WOW NEW EGR BECAUSE ANTI-SHUDDER BROKEN?

hey everyone, I had the great joy of cleaning the intake and intercooler on my '00 NB today. Wow, it was fun, in a wierd sort of way but man was it clogged! I broke the plastic linkage piece that connects the anti-shudder to the EGR...just like SOOOOO many of you all have warned me about!! I even knew NOT to break it, DAMN IT I broke it! The stealership told my girlfriend that they don't sell the anti-shudder valve by itself, we had to buy a whole NEW EGR valve! Is this right? I thought for sure that they sold that thing...is there anyone out there who has bought it seperately? Hmmmm...STEALERSHIP!! EGR was 200 bucks, by the way! Now she's clean as a <turbo> whistle and runs like never before. But it still smokes some at WOT...hoping to do the VAG-COM EGR recalibration and IQ setting over the next few days. Thanks for the great instructions all!!
Took me all of 5.5 hours total including lunch and a walk to the station to get some gas and diesel to clean out the intercooler (A SMALL BIT OF SAND IN THE INTERCOOLER!! EEEK!)
~~~~~> Scott

You do not have to replace the EGR for a broken anti shudder. Just make sure it's all the way open, and leave it alone. If you don't like the shudder when you shut down, use a piece of coat hanger to activate it. You could also use a rubber band wrapped around both pieces, that should fix it also. I broke mine when I cleaned my intake, and have been living with a short small shudder on shutdown.

awww, I wish I knew that!!!! --Scott

soo... nobody feels my pain!??!
~~~> Scott

soo... nobody feels my pain!??!

~~~> Scott

Click to expand...

Naw. Should have searched first

I broke mine. Got some Goop and a short metal piece from a coat hanger and fixed it. But I heard that it depends where you break it. I broke it right in the middle so it was an easy repair.

The shudder valve is very easy to fix. Don't even need to take the EGR off. I broke mine right at the base. Here is what it looks like:
Just take a small screw & washer & reattach the two pieces. There was already a hollow spot in the shaft, but I lengthened it a bit with a small drill bit. A shorter screw would also work
Here is the valve assembly apart. Its just held together with some barbs. Just pry it gently apart with a flathead screwdriver.
To remove the valve, just twist it out of its bracket. replacement is the opposite of removal.

Just install a DG race pipe and forget it

lol bawlsyTDI I did, I knew I could break it...It was funny my girl came in right when I broke it, I had told her of the "plastic piece that breaks easily" she laughed at me and said, "Well, at least you knew you were gonna break it!"
---Scott

Impex sells the same EGR valve for $168.00. Next time, if you have time, you can save some money by not buying from the dealership.

Glad you got it fixed.

L

What did ya do with the old EGR?

lol you mean the STEALERSHIP!!! (Sadly enough, I was leaving on a 4,000 mile road trip the next morning!)

Yeah, now I have a $200 paperweight that reminds me why EGR on a Diesel engine is a bad idea! (I left it all clogged)

--Scott

In your experience during what part of the cleaning operation is the part most vulnerable for breakage?

Thanks

Well, the part where I was taking the plastic piece off without actually having to! Man, it really looks like it should pop right off with no problem! Instead, it breaks with no problem I guess I could have left it hooked up and just cleaned the EGR over the engine in a pan or something...EGR mod (thanks Lyle!) says I should never have to mess with it anymore!
---Scott

I sure hope that none of you guys that have left the broken anti-shudder broken never have a turbo or other kind of failure that blows oil into the intake. You'll have no way to shut down the engine, and it'll overrev until it self destructs.

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Powder Hound said:
I sure hope that none of you guys that have left the broken anti-shudder broken never have a turbo or other kind of failure that blows oil into the intake. You'll have no way to shut down the engine, and it'll overrev until it self destructs.

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I will just put mine in 5th and let the clutch out while stopped... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I broke mine at the vacuum hose nipple. Anyone got a fix for that???

did the same thing, i have just left vacuum hose hanging around. doesnt reallt btogher anything except shutdown rougher

Guys....simple way around breaking these. Don't remove the freakin' thing from the car! Sheesh. I have cleaned about 15 intakes and NEVER remove this or disconnect the EGR. I just clean it ON the car. No broken parts.

Depending on how clogged it is, cleaning it over the engine can be messy. Besides, it is really easy to remove it without breaking it. Firstly, using a heat gun or hair dryer, heat the end of it. The heat will soften the plastic to allow it to bend more rather than break. Just use a flat head screwdriver and pry it off the stem.

