now I ask You is it ok just to unhook the EGR, or are there any noticable minuses in doing so?

And another thing, my dealer told me that the EGR replacement is quite difficult and it tkase at least 2 hours, is that true?

I read that EGR is pretty easy to disconnect and therefore probably not so complicated to replace, or am I wrong?

I just want my car to work as it used to. I would gladly pay the 400EUR if it guarateed that the problem is fixed, but if it is just as good without EGR, is also ok.

Thank you for all your opinions.

Yours for now, not yet too frustrated V50 2.0 D driver.

[jazzyr1]

the valve takes about an hour,they have been modified in that they now have a stronger motor which is supposed to help the valve from sticking,what is does actually do is make it take longer before it starts sticking,as for diconnecting it,i wouldnt,it'll put the m.i.l light on hope this helps

[Airborne-V50]

Thanks Jazzyr1!

I will try and disconnect it to see what happens, I hope that there will be no m.i.l. light, because the car has apparentlly some software update and it doesn't go to limp home mode, and doesn't show any message on the m.i.l. even now when EGR is faulty. The error is only shown when the car is connected with diagnostic computer.

The main thing I am worried about disconnecting the valve is that it would put engine in danger.
Because I'm not good in engines, I don't know how the EGR effects the engine and what happens when it is disconnected.
If I disconnect it and there is no error message on the m.i.l. and the car runs normally, is it okay to leave it that way(with EGR disconneted)?

And one more thing, what does m.i.l. stand for? My quess is messages on the board computer?

Bye!

[Airborne-V50]

I disconnected the EGR and went for a test drive and the car acted completelly normal the driving acceleration and all was like it's supposed to be, so no problems there. There is also no warning message on the board computer(no m.i.l. light) so everything is just normal.

I then connected EGR valve back to see the difference and now looks like the EGR is working normally again, as the car acted normally and drove like it did without the EGR.
I think my EGR is currentlly working normally so I will wait when it starts making trouble and then disconnect it to see the real difference.
bye