Oil residue leaking - EGR Hole

Dear Members,

I've noticed that oil residue is leaking (sputtering) out from the hole at the bottom of the EGR (location indicated in picture below; picture was taken after oil wiped off). An oil film/residue is observed on top of the engine (to the right of the timing belt cover), after a single 5 mile drive. The oil sputter marks are also observed on the engine cover underpadding, and is fresh after every drive. Your ideas/recommendations for a fix is appreciated !

Jason

Yep--mine has the same problem. Shoot me a PM if you want, I won't post solutions.
-BB

Year and model of car?

Unfortunately, there is no fix. Your options is the purchase of a new EGR valve.

My car is 2001 Jetta TDI GLS, 80,000 miles. New EGR..arghh ! I will look into this, thx for the reply. Any other ideas ?!

Thanks gentlemen,
J

Question about replacing the EGR (thanks for the post mgwerks):

(1) where can I buy one ?
(2) is this something I can install, or is this more for the dealership (my skills range from oil changes to intake cleaning, no mods).
(3) if I bring this to the dealership, will they comment on EGR setting (mod), and do I have to redo recalibrate/change setting for new EGR

Thx,
Jason.

Help ? Someone else must have had this problem before ... And how did you deal with it,

Many thanks,
Jason.

Help ? Someone else must have had this problem before ... And how did you deal with it,

Many thanks,
Jason.

Click to expand...

Contact BlackenedBora. He offered some help, but he won't post it. Apparently the first ten years in Prison were enough for him, so he doesn't want to talk about those illegal mods in the open.

Ya... probably doesn't want people to look down on him for contacting other planets

-Jason

Gotta be careful on this planet.

I have seen a solution that removes the EGR valve, cooler et. al. and replaces the EGR valve with a piece of pipe that is commercially available if you wnat a truly permanent fix...

An update on the EGR leaking oil vapor situation (ps. thanks to all for previous suggestions):

The dealership tested the EGR and the EGR diaphram seal works: EGR is fine. Frankly, I was surprised. They couldn't come up with any solution; they mentioned that they had seen this once before, and it was fixed by replacing the o-ring between manifold and EGR valve (but this caused a leak at that joint, and not at the EGR valve hole where I'm seeing it.) They hypothesized that it could also be coming from the cap, but I'm strongly convinced due to the direction and range of oil splatter that it's coming from the EGR valve hole.

Your opinions on next steps would be appreciated. This is what I'm thinking:

(1) Clean EGR, intake manifold, replace all gaskets, re-assemble, drive the car for a week (currently, fresh oil appears after only ~5 miles of hard driving).

(2) If oil still appears, consider buying turning this vehicle into an "offroad" vehicle (for offroad use only), and doing one of the following mods:

(a) racepipe, or 'capping' - which I'm afraid of due to loss of the anti-shudder valve function.

(b) stealth EGR - like the idea, my understanding is that there is no CEL, but making this 'stealth' component is beyond my ability.

(c) any other ideas ? has anyone tried just plugging the two EGR valve holes below the diaphram.

The bigger quesion, is why is the oil coming out of the EGR valve, if it works properly and the diaphram 'seal' is intact ? Some help would realllllllllly be appreciated here.

- jblue

the vac for the diaphram is on ther top side, where the hole is is "air side" there must be a stem seal like on an inlet or exhaust valve which keeps in the pressure (and oil) but will eventually wear and leak oil under high turbo presure I would imagine this is not replaceable but would love to beproved wrong as the seal cost would be peanuts anyone???

Thanks Cheshire,

How can I troubleshoot this...sounds like this may be evidence of a larger problem ? I'm afraid if I replace EGR with the race pipe or stealth race pipe, I'm only dealing with the oil vapor, and not the source of the problem. Sould I be concerned? How can I determine which seal may be leaking ? Dealership is not helping. Any suggestions ?

Thanks again,
Jason.

