Check Out My Egr Valve

[bluevortex]

Well more of 45min job than a 15min but I did manage to get it all cleaned out and replaced. Toyota did this for me 12 months ago and I have covered 18k miles since the VSC fault last time. I could not believe how much carbon was in there - so glad I did it today :)

Not pictured but also cleaned the pipe on the top aswell as the inlet part to the engine

Blue

[anchorman]

What fuel are you using Blue? Was that crumbly or soft soot?

[bluevortex]

I'm using supermarket fuel mainly, the carbon was a mixture of hard crumbly powder and dampish oily paste. It was very thick in places. Glad I got the carburettor cleaner in it though and used a little dyson to suck up the bits! Don't think I'll be leaving it 12 months next time though!

Blue

[igormus]

Well more of 45min job than a 15min but I did manage to get it all cleaned out and replaced. Toyota did this for me 12 months ago and I have covered 18k miles since the VSC fault last time. I could not believe how much carbon was in there - so glad I did it today :)

Now consider the same inside of turbo.

It is worth to clean it as well.

Use only good fuel excluding supermarket's

Cheers

[CharlieFarlie]

Hate to pee on Your firework but all regular fuels are the same !! At Grangemouth refinery You can see Esso Texaco Shell Tesco Morrisons all Queuing for the same stuff !! My wife was a buyer for Tesco and their fuel used to arrive in both Tesco liveried tankers and Shell ones...... Its all the same !! Only thing that differs is the price You pay !!

[Big Kev]

If she can prove to me and many others hereon that Shell V-Power and that supermarket stuff are both the same thing, ah will eat ma shoes, and also contribute funds to any law suit we wish to take up for misrepresentation/LYING.

The difference between Blue's EGR and mine after very similar time and mileage, is absolutely night and day.

Clean yer own EGR, Charlie, then run a tank of Tesco followed by a tank of V-Power and report back.

Big Kev

[Davrav]

Only thing that differs is the price You pay !!

Not quite apparently - various additives are mixed in the tankers [or not] after they are filled at the refinery so I believe.

[bluevortex]

I'm normally just buy the cheapest fuel on offer and club card points are a plus on mileage I cover. Recently, retiled my bathroom on Topps tiles voucher 3:1 deal!!

I'm happy to clean the valve once every 10k, should be quicker now I know what I'm doing... Sort of..

Blue

[Daveyonthemove]

V-power is not a 'regular' fuel as its made from different base products.

Its a GTL (Gas To Liquid) fuel, meaning its not as high in energy as regular diesel, BUT it burns better so its cleaner and gives a better combustion.

Normal diesels are actually bought from the refinery and shipped to supermarket and big name forecourts, however there are additive packages that big names like Shell and BP add to regular diesel, and that is what makes the difference in both price, and engine cleanliness.

That said, most Shell garages will price match any fuel iin a 3 mile radius, so they should be matching any nearby supermarkets, and as they also offer a reward scheme with their loyalty card, you could save money on fuel every quarter.

As an example, for every litre you buy, you get 1 point. If you exceed 200 litres in a month, the points double. If you use V-power then you get 2 points per litre, and that also doubles (if using a Vpower loyalty card).

For every 500 points collected, you earn £2.50 in money off vouchers, and they will send you a voucher every quarter.

I'm looking good for £15 off when my voucher arrives, so not only am i buying better fuel at the same price as most Tesco users, but i'm getting rewarded in money off fuel too.

Also, my EGR is barely covered dirty in 8000 miles, and thats from using both Vpower and regular Shell. The results speak for themselves.

[bluevortex]

Meant to say that I obviously didn't see the EGR valve 12 months ago after Toyota carried out the VSC fault (EGR clean), I suspect they weren't as thorough as I was today? It will be interesting to see what's it's like in 10k miles...

Also thinking about following this spring clean with a can of BG442 for good measure!

Blue

[blue monster]

Where exactly is the EGR valve located and is it simply a case of removing it, cleaning it and putting it back in place?

[bluevortex]

That's what I was hoping but it was a bit trickier tbh. I had to loosen the Battery and a metal bar behind the EGR. The screws were all properly locked in place with not alot of room to play with. I need a combination of spanners and socket set to get it all off. Disconnect wiring bits and being careful not to drop carbon into the engine. I'm not particularly mechanical but I managed... With help from my dad!!

[Davrav]

Where exactly is the EGR valve located and is it simply a case of removing it, cleaning it and putting it back in place?

See RickD4D's post [in the pinned 'Technical hints and tips' section at top of page]

LINK

[Big Kev]

V-power is not a 'regular' fuel as its made from different base products.

Its a GTL (Gas To Liquid) fuel, meaning its not as high in energy as regular diesel, BUT it burns better so its cleaner and gives a better combustion.

