V60 d3 vea egr
 

Hello all,

We have a 2015 V60 with the vea engine which has recently brought up the engine management light. It’s been into a Volvo specialist who services the car to have it diagnosed. It needs a new EGR and they want £1000 plus vat to put it right.

Has anyone had success with help from Volvo in sorting a 5 yr old car with there well known Issue?

Has anyone had success in stripping and cleaning the valve and cooler to get it going again?

Thanks

Hi,

There is a long read thread about EGR issues on VEA engines, check it there: https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...21555&page=246

For sure, numerous owners and forum members managed to get EGR cooler replacement paid by Volvo, but you have to talk to Volvo dealer and Customer Support.

If you want to try to fix it buy yourself, there is detailed video on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zz6qefBV08

BR

There is an EGR valve and there is also an EGR cooler.

The normal issue is the EGR cooler, which gets blocked. I was quoted £351.50 for the cooler, plus one hour's labour plus VAT by my local specialist.

More importantly, have you checked to see what outstanding recalls there are on your car?

My 2014 64-reg V70 had one for an ECM (Engine Control Modules) software upgrade to prevent the possibility of a melted inlet manifold.

When it went in for this to be addressed, the Volvo dealer also checked for other fault codes and found that the EGR cooler was blocked. (The engine warning light was also on, which meant that emissions were definitely too high. A definite pointer towards a possible blocked EGR cooler.)

The dealer then had no hesitation in getting Volvo to cough up for a new EGR cooler, the third that the car has had. (The original was replaced in 2017 in relation to a previous recall.)


My local Volvo specialist is of the opinion that the very latest EGR cooler design might just be the one to really sort out this ongoing issue, so I'm hopeful that the problem is now permanently fixed.

In short, find a reputable Volvo dealer who's happy to fight your corner on this and you should be OK.

I havent had any related fault codes, but in a bid to reduce the chance of issues, and to try and clean the intake side of the engine, due to noticed soot build up, I took the egr off, split it from the cooler and cleaned it with brake cleaner. It wasnt entirely blocked, but it wasnt far off.

The amount of gunk that came out was untrue. My car had 130k at the time, and had had warranty work by the previous owner, when looking at the pipework layout in the bay.

I also cleaned the inlet manifold and pipework, which must have been 1cm thick with sticky crud, on the butterfly valve and the manifold inlet valves. After this was all cleaned, all i can say is that it has transformed the car, giving it more power, and response, along with a happier idle and much less smoke. My average mpg went up a little, by about 1mpg, which was an added bonus.

In your position, similar to mine, you've got nothing to lose to have a go yourself. All my work took me about 6 hours, due to the amount you've got to strip down, and the fact that I was learning as I went abit how to strip it down.

How about the intake valve stems? Did you see much soot/crud build-up there?

Even though it's still only on 86k miles, mine has had two replacement EGR coolers, one EGR valve and a complete intake manifold/swirl valve assembly, all replaced by Volvo... I did have to contribute 50% (£337) towards the valve, but everything else was covered by 100% Volvo goodwill.

It was suggested to me by the dealer that automatic/blanket Volvo goodwill contributions would cease at 5 year old/100k miles, although most dealers could still make a case out for their regular customers with full service history.

Hi Zeb

From when I had it apart, they didn't look too bad although I dont recall being able to see too much either. I also couldn't face going any further in by that point, I was running out of light and still had to get it all back together (and working) for the next morning.

Hi James,

Any chance you took some videos/photos while you're cleaning all that stuff?
Can you give us more details what exactly you've done? Did you have to replace some gaskets, etc...?

BR

Hi

Sadly, I didn't take photos. I didn't realise at the time it would be useful for others.

In terms of what to do, the coolant needs dropping to take the cooler away from the egr.

The air box comes off, along with the vacuum box, and the connectors, various wiring connectors that sit over the manifold, which are fairly obvious once your in front of it. The bolts holding the manifold on are easy to get at, but the bolts holding the egr and cooler on are awful.

The clip to remove the butterfly valve from the manifold is also tricky, but strsightforwards. Once I had the valve and manifold apart, I slathered it in brake cleaner, with lots of rags to rub, brush and wipe the soot off. With the cooler, I sat it face up, filled it with brake cleaner, and let it sit for about an hour and a half. The liquid turned black and slushy. With it held upside down, I then sprayed more brake cleaner in to get the rest of the residue out. Then leave it, so its fully dry. Your car doesnt like taking in sludge and brake cleaner!

As for the manifold and the port valves, I did the same, but you need a long stick and a clock on the end to get all around the inside of the manifold. I didn't take the port valves off, but if you did, youd achieve a better clean.

Then it's a case of putting it back together, hopefully in the right way, and refilling the coolant.

My next job is to tackle the emap sensor, but I've got my cambelt which is currently pressing.

Cheers

Thanks all for your reply’s, It is my dads car so I am only going off what the specialist has told him. I’m a mechanic for a tractor dealership and unfortunately a little to familiar with the downfalls of the modern Diesel engine strangled by emissions control. Luckily I can bring the car into the workshop to remove and clean the valve and cooler. Its got to be worth a little time to try before having to shell out. With a euro car parts discount code a new valve from them is £520 but I am unsure if this comes with the cooler as well or just the valve. Hopefully it won’t come to that as Volvo will want considerably more!

With the current Covid situation I am unsure how the local Volvo dealer is operating and how long there waiting list is or how much help they can be. But probably worth a phone call before doing anything. The car does have Volvo history and has already had a valve on it before in 2016 under warranty so they may be of help in which case they are welcome to the job haha.

I will add some pictures if I do decide to get it in bits, thanks again

Are you certain that the valve itself needs replacing?