Egr valve issue?

[Chefgage]

Hi. I have a Mk7 transit 140 T350 FWD 2198cc Euro5.
When driving there is a slight fumey/exhaust/diesel type smell (difficult to describe, I think that's what it smells like) in the cab. Also when driving steady no noticeable smoke out the exhaust however when say sat still and then reving it there is quite a bit of white/blue smoke out the exhaust, the same when reversing up my drive where I am on and off the accelerator.
I have had the van at a ford garage recently as I noticed the coolant level dropping slightly so a pressure test was done and found the head gasket to be ok but was leaking from the oil cooler so this was sorted and that's now ok.
Just to be clear the smoke out the exhaust problem was there before the coolant issue.
Could there be an issue with the egr valve? Searching through this forum brings the egr valve up quite often. I know people say it should cleaned as part of a routine service but obviously this is not done if you take the van to a garage to be serviced.
Also no fault codes present. The last time I took the van out the engine management light came on but when I got home I checked with forscan and no fault codes present. Restarted the van and the engine management light had gone off.

[metalworker0]

Well the EGR is a service item that needs attention regularly.

This may mean a full strip down every 20,000 in some cases ..think it may depend on a number of things as to how quickly its gets clogged up.

How worn the engine is.
How many short journeys you do.

So if you haven't had it apart in 20,000, its worth having a go at it anyway.

May not cure your problem ..but at least you know its been cleaned. and eliminated from the causes.

You also have to factor in that it may be trying to regenerate the DPF.

Some people put an LED in the circuit of the heated mirror to see if its in regeneration mode ..as when its in this mode all electrical accessories are automatically turned on to load the engine to help with regeneration.

note in forscan you can see the soot loading of the dpf as a percentage, you can al;so moitor the EGR ...how much its open when its putting out the white smoke ...doing some research sugests EGR only opens at under 2500 rpm ..when and how ..and how much it opens at different loads or rpms ..i dont know .

All the best.mark

[T350camper]

That's great advice about using an LED in the heated mirror circuit to detect a DPF regen cycle

Mine doesn't have a DPF (or heated mirrors for that matter) but it's one to store in the old grey matter forgettory, alongside the other cobwebs for future reference.

[Chefgage]

Well the EGR is a service item that needs attention regularly.

This may mean a full strip down every 20,000 in some cases ..think it may depend on a number of things as to how quickly its gets clogged up.

How worn the engine is.
How many short journeys you do.

So if you haven't had it apart in 20,000, its worth having a go at it anyway.

May not cure your problem ..but at least you know its been cleaned. and eliminated from the causes.

You also have to factor in that it may be trying to regenerate the DPF.

Some people put an LED in the circuit of the heated mirror to see if its in regeneration mode ..as when its in this mode all electrical accessories are automatically turned on to load the engine to help with regeneration.

note in forscan you can see the soot loading of the dpf as a percentage, you can al;so moitor the EGR ...how much its open when its putting out the white smoke ...doing some research sugests EGR only opens at under 2500 rpm ..when and how ..and how much it opens at different loads or rpms ..i dont know .

All the best.mark

Hi thanks for that. I cannot see any paper work evidence that the egr has been looked at in the past. The van has done 150,000 miles so if it hasn't then the egr is well due some maintenance!
If I go to the trouble if removing it to clean is it worth just changing for a new one? I know it's extra cost but just for piece of mind. I will have a look on forscan to see if the egr is operating correctly (if you can see if it's operating correctly that is).
Don't have heated mirror as far as I know but the led idea sounds good.

[metalworker0]

well if changing for a new one..you'll probably go down the chinese made route ..and you know what that means


all the best.mark

[gt_addict]

I changed my EGR on my Euro 5 FWD along with the intake manifold. So far so good no issues with it in a couple of thousand miles. It was an NTK (sister company of NGK spark plugs) so thought I’d take a chance being associated with them.

[knobby1]

well if changing for a new one..you'll probably go down the chinese made route ..and you know what that means


all the best.mark

I have a cheap TPUK valve on mine...been there for a few years with no issue...seems to work fine....but I have a breather catch can on mine so a lot of the oily crap is eliminated.

Lord Knobrot