check engine light in Troy, NY

My check engine light in my '00 Beetle recently came on. A mechanic checked out the code for me and reset the light saying that that code doesn't mean anything 90% of the time. However, the light popped back on later that day.
The code is P0402 and I thought I saw the words "excessive flow" on the meter when the mechanic was checking it out.
Any thoughts? Is this serious and should I look for an experienced TDI mechanic or just take this to any old shop?
Thanks.
Simon

EGR Excessive Flow detected.

When was your intake cleaned last? Most likely the EGR valve is stuck open...

Yuri.

Thanks for the tip Yuri. I appreciate it.

Is this stuck EGR valve something that any good mechanic will be able to handle?

Yes... of course, that may not be the end of it...

If the EGR valve is stuck because it's full of carbon, that means that the intake manifold is full of carbon as well and will need to be removed and cleaned - a very messy job that has _some_ risk to it... (if some carbon falls into the cylinder head while removing the manifold, that can cause extensive damage!!!)

It's also possible that there's some other reason it's sticking open (defective "mushroom", some problem with the vacuum system is making it stay open longer than it should...), but that should be easy enough to diagnose.

Any shop that's familiar with VW's and TDI's in particular should be able to handle it... in fact, you can do it yourself if you have a place to work that's warm... we've got the how-to's here on the site:

http://pics2.tdiclub.com/gwillie/VW/Sballintake/INTAKEMAN101b.htm

All the best,

Yuri.