'03 ALH. PD150 Intake, EGR, and KermaTDI OMI woes.

Alright, this weekend I spent most of the time cussing (yeah, in German!) at the PD150 intake swap. Started with a stripped allen head on a manifold bolt and went down from there. (Irwin Bolt-Grip works fantastic for this by the way. Found that hint somewhere on these forums I think.)

The woes started when I realized that with the kit from ryanp you would lose the water/coolant based EGR cooler (not his fault, this is just the way it is, if you're considering a Euro part or 6-speed purchase from him, go for it, awesome guy to deal with, ships everything lightning fast to the States) u'd just have a pipe. This would lead to a less efficient EGR system, longer warm up times, higher intake temps, and I'm guessing loss of fuel economy in certain situtations. All bad for those of us in the quest for better performance AND fuel mileage. (I'm okay with cleaning my intake out every so often using the blow torch & compressed air method to de-soot. My non Diesel friends find it entertaining.)

I accepted that loss and proceeded with the install bypassing the water based EGR cooler and then discovered that you cannot bolt the KermaTDI Old Man Intake (OMI) down in either of it's mount points with the PD150 intake set up as the vacuum actuator is now in the way of the pipe as it's 3/4" or so more toward the driver side (LHD) of the vehicle.

So at this point, now I'm very frustrated.

As it turns out all you need is a 3/4"-13/16" or so spacer (a piece that could easily be laser cut) between the intake manifold and the EGR, and you need to shorten the height of the EGR cooler pipe just a hair (guessing 1/8" or so) to retain the stock ALH coolant/water based EGR cooler. The OMI probably won't bolt up exactly, but extensions could be welded to the existing bracket without issue.

Am I really missing something? Is there a euro EGR system that's better suited for this, or should I just proceed with the making of a spacer to accomplish this goal? Or am I just completely nuts for thinking I can keep EGR with a PD150 intake and add an OMI?

Dave, Folsom is like 20 minutes from my house. I've got plenty of experience modifying the EGR systems in these cars and could give you a hand if you need it. PM me - I've got VCDS too.

Sean

Sean,

I'm actually in North Covington, right on the Covington/Folsom border. Modifying it doesn't seem to be an issue, We would just need some sort of spacer, or a way to make a new pipe from the bottom of the EGR valve to the EGR cooler. For me, having a spacer laser cut is actually easier based on what I've got at my disposal, but if there's a handy way to bend EGR sized pipe, that would work also.

I'll PM you with my contact information, always nice to find another local TDI'er.

I can send you an EGR cooler for shipping costs if you like to save trouble. Most people want the whole lot throwing away!

A small spacer sounds like the best bet or a PD150 TIP kit, haha!

RyanP, So, the PD 150 had/ has an EGR cooler in the UK?

BTW: My 6 speed is still just as perfect as the day I installed it!

Subscribed:

I have the kermaTDI OMI intake kit, which still appears as an improvement over the stock PD150 intake just at a glance, but who knows for sure without a flow bench.

I will be e-mailing you about the costs and pictures of a PD150 EGR cooler.

Thanks!

ryanp said:

I can send you an EGR cooler for shipping costs if you like to save trouble. Most people want the whole lot throwing away!

A small spacer sounds like the best bet or a PD150 TIP kit, haha!

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dremd said:

RyanP, So, the PD 150 had/ has an EGR cooler in the UK?

BTW: My 6 speed is still just as perfect as the day I installed it!

Subscribed:

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Yeah most did, generally the ALH crowd dont have or want the cooler so i send the removal pipe, the picture was in my topic but here it is again:

Deebeaux said:

I have the kermaTDI OMI intake kit, which still appears as an improvement over the stock PD150 intake just at a glance, but who knows for sure without a flow bench.

I will be e-mailing you about the costs and pictures of a PD150 EGR cooler.

Thanks!

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Replied

ryanp to the rescue as always. Thanks, man!

I've got a PD150 TIP kit and a PD150 EGR cooler in route to me.

We'll see how the OMI works with the newer EGR cooler, or we'll just switch to the PD150 intake pipe otherwise.

Either way, I'll have either a kermaTDI OMI (brand new) or a PD150 TIP for sale when this is over.

When I got my PD150 intake from Ryan, I was able to get it with the uncooled EGR pipe which worked fine with my Oldman OMI. It's a great option if you want to keep the EGR working, but reducing chances of clogging the intake by not condensing moisture from the exhaust gasses. Also a must is either an elephant hose mod or an oil separator to minimize oil that goes into the intake that combines with soot to create that sludge.

the egr coolersare also prone to leaking over time.

I suppose I will follow up now.

I got the entire EGR cooler from ryanp at a good price and super fast as always.

