$5 FIX mk5 EGR cooler diverter leak (hissing)

Lmannyr

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
Location
South Florida
TDI
2005.5 VW Jetta TDI BRM Manual
So I did an EGR valve and EGR cooler delete (no tune) using the Darkdide Devlpment kit to retain the ASV. In the process, I checked the down pipe gasket. The down pipe gasket showed signs of leakage. Oh well. Reused the gasket since I did not have one on hand and tightened the turbo/DP clamp as much as possible. If it smells again. I'll replace the gasket.

I'm planning on a 2056vk turbo grade kit from Darkside in the next couple months. I'll tune then.
 

nvd88

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Location
Milwaukee
TDI
2006 Jetta DSG BRM
Still good

to anyone contemplating doing this fix, I did mine about two years ago and it's still holding strong. I cleared out the old gasket, centered and filled with quicksteel turning the actuator to make sure it didn't get stuck. much easier than a delete or replacement.
 

nmea2020

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Location
N.W. Florida
TDI
2010 Jetta DSG Silver 2006 JETTA DSG
:eek:Well my 2005.5 JETTA TDI Sedan made it almost 20K without any hissing but now its back...Quick steel to the rescue...I have been driving my Truck for the last month as i have had no time to address the issue.
Saturday morning removed the custom cover plate and found the Quick Steel had somewhat disintegrated...What was left was chalky and crumbled in my fingers...The will be no problem cleaning out the cavity as it is nearly blown out:)
I was at 153,794 when i used the QUICK STEEL BAND-AID and now she's at 172,650.
I suppose it's not too bad to need to do this every 15K but i am not getting any younger.
I thought about putting STEEL WOOL in the hole and then Quiksteel but i am not sure it would make that much difference...
Any thoughts?
 

supak111

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Location
midwest
TDI
2006 TDi Jetta
stuffing half the hole with steel wool might not be a bad idea and cover the rest with quick steel or whatever else people have tried so far.

I think my fix lasted this long because I covered the quick steel with the metal bracket I made so even though quick steel MIGHT be falling apart inside it can't come out because of the bracket... maybe
.
.
 

nmea2020

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Location
N.W. Florida
TDI
2010 Jetta DSG Silver 2006 JETTA DSG
"I think my fix lasted this long because I covered the quick steel with the metal bracket I made so even though quick steel MIGHT be falling apart inside it can't come out because of the bracket... maybe"
I also covered with S.S. PLATE so as to allow the Quick Steel to simmer...I will put more in as it is a cheap fix
 

nokivasara

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Location
Sweden @ Lat 61N
TDI
Tiguan 4-motion, Golf mk7
Oops, I noticed that the furnace sealing rope was mentioned before, in the first post in fact :eek:

I had some at home so I decided to try that first, it was not easy to get it in there but for the moment there is no hissing at all so fingers crossed...

If it doesn't work I think the furnace cement can last longer than quick steel, heat is a killer.
 

jsc3582

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Location
Michigan
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI DSG
The repair method I am trying.

I am using this original fix method as my starting point and modifying it a bit. I am going to try stuffing a small amount of wood stove fiberglass cord in first then pack a layer of j-b weld extreme heat metallic repair past on top of that, then reinsert clip and pack on more j-b weld. Then split two o-rings and install them with splits 180 deg apart and pack more j-b weld on top. I will first put some type of oil or anti-seize on the shaft to help keep j-b weld for adhering to shaft. I am going to try to do this later this afternoon once it cools down. Right now 91 outside here in central MI. I will post more as I do repair to let you guys know how it goes. :p

The supplies I am going to be using.



Close up of J-B Weld I am trying out.

 
Last edited:

jsc3582

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Location
Michigan
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI DSG
Well my EGR cooler actuator is not working. it is not holding vacuum. I did a search on internet but not finding one. Anyone know were I might can get one without having to buy the whole EGR cooler?
 

jsc3582

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Location
Michigan
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI DSG
Well, I could not find anywhere to get the actuator for the EGR cooler diverter valve. So I removed it and set the flapper about half way and j-b welded the thing into place. I plugged off the vacuum hose to the actuator with a screw. Took the car for a test drive and it drove same as before. This fix has not stopped my smoking issue out the tail pipe :( but did stop the exhaust under the hood :).
 

chase345

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Location
Amarillo, TX
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI BRM 1.9 5 Speed
I used the quick steel fix for the same problem on my Jetta, however, I just kept the original retaining spring in place for holding the shaft centered and didn't build the aluminum plate as shown here. Fix worked well but after about 8000 miles, the hissing has returned. I haven't been under the car to have a look yet but I'm assuming that the quick steel has broken up and been blown out by the boost pressure. Not a bad cheap fix but I'll look into building the brass bushing this time for a more permanent fix.
 

petee_c

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada
TDI
15 Golf TDI, was 06 Jetta TDI, 15 q7 tdi, was 11 Q7 TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 5spd manual.

I started working on this fix last night. It's a bit of a pain on a 5 speed manual.

