Hissing/leaking EGR cooler fixed!

As some of you have experienced, the EGR cooler develops a leak at the valve shaft. This results in an exhaust leak at times and a boost leak at other times.

Here is the problem, the EGR cooler valve shaft has a "soft" seal on it. The seal is held in place by a spring clip. The shaft is also centered by the seal. Think of it as a coiled piece of rope trapped in a cavity with a shaft in the middle. Not a good design!

So, I made a brass bushing shaped like a "T" that replaces the soft seal and it's retained by the OEM clip. It works like a charm! It will never leak again.

Just an FYI, if anyone here wants to know how to do this, or needs the dimensions of the bushing I produced, feel free to email me.

Chris

Posting a pic of it in this thread couldn't hurt.

Sorry, no pics. I had a very limited amount of time to do the job.

Chris

I would like your plans/dimensions.

Chris..Good deal, it was the EGR flapper valve shaft leak..

That material you are pointing out is shaft packing material, it seals the shaft under high temp conditions.

We used to pack the prop shafts on the boats with a rope type looking packing materail, although a metal bushing will work as well, make sure it can withstand the high temps.

Chris, we will make a TDI tech out of you someday..

Good job!!

While brass seems like a moderate temperature material, the color of the stainless EGR cooler tells the story. The light straw color of the stainless steel cooler near the valve means it reaches a peak of 445 degrees F. This is well within the temperature capabilities of brass, which melts near 1650-1700 degrees F. So, I expect a long life part.

Chris

Good call, good repair, and inexpensive..

You can do it!!

velociT said:

Posting a pic of it in this thread couldn't hurt.

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I hope cujet doesn't mind me placing this here. He gave me the dimensions of the bushing so I threw together a drawing. One note on the drawing: the OD of 17.87 is not the correct diameter - it will be smaller (he didn't have the exact dimensions but had to shave it down a little from the original 17.87mm).





>>For those who have seen these seal leaks: does the seal leak excessive amounts of soot? I believe I am dealing with the seal leak but I'm not seeing copious amounts of soot around the shaft.

my fix was to delete it via tune.. and block off plates. but if you were determined to keep it then its a good fix..

soooo...did you have soot leaking past the seal?

From what I have seen on them, is the shaft sealing is comprimised..it appears that the seal/bushing enlarges and the shaft will start blowing exhaust there, I have seen huge exhaust leaks there and even seen them blow out..

EGR cooler fix

Hi all! I'm new to the club, and have the same EGR leakage problem. My 2006 Jetta TDI has 250,000 km on it and is hissing loudly and filling the cockpit with fumes. As I am a machinist with a shop at my disposal, I would like to make the brass bushing to fix the problem. The dealers here in Canada say at least 8 weeks to get a new EGR cooler. Apparently there are 600 units on back order in Canada. My question is...Do I have to remove the EGR cooler to replace the seal? And another, which diameter is the sealing diameter, and what tolerance have you applied for the best fit. I have a TDI guru close by to help with dis-assembly if required. Any help on this issue will be appreciated!

Mine just started doing this last week. I still haven't decided whether to replace the cooler or block it off and get a tune. I'm really not interested in a tune, but I don't want to have to replace this again. It sounds like making a bushing might be the best option, but it doesn't sound like the one in the diagram is exactly correct. Does anyone know the correct OD so I can have one machined? Thanks.

EGR Cooler fix

I will be performing the fix over the Christmas break, and will post the actual dimensions with tolerances once it is complete.

Post up your dimensions and tolerances after you're done and I'll update the drawing.

I am assuming that cujet is the only person on record here who has fabricated a bushing to make this repair...Do we know if anyone else has done the repair this way rather than replacing the egr cooler or blocking it off?

Haynsey said:

I will be performing the fix over the Christmas break, and will post the actual dimensions with tolerances once it is complete.

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I was curious if you pursued this further or worked out something else? Any news?

tnrrclassic - have you sent cujet a PM?

I have this issue too. Does anyone have the specs. Can this be done without removing the cooler? Procedure please! I need a win with this car.

