EGR removal: software shutdown, valve removal, chip tuning firmware and consequences

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

While European courts are noisily and scandalously dealing with European engineers who do not make cars environmentally friendly enough, domestic car owners queue up at service stations to turn off or remove the exhaust gas recirculation system. What is it, why does the system fail and how is the USR removed? We will consider all these issues in detail in our today's article.

What is the USR?

Even John Lennon urged politicians to give peace a chance during regular protests. Unlike politicians, this call has been taken seriously by environmentalists who, in an attempt to give the world at least a small chance of salvation, are forcing car manufacturers to "choke" engines to the extreme limits. The introduction of an exhaust gas recirculation system or EGR was supposed to significantly reduce the harmful effects of nitrogen oxides in the exhaustcars.

This is the one and only task that the USR system solves. There are many options for implementing the system, but the principle of operation of all of them is the same - the exhaust gases are fed through a special valve into the engine, where they burn out further. This principle makes it possible to lower combustion temperatures, especially in gasoline engines. After all, high temperatures are one of the conditions for the formation of nitric oxide.

Nothing else in the car is affected by the USR system. This is a purely ecological option for any modern engines. The resource of the system is not eternal, it is limited, especially in the conditions of Russian operation. There comes a time when EGR stops working the way it should. And then the way out of the situation is to remove the USR from the engine management system. To be convincing, it must be said that the normally operating exhaust gas recirculation at high speeds is not involved anyway, in emergency modes it is also turned off - the valve closes completely. So provided in the ECU.

A domestic driver should not be afraid of removing the USR. The most unpleasant consequence is the high content of nitric oxide in the exhaust gases. But if you weigh everything, then the trouble-free operation of the car, of course, outweighs environmental problems, because nerves are more expensive, and the environment is already bad.

How and why does the USR fail?

Among the typical problems with the USR valve are jamming, a break in the circuit of the actuator, valve position sensor, air leakage. Whereinfor each of the breakdowns, other types of faults can be named.

Jamming

During the combustion of any type of fuel, soot is formed. During operation, it settles in the valve, thereby reducing its mobility. And naturally, after some time, the valve can no longer move. There are two options here - the valve is closed or open. The owner of the car will have more luck if the valve is stuck in the closed position. In this case, the product of combustion, namely soot, will not be able to get inside the motor. By the way, now the software removal of the USR valve is being practiced - in this case, the valve physically remains in its place, however, it is programmatically closed and turned off. But this is not the best way.

Harms and open position. Combustion waste will fall directly into the engine cylinders. If we consider how the system works, then an interesting picture is observed - in most engine operating modes, the USR valve is closed and does not participate in the operation of the power unit in any way - at high speeds, under heavy loads.

The main enemy of the valve is bad oils and poor fuel quality. This mainly applies to diesel engines, although it also applies to gasoline engines. Although they are trying to convince car owners that the quality of domestic fuel is European, this is not true at all gas stations. And drivers get to remove the USR and particulate filter.

Engine failure

There can be a huge variety of options here. For example,any reasons that increase the smoke of the engine will necessarily reduce the life of the USR system. These are a clogged air filter, air leaks from the boost system, leaking nozzles, coked piston rings. This is important, especially for those who want the USR to work.

"Suicide" EGR valve

The EGR valve can commit a kind of suicide. This is one of its design features. To understand this, you need to consider the physics of the process. On the graph, the curve of the intensity of oxide production will increase with increasing temperature. The curve showing the production of soot will fall. Somewhere the two lines will intersect.

The less these nitrogen oxides in the exhaust, the better for the environment, but bad for the motor. Engineers are trying to get the most balanced solution - to reduce NO and not ruin the engine. But the fewer oxides, the more difficult the life of the USR. During operation, the valve kills itself.

Open circuits of actuators and sensors

This is a rare problem, but it happens from time to time. The error will be in the discrepancy between the nominal and actual position of the EGR valve. To identify, you need high-quality diagnostics. Repairs are expensive, so the best way out is to remove the USR or disable it.

Solving problems with the USR by deleting

If the node does not work, then an adequate owner understands that repairs are expensive. Replacement costs a lot of money. Therefore, the most popular way to resolve the issue is chip tuning, removal of the USR, or software shutdown of the system. It is cheap,reliably and without consequences.

Mechanical part of the process

In this process, there are mechanical procedures and software. Mechanically, the solution to the problem comes down to shutting off the flow through an inoperative valve. The first thing a master professional will do is install a special plug. It seems easy, but it's actually more difficult. Do not put plugs made of paronite or anything else in the way of exhaust gases - the material will burn out. The plug should be made of good steel, and preferably stainless steel, at least 3 mm thick. Removing the EGR on a diesel engine is carried out in much the same way.

Removing the valve along with the coolant can be quite a challenge. If the valve has a cooler, then plugs are installed on the nozzles. This works on the M-series from BMW. But on Volkswagens or BMWs of the N-series there is no such cooler, and the cooling system is ringed.

In most services, the masters do an excellent job with the mechanical part. But with the software part, when deleting the USR, there are errors, and often.

Soft

First of all, you need to programmatically prohibit the EGR valve from opening. If the programmer finds a recirculation system card in the firmware, then this is only half the battle - it is more difficult to remove errors on the USR, or rather, to carry out a complete software removal of the USR. Here, some specialists do too much, and under the knife there is something that should not be removed. Then there is a long and difficult process of eliminating the consequences of such deletions. It's quite expensive.

But you also need to turn off the emergency mode, in which the system sends the engine due to an idle system. On some cars, you need to recalibrate the maps by air. The last way is to command the valve to close. This method is justified, but not always. It is good when the valve is not physically accessible. Reliability is not absolute.

Conclusion

As can be seen from the article, if the recycling system has become obsolete or will soon become obsolete, then repairing it is not profitable, and there is no point. And removing the EGR will not entail any consequences. The car will drive as it did.