1. I unbolted the passenger side half shaft on my manual tranny TDI, and well it's not capped, so that was a bit of a surpise. I am trying to keep dirt out of the inner CV joint as I attempt the repair. The half shaft doesn't completely move out of the way

2. The clip that holds the actuator to the valve ball is not well explained. After a lot of cursing it is finally apart. I'll take a pic of the little clip off the arm so that future people can get an idea on how to pop it off.

I've got all the old original bushing/gasket material out I believe. I used an awl and a fairly stout dental pick.

I'm going to clean a little more soot off the inside of the bushing surfaces. I may try a q tip soaked in brake cleaner or wd 40.

I have to figure out a mini tamper to pack the JB weld in the hole.

On a 5 speed, it's a pain to get to, especially with the half shaft in the way. It might be better to completely remove the half shaft to get both hands in there.

I'm using a mid rise 2 post lift in my garage, which raises the car 50" up into the air, and it's still a pain....
 

petee_c

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada
TDI
15 Golf TDI, was 06 Jetta TDI, 15 q7 tdi, was 11 Q7 TDI
Here's a pic the pin that is on the actuator arm that holds it to the ball. I'm not sure if I got it back on 100%. Joint feels secure, but I thought the straight end would have gone in a hole in the ball, but couldn't find it blindly.

Pic of repair. My space blanket cover is in rough shape. Might need to replace it with heavy duty tinfoil next time around.

Preliminary results indicate the seal is holding. I took it for a spirited test drive for about 15 mins and then let it idle for a few minutes in the driveway with the fan on. No exhaust smell.





Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk
 

oldgrey

Active member
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Location
B C
TDI
2000
I recently did this repair for my niece. I have a blown up parts car, so I put the spare cooler on the bench and fit a flat washer split in two into the housing, I think it was a 5/16 SAE and built a cover plate. . then I cleaned out the leaking one on the car, fit the split washer into the hole, filled with steel epoxy and put the plate on. Still working fine, no hiss with 10K. Fitting the split washer properly into the housing on the car took a few tries, a pencil magnet, small screwdriver, small punch and a few bad words. Minor wounds to hands.
 

petee_c

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada
TDI
15 Golf TDI, was 06 Jetta TDI, 15 q7 tdi, was 11 Q7 TDI
Update:

2006 Jetta BRM

I did the original JB weld(High temp) fix in October 2016 with about 226K km on the clock.
For the past few weeks I began noticing exhaust smell in the cabin idling at stop lights. Lets say Sept 2017 and 260K km...

My $5 EGR fix lasted about 11 months and 34K km or about 21,000 miles....

Car is going back up in the air, and I'll be redoing it as well as tackling a couple other things over the next couple evenings....
 

petee_c

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada
TDI
15 Golf TDI, was 06 Jetta TDI, 15 q7 tdi, was 11 Q7 TDI


The JB weld high heat had failed enough to cause exhaust smell in the cabin at stoplights. As you can see in the above picture it was mostly intact.

I used a small drill bit (about 1/8") to drill into the remaining material and then broke it out with an awl.

I was able to use about a 1" section of the JB weld bought in 2016 to redo the egr bushing...

Note to self for next time ... probably only need to cut off 0.75" of JB weld High Heat putty. Still had lots I didn't use this time.

Space blanket that was around the vacuum actuator is mostly gone. I didn't decide to put the remnants of it back on....
 

Nohlan_4

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Location
Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Any update on sealing it shut with jb weld high temp,? I live up north in Canada, temperatures get cold I would want the keep the valve open 100% all the time, to have faster warm up time, but little worried about the summer time where temperatures are higher? I'm assuming the cooling system can keep up? Thanks

Any answer on this? Which position is to direct flow through the cooler and not bypass it. I need full heat to the coolant in Canada.
 

bondtimbond

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Houston Texas
TDI
06 Jetta package 2 - now sold
FYI, my fix dated July 2015 and in this thread is still holding strong last I looked at it and have noticed no ill effects. Not sure of current milage but I'd guess at least 40K.
 

Nohlan_4

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Location
Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
FYI, my fix dated July 2015 and in this thread is still holding strong last I looked at it and have noticed no ill effects. Not sure of current milage but I'd guess at least 40K.
Do you know which position the flap needs to be in to go through the coolant side of the cooler?
 

Gnits

Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Location
home
TDI
Touareg R5
stuffing half the hole with steel wool might not be a bad idea and cover the rest with quick steel or whatever else people have tried so far.

I think my fix lasted this long because I covered the quick steel with the metal bracket I made so even though quick steel MIGHT be falling apart inside it can't come out because of the bracket... maybe
.
I think what happened was that the steel wool caught most of the larger exhaust particles that would have leaked otherwise, and slowly but steadily these built up to a solid mass, that fully stopped the leak. So, what you've have in there is a seal made of steel wool and carbon soot, that's now filling all the crevices perfectly, not allowing anything to exit anymore. Just my two cents.
 

bondtimbond

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Houston Texas
TDI
06 Jetta package 2 - now sold
FYI, the last fix I implemented that is documented in this thread lasted until I sold the car at 144K. It seemed to work fine. :)
 
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