EGR blanking and sluggish response

What about this then, regarding the EGR blanking ?

I've a 98 R-reg three door 300 tdi XS, with 94k on the clock. All regularly serviced, with interval being every 6k for oil, and 12k for fuel filter and air filter.

I use it as a shooting bus, and had not done anything with her since October. I took her for MOT and she needed some welding that required the fuel tank to come out. My mate did this at his garage, and she was returned with her ticket.

I put £50 of diesel into the tank, bringing it up to just short of half full, as it had old fuel in it.

I drove it about forty miles to rugby training and back, a mixture of windy country roads and dual carriageway. She would flatten out about 2250 revs, and even with foot to the floor she wouldn't go above 55 miles an hour.

I thought it might be air getting in after the tank had been taken out. I couldn't see any problems. I decided to give it a service, doing oil, fuel and air filters. I put 7.5 l of oil in, and blanked the egr at the same time.

Started it up and drove less than half a mile and she was gutless. She wouldn't rev above 2000 and idle was down to a very lumpy 400 or so. I took her straight back home, and put it in garage overnight.

I realised I'd overfilled the oil, and drained the lot off. It was absolutely filthy already, and whilst not as thin as what had come out after the initial oil service, it was certainly as black.

Refilled with 5.8 litres and started her up again. Again, it was lumpy as foooook, and was chucking out loads of blue smoke, and really stinking. Idle was again between 4-500 and was cutting out. It would rev, but not past 2000.

I took off the EGR blanking kit, and reconnected as it was before.

Hey presto ! Back to normal performance. It's still a bit flatter than I remember it being, but I've been driving around in my 4.4v8 this winter, so I'm not sure if I have just forgotten that it was a bit glacial in it's performance.

Any tips for improving the performance, or ideas as to why my motor seems the only one not to benefit from an EGR blanking will be gladly received.

It's a new one on me, but there are plenty on here who might be able to give a more informed response.

I think they will first ask for a little claifications as to what exactly it was that you fitted. Was it a blanking plate only, or was it a full egr delete kit (the better option to go for)?

i can't pin point it. but some things to check.

fuel filters (sedi, lift pump, fuel) since the crap in the tank could have got stirred up.

also air leak in fuel pipe (use clear pipe), not bled properly, lift pump knackered.

air side, filter dirty, split in pipe from turbo to pump, de-laminated pipes, no boost

dunno the answer, but did you 'plug' the little pipe as well ??

Maaarrghk said:

I think they will first ask for a little claifications as to what exactly it was that you fitted. Was it a blanking plate only, or was it a full egr delete kit (the better option to go for)?

Click to expand...

I just fitted the blanking plate at the manifold. I was thinking of getting the pipe to bypass completely, and just insulating the electrical feed to the sensor.

trax said:

fuel filters (sedi, lift pump, fuel) since the crap in the tank could have got stirred up.

also air leak in fuel pipe (use clear pipe), not bled properly, lift pump knackered.

air side, filter dirty, split in pipe from turbo to pump, de-laminated pipes, no boost

Click to expand...

Lift and fuel pumps seems fine, and I will look at sedimemtor later. I thought this would just take water out. Should I completely remove and clean ?

I changed the fuel filter and bled the fuel through. I wasn't sure what you meant by "use clear pipe"?

The air filter was filthy but has been changed for new, and whilst no splits, I haven't checked for delamination. I'll get those jubilee clips off this afternoon.

Chrisw8 said:

dunno the answer, but did you 'plug' the little pipe as well ??

Click to expand...

I didn't, as I thought blanking at the manifold meant you didn't have to.

Cheers for the replies Maaaargh, Chris, and trax. This forum is chock-ful of legends.

damoyorkie said:

Lift and fuel pumps seems fine, and I will look at sedimemtor later. I thought this would just take water out. Should I completely remove and clean ?

I changed the fuel filter and bled the fuel through. I wasn't sure what you meant by "use clear pipe"?

The air filter was filthy but has been changed for new, and whilst no splits, I haven't checked for delamination. I'll get those jubilee clips off this afternoon.

Click to expand...

you can use clear pipe instead of fuel line is useful to see if you get air bubbles.

i'd just chuck the sedi in the bin and bypass it.

at this point, you might as well just give the whole system a go over.

fuel pump test, is unplug the fuel solenoid wire going into pump, undo pipe at filter end, stick in jar and crank it over.. you should get a nice squirt.

bleed the filter when done.

on turbo side, check for splits or air escaping the pipes or intercooler when the engine is running with a bit of revs. the rubber pipes should go hard. (you can also knock up a pressure tester if needs be)

since you just de-egr'd it, take the top pipe off and see if the inlet manifold is full of crap. it might need taking off and cleaning out (new gaskets)

i just removed all the egr stuff, but the pipe left is connected to the brakes iirc, so if you don't remove/block it the brakes will suffer.

lastly if you think the fuel is correct, air is correct then drop the exhaust pipe from the manifold incase it's full of crap and restricting flow.