I should be inclined to remove the oil at source, and live with the valve, see Jeff Daigles posts re the ready made oil seperator,(good but expensive) or the related posts regarding the home-made alternatives, (Wingnut's), should you decide on replacement I would be interested in buying your old one to try a Stealth Race Pipe, which would offset the cost of the replacement best of luck Nic

Provent was the name I was grasping for

I recently started having this problem myself.

About a month ago I cleaned the EGR and the intake manifold and replaced all gaskets and o-rings. Then I installed an 'elephant hose' CCV mod. This residue did not appear until a few weeks later though.

???

Latest update after 1 month of working on this problem; any suggestions from veterans appreciated:

(1) Replaced CCV puck with Old-navy-like CCV (dynaflow CCV). Noticed that some oil still gets past filter; and, Oil residue/vapor still comes out of EGR hole.

(2) Cleaned intake manifold, replacing all gaskets and EGR o-ring. (didn't change gaskets/o-ring first time, and wanted to ensure this wasn't the problem). Oil residue/vapor still comes out of hole.

(3) Unplugged EGR vacuum line since I was considering an SRP, and wanted to see I would get a cell. No more oil vapor coming out of hole, but CEL appeared in 2 weeks. Argh !

(4) Got fed-up. Re-connected EGR vacuum line, and screwed a very short (1/4 inch) bolt into EGR hole (with threadlock). I've been driving for 3 weeks, 500 miles, and car performs great, and obviously no oil leaking from EGR. CAN ANYONE THINK OF ANY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS ?? Picture below:



(5) I'm Still thinking of a better solution. I'm still trying to find answers to (a) is the amount of oil going into EGR normal, (b) why is oil escaping from that hole, and is it normal. The only long-term solution (other than bolt) that I can think of at this point, is to replace EGR (but dealer tested diaphram, said there was appropriate vacuum, and EGR was fine ?). Any suggestions appreciated.

MoGolf and NewJettaguy are having the EXACT problem. Glen(MOGOLF) bought a new EGR valve and replaced it. NewJettaGuy is probably going to try a more permanent fix if you know what I mean.

So far we all agree it's leaking but no one know exactly why. What needs to happen, is a defective EGR autopsy. I thing MOGOLF is the best person to perform this since he's already replaced it.

There are two holes, one in the front and one in the back. You're not throwing a CEL, and the EGR valve itself must still be operating normally. You have vaccum(or so says the dealer) so you should be fine.

IMO, the worst thing that could happen is that you'll throw a CEL that says the EGR system is messed up. No big deal.

Lito

I don't know if this hole is before or after the diaphragm - it seems like before - but even if it was after, you would think the vacuum line would suck up oil (not that it would be good). You would think the exhaust gasses would keep the oil out of the stem seal in most conditions. Maybe there is some condtion where boost pressure is more than exhaust pressure AND the valve is open, but I can't see it. I bet the holes are on the non-vacuum side of the diaphragm and keep that side at atmospheric pressure as the diaphram shape changes.

You don't suppose the oil could somehow be transmitted via the vacuum system? I have seen a vacuum check valve on an A4 choked with oil but don't know the source of the oil.

jblue,
I had the identical problem several months ago. I used grey silicone sealant to plug the front hole. Worked great for a month, but guess what? Oil then started spurting out the rear hole. I sealed that one up , but the first time I took it out for a spin, 0 power. Power came back after I opened up the rear hole. I don't have a pic to post at this time, but I have a small tube glued into the rear hole. The other end of the tube goes into a small plastic medicine bottle with vent holes punched in the top. Whenever I'm under the hood to check fluids, I just unscrew the medicine bottle and dump the oil back in the crankcase. Kind of crude, but it's cheap, and now I'm not making a mess!

VelvetFoot and Glitch,

Thank you for the replies. Glitch, thanks for the forecast - man I hope the rear hole doesn't start leaking. Maybe I should just swap out the EGR for a new one ?

Thanks guys. Has anyone had this problem, and replaced the EGR ?

