EGR Blanking

I’ve been reading a lot on the vwt4forums.co.uk how a significant number of people disable the EGR valve from functioning.  The EGR or Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve directs “spent” air from the exhaust manifold back into the combustion cycle (or something along those lines) and it’s not exactly the most efficient of systems.  By blanking the EGR valve, this effectively stops the recycling, so only fresh air enters the combustion cycle.

There has been a lot of chatter about how much of a difference this makes to the feel of power in acceleration and mid-gear pick-up and I was apprehensive to be fair.  I decided to get an EGR blank plate and some gasket material and make the tweak myself.

It took 10 minutes to complete.

• Cut the gasket to size and make holes for the bolts, using the plate as the template.
• Undo the bolts at the top end of the EGR
• Insert the blank plate and the gasket in the gap.
• Re-insert and tighten the bolts
• Pull out the tube that goes into the head of the valve and put a screw (or suitable bung if you have one) into each end to block it up.
• Viola…

I took the van out for a spin the next morning, my usual route to work and the van felt completely different.  I am really pleased with the extra pickup, it doesn’t feel sluggish any more!  I can’t even begin to assume what the increase may be in BHP but I would imagine it’s around the 5-10 mark.  That’s certaily typical of what others have experienced.

I’ve hardly stopped smiling since buying the van but the smile is firmly in place now.

I recommend everyone does it!  In fact my buddy who also has a T4 already has his plates on order.

I’ll try to get some illustrative pics up soon.

As a side note…

Some people blank both ends of the EGR and fully remove it, creating more room in the engine bay.  Now I know that it’s worthwhile doing this mod, I’m going to order the other plate and remove the whole mechanism as it’s certainly surplus now!

PL