Normal diesels are actually bought from the refinery and shipped to supermarket and big name forecourts, however there are additive packages that big names like Shell and BP add to regular diesel, and that is what makes the difference in both price, and engine cleanliness.

That said, most Shell garages will price match any fuel iin a 3 mile radius, so they should be matching any nearby supermarkets, and as they also offer a reward scheme with their loyalty card, you could save money on fuel every quarter.

As an example, for every litre you buy, you get 1 point. If you exceed 200 litres in a month, the points double. If you use V-power then you get 2 points per litre, and that also doubles (if using a Vpower loyalty card).

For every 500 points collected, you earn £2.50 in money off vouchers, and they will send you a voucher every quarter.

I'm looking good for £15 off when my voucher arrives, so not only am i buying better fuel at the same price as most Tesco users, but i'm getting rewarded in money off fuel too.

Also, my EGR is barely covered dirty in 8000 miles, and thats from using both Vpower and regular Shell. The results speak for themselves.

Stonking post DotM, and in fairness I had missed Charlie's clearly worded "standard" fuels. I have only had to use standard fuel once in recent months, and genuinely noticed a difference,not massive, but we have all been down that route before on t'forum, eh....?

Big Kev

[Big Kev]

That's what I was hoping but it was a bit trickier tbh. I had to loosen the battery and a metal bar behind the EGR. The screws were all properly locked in place with not alot of room to play with. I need a combination of spanners and socket set to get it all off. Disconnect wiring bits and being careful not to drop carbon into the engine. I'm not particularly mechanical but I managed... With help from my dad!!

Good ol' Dad, eh, Blue.....sells you the car for a pittance, then keeps it well maintained for ye. I am certain he had an affair with ma Mammy.....?

Big Kev

[Daveyonthemove]

V-power is not a 'regular' fuel as its made from different base products.

Its a GTL (Gas To Liquid) fuel, meaning its not as high in energy as regular diesel, BUT it burns better so its cleaner and gives a better combustion.

Normal diesels are actually bought from the refinery and shipped to supermarket and big name forecourts, however there are additive packages that big names like Shell and BP add to regular diesel, and that is what makes the difference in both price, and engine cleanliness.

That said, most Shell garages will price match any fuel iin a 3 mile radius, so they should be matching any nearby supermarkets, and as they also offer a reward scheme with their loyalty card, you could save money on fuel every quarter.

As an example, for every litre you buy, you get 1 point. If you exceed 200 litres in a month, the points double. If you use V-power then you get 2 points per litre, and that also doubles (if using a Vpower loyalty card).

For every 500 points collected, you earn £2.50 in money off vouchers, and they will send you a voucher every quarter.

I'm looking good for £15 off when my voucher arrives, so not only am i buying better fuel at the same price as most Tesco users, but i'm getting rewarded in money off fuel too.

Also, my EGR is barely covered dirty in 8000 miles, and thats from using both Vpower and regular Shell. The results speak for themselves.

Stonking post DotM, and in fairness I had missed Charlie's clearly worded "standard" fuels. I have only had to use standard fuel once in recent months, and genuinely noticed a difference,not massive, but we have all been down that route before on t'forum, eh....?

Big Kev

Alot of people see 'Premuim fuel' as expensive and pointless, and we are all entitled to our opinions, but unless people are willing to try them first and see first hand how they respond, then their comments are pointless.

For the best part of 2 months i have run my Auris exclusively on V-power. The engine seemed quieter and more responsive, and MPG was slightly improved, making it dearer to buy at the pump, but in real terms it was costing me exactly the same as my car was returning better MPG, so the price per mile was identical.

I'm now back to Shell 'Fuel Save' as i find my car has better low down torque, and thats probably down to the higher 'calorific value' (if that makes sense).

Supermarket fuel and brand name fuel are very different simply by the additive thats added, and when you consider how much cleaner they keep your engine, they are worth an extra penny or two over supermarket offerings.

Not to mention the contaminated fuel from Tesco in 2007:

http://www.petrolprices.com/blog/tesco-apologises-for-contaminated-fuel-66.html

[anchorman]

As mentioned above. My understanding is that all the tankers line up for one grade of diesel then the additives are added at the time of filling.

Also a really informative post by DotM I knew that regular diesel was mixed in this way but are you saying ALL high grade diesel is GTL or does it apply only to Shell?

[blue monster]

Just to back up the Shell V-Power comments - I have run my Honda S2000 exclusively on Shell V-Power, it may even have been called Opitmax when I first bought my car.

Once in 35k miles from new I put some other fuel in it as I was in the ar5e end of no where and they did not have any V-Power or any other suitable alternative available. The car kangaoored around all over the place at low revs, there was a distinct lack of power and I was very aware that the S was not running well compared to when using V-Power. I would like to see the inside of an S2000 engine that has not been run on V-Power compared to mine - I dread to think what it would look like.