Jason

I don't know if this hole is before or after the diaphragm there is some condtion where boost pressure is more tha- it seems like before - but even if it was after, you would think the vacuum line would suck up oil (not that it would be good). You would think the exhaust gasses would keep the oil out of the stem seal in most conditions. Maybe n exhaust pressure AND the valve is open, but I can't see it. I bet the holes are on the non-vacuum side of the diaphragm and keep that side at atmospheric pressure as the diaphram shape changes.

You don't suppose the oil could somehow be transmitted via the vacuum system? I have seen a vacuum check valve on an A4 choked with oil but don't know the source of the oil.

Click to expand...

the hole is as I said before, on the "air-side" of the diaphram, the oil is passing the seal because of turbo pressure, and the oil should not get into the vac side unless the diaphram is split, clogging of the vac valve is near to the vac pump and unlikely to travel much farther. Glitch it seems to be false economy to put that crap back in the sump, I recomend you bin it, can't be that much or you have real trouble. JBlue it's only a matter of time.

the oil is passing the seal because of turbo pressure,

Click to expand...

So, does this mean that there has been some change related to the turbo? I started getting this problem about three weeks after I repaired my turbo that was not functioning due to a stuck actuator rod.

Is there any problem in letting it leak out if you find a crafty way to prevent it from making a mess? Is the EGR's performance affected?

MoGolf and NewJettaguy are having the EXACT problem. Glen(MOGOLF) bought a new EGR valve and replaced it. NewJettaGuy is probably going to try a more permanent fix if you know what I mean.

So far we all agree it's leaking but no one know exactly why. What needs to happen, is a defective EGR autopsy. I thing MOGOLF is the best person to perform this since he's already replaced it.

There are two holes, one in the front and one in the back. You're not throwing a CEL, and the EGR valve itself must still be operating normally. You have vaccum(or so says the dealer) so you should be fine.

IMO, the worst thing that could happen is that you'll throw a CEL that says the EGR system is messed up. No big deal.

Lito

Click to expand...

I have not had any oil on my valve cover since I replaced the oil filler cap with a new one (from Impex), put a clean EGR valve and clean intake manifold on the car at ImpexFest in May.

I have looked several times to check for oil residue and have not seen any to date (though not this week). I will check again when I get home tonite and update this post with the results (maybe with a picture or two).

For comparison purposes, I drive 130-150 miles r/t to work daily and various other trips with a total in the 750 miles (+/-) per week range.

Update - 6/18/2005

Just checked my engine compartment and the valve cover is clean as a whistle. No indication of oil anywhere on it.

Gentlement,

Well as Glitch and Cheshire predicted, I found oil residue coming from the EGR backside hole (it wasn't there yesterday, and first appeared today). Arghh.

Well, I looked into EGR valves, and the cheapest I could find is ~125....hard to justify, but I would like to take care of this problem. I'm also wondering, as VelvetFoot mentioned, whether oil is now also being sucked-up the vacuum line, since it is now coming out of the vacuum side of the EGR valve.

NewJettaGuy, thanks for the post, we look forward to your update (maybe I'll try replacing the oil filler cap first; I know the oil is coming from the EGR, but it would be inexpensive to try that first).

I'm going for a trip this weekend, and will update if any progress is made. Thanks for the posts - keep them coming !

Jason.

$125, is a good price, new over here £150+

So if this oil is coming from the turbo (?), would it be wrong to say that this is perhaps a good thing that it is exiting the system? It is just the problem of making a mess under the hood?

Does anyone suspect that there is damage being done?

Please, somebody, calm my fears.

Does anyone suspect this problem is doing any damage?

the turbo will allways pass some oil, most is probably from the ccv, appart from crudding up the egr and manifold it should be fine, ps anywhere near Woodstock?

well, the thing is, this started after installing an 'elephant hose' CCV filter. could this be the result of a change in air pressure in that part of the air system?

PS- not really near Woodstock. If you are thinking THE Woodstock, that is in New York.