Same problem here. 2006 Jetta need outside OD measurements.

EGR cooler fix

I'm still running with the leak, not enough time over Christmas break, but hope to be doing it in the next few weeks. The bushing can be made easily by any local machine shop or a hobby machinist on any small lathe. I'm lucky to work in a shop and will make the part myself. Maybe I'll make 20 more and help out other backyard mechanics.

^^ you're the man. Please share the OD when done.

I am also interested in making this bushing. I have a couple of questions about it first.

If the old "bushing" was a soft seal I am guessing that it was able to seal the shaft well by somewhat molding itself to the shaft. With this new bushing being rigid, won't it leak some?

Also, since the brass is kind of soft and this valve seems to actuate a LOT, won;t it waller-out the hole in the brass bushing where the shaft passes through?

Why wouldn't VW just have available this oem style bushin to replace in the cooler. IF it's held in by a clip it seems like it would be simple to replace even with the cooler on the car.

Have you actually replaced it already? Were you able to do it with the cooler on the car? When you take the two allens out of the actuator mounting bracket, does the actuatorcome off leaving the flapper shaft in the cooler? Then I would suspect that the seal can be removed and the new bushing slid over the actuator shaft, correct?

Haynsey said:

Maybe I'll make 20 more and help out other backyard mechanics.

Click to expand...

lt us know if you do. I'll buy one off you for sure.

I ordered a new cooler from the dealer today. $314.00 plus cost of the two small gaskets and tax.

When I pull the old piece out I will see if I can get and accurate measurement of the OD needed for the bushing. Unless the OP gets it posted first.

FYI - Dealer did not have it in stock but said it would be one day to get "they are readily available".

Anyone have one of these laying around? Measurements? I sure don't want to spend $300+ on this problem...

This is the procedure provided by Cujet to do the EGR fix. I still haven't done it - just can't find the time these days.





"I removed the cooler. I can't believe it can be done in place easily. You can barely get at the actuating lever arm to remove the clip.

Removing the cooler was not too hard. There is a very well hidden set of bolts on the top of the cooler. Other than that, it's straight forward.

The bushing was easy to make, and being a machine shop, you won't have any difficulty figuring it out.

I removed the cooler. Then ground off the weld on the lever, removing the lever (it has a simple square/rectangle drive). I then pulled the clip and the remains of the old seal out. I made the bushing on the lathe and took my time fitting it "just right", with enough clearance on the shaft to prevent binding. The bushing went in with a touch of red silicone and some high temp synthetic grease on the shaft. Then the clip went back in, slightly modified, to clear the bushing. Then the lever was tig welded back on.

The end result worked properly, without leaks or binding."

I'm curious if this ERG sweating/leakage is the cause of the antifreeze smell inside my MY06 Jetta TDI. Over the Christmas break the TDI was in Colorado and while there a strong odor of antifreeze developed. The Denver VW dealer's pressure test of the cooling system didn't show any leakeage. Well, long story short the TDI was left with VW Denver (Emich) as we rented a car in order to stay on schedule to return to Georgia.
The VW tech's could not find a leak of any kind - as a precaution I requested the H2O hose's from the EGR cooler to heater core be replaced.

My TDI has 72K miles which is outside of the New Car warranty, however with a suspect EGR cooler ,,, would this be an emission system component? Isn't there a 80K mile Federal warranty period covering the entire emission system?

So,,, a faulty EGR? A Warranty item?

In this thread I posted a picture of the valve
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=270733

And in this video you can see the valve working and listening closely, you will hear it hiss whenever the valve actuates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SOXHqo3Njs

I don't think that the valve leaking would cause the coolant smell. It's only allowing the exhaust gases to pass and the gases leak when the seal goes bad. The cooling part should not come into play with this particular problem.

I would think that if the lower coolant lines to the EGR cooler were leaking then they would have seen that as coolant trapped on the bottom engine road cover when they removed it.

Did anyone add coolant to the vehicle before the smell developed?