When I found our T180 and was told that it had been run of V-Power from new I was made up and as Daveyonthemove has said, it's good for your motor, you get points/vouchers, our local Shell garage price matches our local Asda - you can't beat the stuff!!

[anchorman]

This makes more sense. It is a 10% blend added at the tanker fill.

http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/12/video-shells-sylvia-williams-discusses-gtl-diesel-fuel/

[CharlieFarlie]

One of My Neighbours works at Grangemouth and He assures Me that all the tankers are filled with the same diesel.. Regular stuff that is.. The higher performance stuff has additives put into it by whoever markets it or rather their petrochemists.. Petrol is quite a different thing altogether as its the octane level that is increased and a true level of performance is more clearly evident than in Diesel fuel where I believe the placebo effect kicks in !

Whatever You pays Your money and takes Yer chance.....

[Daveyonthemove]

As mentioned above. My understanding is that all the tankers line up for one grade of diesel then the additives are added at the time of filling.

Also a really informative post by DotM I knew that regular diesel was mixed in this way but are you saying ALL high grade diesel is GTL or does it apply only to Shell?

Only the V-power is GTL fuel.

The 'regular' Shell Fuel save is oil based diesel like most of the others, but Shell add an additive pack to it to enhance the fuel for optimum cleanliness and MPG.

I don't know so much about BP's premuim fuel as i refuse to buy fuel from them, simply on the grounds that every BP forecourt charges an extra 2-5p per litre more than everyone else, even if a competitor is across the road from them.

[Daveyonthemove]

One of My Neighbours works at Grangemouth and He assures Me that all the tankers are filled with the same diesel.. Regular stuff that is.. The higher performance stuff has additives put into it by whoever markets it or rather their petrochemists.. Petrol is quite a different thing altogether as its the octane level that is increased and a true level of performance is more clearly evident than in Diesel fuel where I believe the placebo effect kicks in !

Whatever You pays Your money and takes Yer chance.....

But that is different to what you claimed on page 1 where you simply said there was NO difference at all.

The likes of Shell/BP/Texaco couldn't claim to have additives in to improve the fuel, and not add any as there are too many tests in place to check for them.

Checking fuel for additives is not difficult, i spent 7 years doing it for the RAF to ensure the Avtur had sufficient quantities of FSII so the fuel doesn't freeze at low temps or high altitude.

If one of these big names claimed to have something that wasn't actually there, they would have massive law suits against them and lose any credibility they have.

[bluevortex]

I don't think there is a Shell anywhere near me :( there is a BP selling there premium brand but when diesel is at an all time high and my T180 is producing 32mpg it makes it hard to drive past the convenience of tesco (clubcard points considered also).

Looks like I'm stuck with cleaning messy EGR valves for time being

Blue

[Whiteclaw]

Only thing that differs is the price You pay !!

Not quite apparently - various additives are mixed in the tankers [or not] after they are filled at the refinery so I believe.

I was told this is a myth. As for V-power, it certainly is better, pity about the price though. Even though it cost more, I found I did go the same distance as I would on cheaper supermarket fuel but the ride was a lot better. This has to be the only time I have noted any difference in the quality of fuel. Regular fuel at stations like Shell etc I found to be the same as supermarket stuff, just more expensive.

I would recommend VPower, £30 on this and £30 on regular will get you the same distance. I would get it more often, but all local petrol stations are supermarket or a good 20 minutes away are places like Shell.

As for the original post, my god man, that engine is mighty clean. And I am shocked at the amount of carbon.

[Cyker]

I'll also chip in my 2p that V-Power diesel is noticeably different to normal diesel; The first difference is most noticeable when I put it in on a near empty tank - As soon as you fire up the diesel lump there is a noticeable change in engine note - Much less of the diesel clatter.

Once you set off, you immediately notice the engine feels down on power until the revs start to build and then quickly the power comes back as you go into turbocharging territory ;)

But even as the revs climb, the engine feels a lot smoother than on normal diesel; When I start going past 3000rpm, my Yaris' D4D vibrates quite alarmingly and you can feel it start to struggle to keep up the acceleration, but when it's on V-Power the vibration is much lower and it feels a lot more willing to keep piling on the revs :)

The loss of low-down power is a big downside for me since that's where I spend most of my time when in town, but I love this stuff when I'm going on long motorway runs as the engine feels so much more willing when you're hurtling along at motorway speeds :)

It is too expensive for me to use regularly tho', esp. as I find the mpg is the same (Or worse!) compared to normal diesel, but it seems to do the engine good, throwing a tank of it in now and then to help clean out any gunk that has accumulated on the injectors.

I haven't had a repeat of the gradual power-loss I experienced when I first bought the car since I made sure to take it on the motorway and/or sank some V-Power through it now and then :)