[davidd]

there was some discussion some time back about minor mods to make engine perform better. one of these was the disconnection of the egr valve. my engine has been performing poorly for a long time and my attempts to get the dealers to fix the damn thing or even admit it was suffering from poor performance was the cause of all my problems and arguments with them as most of you on the forum are aware. the problem got so bad i finally decided i had to something myself. last week i removed the egr valve vacuum line from the egr valve and plugged it. went for a short drive and it seems marginally better. went for another drive and it was better again. now having covered about 200klms just round town the engine has a totally new lease of life. the thing pulls like a mack truck at any revs and will in fact take of from a standing start IN FOURTH GEAR!!!!! it's pretty obvious the egr can totally stuff these engines if there is any problem with the egr system, and that the installation of an egr system on the engine seriously impares it's ability to function. the engine starts normally and runs normally and shows no sign of any heat buildup on the temp guage, nor does it warm ap any quicker as you would expect if the engine ran hotter. the only ting i have noticed is a bit more engine rattle on the first cold start in the morning, due to the fact that removing the egr gas from air charge to the engine means the injector timing is a bit advanced. but the rattle subsides as the engine warms and disappears totally. the result is a beautiful engine, which is totally flexible and performs strongly at almost any revs and can even take off from rest in 4th gear. i can thoroughly recommend the mod to anyone. fuel economy should also improve as there is now a complete fuel burn in the combustion chamber. will let you know how that goes after a decent trial over a few thousand kms. cheers.