Turns out all you need from the PD150 setup is the small short pipe that runs from the bottom of the EGR valve to the EGR cooler. Replacing the entire cooler is not necessary. The good news is, I now have a spare EGR cooler in case mine ever leaks/fails/etc...

Really enjoying the new setup, once I adapt the PD150 airbox and MAF to the OMI, I will be getting the car tuned with all the other goodies I've got. Should turn out to be a nice improvement.

i just found this in a search about the Kerma OMI...

why the hell do you WANT your EGR hooked up?

Since this got bumped, I'm now running the same PD150 setup as deebeaux, works great.

As FYI on why I run EGR, I got almost the same MPG boost fixing it as I got from the 6 speed.

no i meant why run the EGR and blow all that crap back INTO the engine? the entire point of removing it is to keep your intake, head and most of all your engine clean.

i do understand the warm up aspect of it, i do wish i had mine for that reason.

According to a white paper posted by drivebiwire EGR also reduces EGT's.
My intake stays squeaky clean thanks to water injection.
Oh, emissions also.
NOT trying to tell anyone what to do, just why I like keeping mine.

Yeah decreases egt, but only when egr is used, at Part throttle! Thats not the time where egts are a problem.

Despite the bs gains from egr, I have dynamic egr for warmup purposes, using an uncooled egr.

My understanding is EGR is mainly at startup to reduce NOx. After warm up it is off. There is a coolerless EGR setup as well, which I used on my car for certification.

Is it possible to put just the cooler part of the EGR back on?

without egr flow through it, it wont do much to pass heat

Deebeaux said:

I suppose I will follow up now.

I got the entire EGR cooler from ryanp at a good price and super fast as always.

Turns out all you need from the PD150 setup is the small short pipe that runs from the bottom of the EGR valve to the EGR cooler. Replacing the entire cooler is not necessary. The good news is, I now have a spare EGR cooler in case mine ever leaks/fails/etc...

Really enjoying the new setup, once I adapt the PD150 airbox and MAF to the OMI, I will be getting the car tuned with all the other goodies I've got. Should turn out to be a nice improvement.

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Do you have a part number for the piece? or a good image of it?

Living in CA i would like to keep my car emissions to be able to pass smog. I would like to pick up the same piece as needed so i can run the PD150 with EGR so at least it looks as stock as possible for visual.

selfatvi said:

Do you have a part number for the piece? or a good image of it?
Living in CA i would like to keep my car emissions to be able to pass smog. I would like to pick up the same piece as needed so i can run the PD150 with EGR so at least it looks as stock as possible for visual.

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Just hit up Ryan P

We figured it out on a buddies car, I'm assuming Ryan remembers what you need to do it.
It's just the short pipe between the egr cooler and the egr valve / anti shutter valve. As FYI if visual inspection is all you need then the full on PD150 setup is where I'd go.

selfatvi said:

Do you have a part number for the piece? or a good image of it?
Living in CA i would like to keep my car emissions to be able to pass smog. I would like to pick up the same piece as needed so i can run the PD150 with EGR so at least it looks as stock as possible for visual.

Click to expand...

I beleive the upper egr cooler pipe for the pd150 is 038131521AT. I now have that pipe and 2 or 3 bad pd150 egr valves. I need a good pd150 EGR valve to finish the setup.

Thanks for the feedback. I would not mind doing the whole 150 setup but from what i read it seemed like i only needed the one piece which was different. I am waiting for my Pd150 manifold in the mail as we speak. It will be some time before i install it as i have other plans before that (injectors, downpipe, exhaust) so i got some time. Spend a lot of time reading than doing to make sure i am doing things right, first time with a tdi so lots to learn compared to my other cars.

In for more info. I want to go with a PD150 on my wagon.

I have an 01 alh golf and have Ryan's 150 setup coming with the egr valve and 90 deg elbow to my alh cooler. I just noticed my lower egr pipe sprung a leak so I asked Ryan to include the lower pipe and he did! Thanks Ryan but I don't understand why that lower pipe won't fit my alh egr system cause I wanted to fix the leak and keep driving my car with the stock alh setup for a couple more months before installing the 150 setup and new turbo. If I am able to use my alh cooler with the 150 egr kit why did Ryan tell me the lower egr pipe he included would not fit my car unless the pd150 intake and egr was installed?

Update Ryan got back to me and said he made a mistake by telling me it won't fit as it will. Thumbs up to Ryan as he has THE best customer service and prices. I will be buying many more products from him in the future. He's the best by far for Euro parts.

Say one of us with the pd150 egr valve fails? It's usually the plastic diaphragm valve on the side of the valve. If we bought the diaphragm valve for an alh would it fit the pd150 egr as a repair?