I repaired another one today for a member who broke his. Here is where the break was:


Using some super glue or even model glue, put it back together. This is not to repair it since it will break in short order. It is to keep it together while performing the rest of the repair.


Cut a piece of sheet steel. If you don't have any, an old pop can or can o beans will work:


Cut the piece so that it looks something like this. I did this late on a Sat night (yes, I have no life) so It was a rush job and not very pretty, but you get the point.


Wrap the piece around the end of the connecting rod. This will hold it all together & strengthen the piece.


Now wrap the tabs around the rod to secure the piece in place.


I used a pice of shrink wrap tubing to make it a little more asthetically pleasing. It will also help to hold everything together.


Now just reassemble the rod back in the diaphragm and reinstall onto the EGR valve. The steel band will hold up better than the plastic one.

Wingnut is simply amazing.

Excellent idea!!!.
Thanks for the post...
This looks like a permanent solution too.

Can you just clean the EGR by removing the intercooler pipe and cleaning around the vave w/ your fingers?

(every 20 000 kms)

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Can you just clean the EGR by removing the intercooler pipe and cleaning around the vave w/ your fingers?

(every 20 000 kms)

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Nope. The butterfly valve is in the way. The clogging goes quite deep into the intake. Even taking of the EGR to clean it is not always enough. Intake removal is the prefered method to get it all, but you could clean just the EGR and the beginning part of the intake if you are very carefull not to drop any chunks into the intake.

I was able to fix my busted anti-shudder valve with cable ties and metal rods that act as a splint. Works great for over 20,000 kms since my EGR cleanout.

Next time I cleanout the EGR, I just clip off the cable ties, and do the work, then put new ties on when I'm done. Hence I don't keep breaking this anti-shudder control arms.

So, I would say to all the posters in this thread: DON'T bother getting a new EGR from Impex or whereever, just repair it like I've done or the other posters have shown and you'll be fine. No point replacing this plastic piece with another new plastic piece if you're just going to break it again.

Good one!

The butterfly valve is not spring loaded so it does not take a super strong fix to make it work. It depends on where the rod breaks. There are many possible fixes for a variation of break locations.

Anyone else have pics on thier fix?

nice fix wingnut /images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Firstly, using a heat gun or hair dryer, heat the end of it. The heat will soften the plastic to allow it to bend more rather than break. Just use a flat head screwdriver and pry it off the stem.

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I took the advice of somone on this board who said NOT to disconned the butterfly valve linkage at all. Just pull the vacuum hose and remove the whole assembly. Be gentle with it and it'll come off O.K. Someone else recommeded cutting the vacuum hose and installing a butt joint. That way, the next time you clean it all you have to do is separate it at the joint.

Here's my EGR valve before cleaning, and you can see the vacuum line. By gently twisting it on the fitting with a slip-joint pliers and by prying gently with a small screwdriver at the end I was able to get it off. The fabric covering got a little frayed, but the hose is O.K.

Nice repair!

Even gentle twisting might not be easy enough, I know.

[quote
I took the advice of somone on this board who said NOT to disconned the butterfly valve linkage at all. Just pull the vacuum hose and remove the whole assembly. Be gentle with it and it'll come off O.K. Someone else recommeded cutting the vacuum hose and installing a butt joint. That way, the next time you clean it all you have to do is separate it at the joint.



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There is no wrong or right way to take off the EGR. Everyones car is different and different tecniques work for different people. Age can be a factor too. The older the car, the more stuck on the vacuum lines can be. If the vacuum line comes off, then great. I just prefer to remove the rod because if the vacuum nipple breaks, it is more difficult to repair than the rod. I am just speaking from my experiences here, but I have removed about a dozen EGR's and have not broken one rod with the heatgun method.

Someone else did it by taking the vacuum line off at the diaphragm and ended up breaking the nipple. He had a good fix for it. He used a straw from a WD40 can or somthing like that to join the two pieces of the nipple back together. It acted like a sleeve to reinforce the joint.

Cutting the line is by far the safest way to remove it. But some people are anal about cutting & splicing joints. Even though it is simple and there are other similar joints in the vacuum system, some people prefer it to be 100% original. So as I said before, it all depends on the person doing the job. Whatever works is good.