EGR Valve Cleaning

[Davidasherson]

I am hoping for some guidance please. My 2013 XC60 D5 AWD (2014 spec) has done 105000kms. It started jerking intermittently at low revs so I pulled off the inlet manifold pressure sensor to see if it was dirty. I also noticed that the fuel consumption had become higher than normal. The sensor was completely clogged and looked like a charcoal lollipop. After cleaning, the car seems to be fine. Do I now also need to do the same with the EGR valve given that in SA we only have 50ppm as the lowest sulphur diesel?
After the manifold pressure sensor cleaning that took 5 mins, the EGR looks like quite a different story.
Thanks

[Davidasherson]

Eventually took the plunge. The EGR valve was certianly worth cleaning. quite full of carbon and the car seems perfect.
Just a word or warning. It is a very messy job and my garage floor needed cleaning with solvent afterwards. Definitely wear gloves that you are happy to throw away!

[mastic]

Can I ask what you used to clean it with. I've heard brake cleaner but it says it's not safe on plastics. (noob here sorry)

[Davidasherson]

I used carburettor cleaner.

[Shaqs1977]

Originally Posted by mastic

Can I ask what you used to clean it with. I've heard brake cleaner but it says it's not safe on plastics. (noob here sorry)

I’ve used brake cleaner in the past on my mk4 golf. Messy job is an understatement. Accidentally stepped in it and walked through the house and up the stairs. Ex mrs at the time wasn’t impressed at all. Did notice a big difference afterwards though.

[xc60sun]

you could delete the EGR and use a blanking plate to cover it.

[RDesign4Life]

EGR system on D5s is not usually problematic as the cooler is a straight through design. It's on the 4 cylinder VEA engine in the FWD D4s where Volvo fundamentally flawed the design by introducing a 180 degree bend in the cooler (presumably to save space in the engine bay for layout of other ancillaries). This stupid 'u' turn configuration inside the cooler's galleries causes a build up of deposits over time leading to reduced flow and eventual blockage but also causes upstream issues with excess soot build up on the valve and EMAP pipe all of these things will typically coax the tortoise out every few years even if you get the Volvo 'final' fix solution.

The final fix includes re-routed water hoses to reduce over-cooling, an improved cooler with enlarged internal galleries and probably some software mods. This seems to delay the appearance of the tortoise but not prevent it. I think the only way to banish the tortoise forever on the VEA is a good aftermarket EGR delete (just make sure you tell Volvo not to update your software if your car ever goes to them for any work after that as they will remove your remap and release the tortoise again).

Some will say such a delete is illegal but Volvo knew they had created this issue and still kept on pushing the cars out to unsuspecting customers which is a far greater crime in my opinion and nobody is bothered about that. At some point Volvo will stop paying goodwill contributions towards their EGR ****-ups maybe when cars are over 10 years old or over 100k miles or both (or whatever their legal adviser has said).

It's a huge shame they didn't just straighten the cooler and fix the 2.0 VEA engine properly at the beginning as soon as it became an issue as the engine is otherwise bloody great with nice power and really good mpg. The FWD XC60 made so much sense with only £30 road tax and 50mpg but all went to ****e because of the calzone cooler design.

[kdst5]

I believe it's not a problem in the SPA cars as the cooler is different. I am sort of assuming that the VEA engine was designed for the SPA cars. It was then used in the pre SPA cars for the last couple of years and they modified it to fit as best/cheap as possible know it wouldn't be used for very long like that.

I remember when looking for a couple of year old V70 in 2016 saying that I didn't want the new VEA engine and being told by the salesperson don't worry Volvo have come up with a permeant fix. I took no notice of them because 1. it was already on the 3rd attempt 2. the so-called final fix had only been out about 6 months at the time so how could they know it wasn't going to be a problem 2+ years down the line? I only looked at D5s and ignored the salesperson "advice".