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Espace: EGR Valve / Lowering Engine

3K views 13 replies 3 participants last post by  Donald 
#1 ·
You may recall I had an attempt at cleaning the EGR valve some time ago and couldn't get all the bolts back in.... well the damn thing came off today! Not sure if it's broke or just come undone but the whole unit, including the metal pipe has come off.

There simply isn't enough access, so I'm wondering if I need to take an engine mounting off, lower the engine for access or what other method I can adopt... If lowering the engine is the only way, then I'd appreciate a step by step as I've never done this before. The bloody MOT is up in 2 weeks and it was meant to be going in for it tomorrow morning!
 
#2 ·
Hi iam sorry iam not that familiar with your engine but a guess would be to drop it enough to give you that space you need to get all the bolts back in,iam just guessing here but taking the main side engine mount out and supporting the engine from underneath as you lower it making room for you to work,i hope this helps a little all the best Donald
 
#3 ·
Thanks Donald. I think this is beyond me, so will entrust it to a garage. The thing that is scaring me a bit is if I've actually broke something... There's a silverish pipe attached to one end of the egr valve which is still attached to the valve, but no longer attached to whereever else it is supposed to be attached to (the side I never touched!)
 
#5 ·
Well, my local guy isn't an expert on these... he's not done one of these before but I have faith!

He looked at it earlier... I've cross-threaded a bolt so I guess I need another EGR valve (I could probably re-tap it, but I've never done anything like that before). Worse still, the metal pipe from the EGR to the manifold(?) has broken, so I will need that at the very least.

He reckons that he might be able to access it if he can get the manifold off (the top one - is that inlet or exhaust??) Just need to know if I will need a gasket for this or not?
 
#7 ·
Silly question (probably), but will the EGR valve on a Laguna be the same as the one for an Espace (both have G8T engines I believe). GSF parts list 2 - one for a non-turbo diesel Laguna and one for a turbo diesel Laguna (96>) so I'm guessing this will also fit the Espace? £65 plus VAT - sound ok?
 
#9 ·
Laguna egr valve is the same my espace has the laguna engine in it to get the egr valve off is easy if you have small hands !!
Dropping the engine is possible take the mount off the engine and the centre bolt out the gearbox mount you need to support the engine on a jack obviously you can then lower it enough to see what you are doing

Forget trying to get the manifold off you need to take all sorts of bits off first and it is still a pain :) looks simple but it wont come out unless the engine is dropped first anyway
 
#10 ·
Thanks Mr Espace / Donald.

With the engine dropped, will the guy also be able to fit the new metal pipe? How it that fitted anyway? 2 bolts? And does it also need a gasket?. Finally, is that pipe a dealer only part? I'm guessing yes! Thanks for the help!
 
#11 ·
The metal pipe should not be loose it fits into a casting which then bolts to the exhaust manifold with 2 bolts so you would need the whole thing a trip to a breakers may be your best bet
laguna one is the same seems to be different styles but any one from a 2.2td engine will do

And easier to get too!!
 
#12 · (Edited)
Top advice there, mr espace - thanks.

Well, finally got the car fixed today, but this is what happened....

Was having no luck locating second hand parts (and to be honest, I didn't think it would be worth it). In the end, I bought a brand new EGR valve from GSF Parts for £65 plus VAT. This is listed for the Laguna but is exactly the same for the Espace (using the G8T engine).

Anyways, as I also needed the metal pipe, a trip down to the dealers was in order. When I got there, I was told that they don't keep it in stock and would have to be ordered in, along with all the required bolts and gaskets. The problem was that, they wouldn't sell the pipe to me without the EGR valve as it was apparently a modified unit and you had to buy both (or it was sold as a sigle item or something like that)!

I wasn't happy but bit the bullet - total cost of parts was £212 of which £120-something plus VAT was for the EGR valve, £45-something plus VAT for the metal pipe, and the rest was for the 4 bolts (torx screws now), 2 nuts, 2 studs and the 3 gaskets.

Gave it to the local garage to fit today - he was cussing and cursing when I picked it back up. Even with the driver's side engine mounting removed and the gearbox centre bolt out (thanks again mr espace), he had to do most of it by 'feel' and from underneath using mirrors!

Now this is the amazing bit... took the car for a 5 minute blast... it was still smoking heavy, but the power was unbelievable! I was almost spinning the wheels when changing upto 2nd gear. Don't remember her having this much pull ever. Can the EGR make that much of a difference? Could hear the turbo whizzing aswell for the first time!

Anyhow, seems the smoke cleared after a while (it left a trail on the road when I first took her from the garage - was visble when I got back there).

Need to put a new MOT on her now. Think I need to take her for a good blast first though, to clear the exhaust and all that and this would probably give me a better idea of whether or not the car has iomproved (or if it's just a result of a lighter pocket :) )... any recommended products I could use?

PS, thanks to everyone for their help on this. Curious about the power increase with the EGR valve though
 
#13 ·
UPDATE:

The Espace flew through it's MOT today :d - very happy indeed about that.

Better still, it only smokes as a diesel should (been trying hard to make it smoke today before I took it in for the MOT to 'clear' the system). There also seems to be no more jerkiness (use to feel like it was 'missing' which of course being a diesel it was impossible).

Fingers crossed, hope this lasts
 
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