[sundiz]

I took my car to the MOT. Car passed the inspection without problems. What a better way to waste a day than fix a car that isn't broken? At the moment my car has 86000km.

Well actually I have wanted to replace the coolant, because I had my doubts about the last service the car had before I bought It. I have also wanted to clean the EGR before it becomes so filty that it would cause problems. The EGR system is a bit different than I have seen in other cars. In i30 there is EGR cooler connected to the actual EGR valve. This cooler is actually a bunch of small pipes where EGR "gas" goes through coolant. In theory it is actually a nice thing. The coolant warms up a little bit faster and the "gas" that goes to the intake manifold is not as hot as it would be without the cooler. So cleaning the EGR had to be done at that point when there is no coolant in the engine...

Changing the coolant is a quick and easy job. Just open the cap from the reservoir and then open the drain plug from the passenger side of the radiator (in a left hand drive car).

The drain plug.


Old vs new.


According to the service book, the car had been serviced 2 years/ 35 000km ago. Never seen goolant go that bad in such a short time. I doubt that the coolant has not been changed in that service...

Removing the EGR should be easy job (arrording to the shop manual).


The engine bay is fairly tight and there is no extra room. I ended up removing the top of the air filter, the air pipe from nose to the air filter, the air pipe from filter to the turbo, upper waterhose between the radiator and thermostat and of course the two coolant hoses thet go to the EGR cooler.

You also need to remove the heat shield from the exhaust manifold so you can get to the bolts that hold the exhaust-egr pipe. And boy those three bolts were tight. Heat stress in the exhaust really got thos bolts jammed. Had to use impact wrench to get those open.


After that it is just opening the nuts and bolts there is holding the EGR & EGR cooler at their place. The engine bay is so tight that I was not able the get it out after removing all the nuts and bolts. I had the remove the cooler from the actual EGR before I was able to fit them out. The actual EGR was in better condition than I expected. The worst part was definately the pipe from the cooler to the intake manifold.

Assembly


Cooler to intake.


Exhaust manifold.


EGR valve.


I recommed byuing a EGR cleaner. I bought valvoline egr & turbo cleaner. That seemed to get the carbon out pretty good. I also filled the EGR cooler (the erg side, not the coolant side) with gasoline and let it sit for 15min. That really helped to get the carbon sludge out of the cooler. The final cleaning was made with the egr cleaner.
Some pics after the cleaning operation:
Intake manifold


EGR valve


Exhaust



After that it had to be put back under the hood. First the egr cooler, then egr, connect the coolant hoses, few electric wires, air hoses etc. After all that had been done I added new coolant to the system. Bleeded most of the air out from the coolant system and went for a test drive. There were no improvement in the performance, but I must say that the EGR was not as dirty as I thougt it would be. But at least I have now new coolant in the engine and a clean EGR system. In mechanical side of view it is pretty simple operation to do. Only problem is that there is no extra room and some of the bolts were really tight. It took me 7 hours to the whole job (well that includes 1 hour lunch and 1.5 hour trip to spare parts strore to buy magnetic tool because someone dropped one of the bolts inside the enginebay...) If I did this again, it would probably go in 3-4 hours max.

When looking the the state of the EGR with 86000 km on it, I would say that It should go 150 000-200 000km without problems. It seems that the actual valve is not the most dirty part, it's the EGR cooler intake manifold side. Now that I have seem what kind of nasty crap there is, I would like to remove the intake manifold and clean that as well. But that has to wait for other time. I don't know how easy the intake manifold is to take off, but I would think that you need to replace the seals etc... With egr parts you can use the old ones (metallic seals), because they seemed to be in really good condition.


One thing I would also like to say, is that who the hell decided to use 12mm nuts and bolts in the i30? Usually the bolts have been 13mm etc in other cars, but why on earth they used 12mm? That is such an odd size that most of my tool kits do not even have 12mm sockets and wrenches. Luckily found some 12mm tools but still... Had to use normal sockets with impact wrench to get the exhaust manifold heat shield off. Well, now I got a good reason to byu more tools...

[CraigB]

Looking at what was removed from the radiator doesn't appear to even have coolant in it, I'd say whoever filled it only used plain water

Good job with the EGR removal description and clean, that should help other diesel owners 

[Dazzler]

   sunsdiz 

[sundiz]

Today I continued working with the car. Cleaned the interior with a normal vacuum cleaner. After that I washed the drivers seat and drivers floor with my Kärcher. I don't know what this thing is in english, but it works like vacuum, but it also has spray nozzle for water/cleaning liquid. It basicly sucks the liquid you spray immediately off from the surface you spray it on. One of the best things I've ever bought. I have used it to clean 3 cars, floor mats, sofas etc...



I washed my interior last summer, so it's been about 1 year since last time. I have been driving mostly alone so didn't need to wash the whole interior. This was the water after driver seat and floor. It's hard to believe how much s**t you can get out from "clean" seat. All this crap came out only from drivers seat and floor.



Now it's like brand new.



Those cleaners can be a bit pricy, but If you ever get your hands on of those, I higly recommend to try it to your car interior.

If it does not rain tomorrow, I'll be trying to change the brake/clutch fluid...

[Asterix]

Nice job, Sundiz.. 

One thing I would also like to say, is that who the hell decided to use 12mm nuts and bolts in the i30? Usually the bolts have been 13mm etc in other cars, but why on earth they used 12mm? That is such an odd size that most of my tool kits do not even have 12mm sockets and wrenches. Luckily found some 12mm tools but still... Had to use normal sockets with impact wrench to get the exhaust manifold heat shield off. Well, now I got a good reason to byu more tools...

I think you have had euro build cars before..?  My experience is that euro build cars use DIN bolts/nuts and Asian build cars use ISO, hence the difference in the diameter of the bolts & nuts.

[sundiz]

I think you have had euro build cars before..?

Correct. Used to drive & fix Ford (build in Germany), Volvo and some Mercedes. That might explain the difference. I guess I should stay off from american cars. They probably use inch size nuts and bolts...

[Wingerdave]

I think you have had euro build cars before..?

Correct. Used to drive & fix Ford (build in Germany), Volvo and some Mercedes. That might explain the difference. I guess I should stay off from american cars. They probably use inch size nuts and bolts...

My Dodge was all metric (2007 Dodge Caliber) 

[FatBoy]

My 1970 VW Beetle was made in Germany, but assembled in Australia.  So it had both metric and imperial sizes everywhere.   

[sundiz]

Brake/clutch fluid reservoir had a really thight filter on the top of the reservoir. I was not able to remove it so I could suck the reservoir empty before adding new liquid. I did not want to use any force to the filter, because with my luck I would have break it.  I decided to push all the liquid through the system. Filled the reservoir and pushed it throug rear right brake line. It took some time before the liquid started to be clear, but it was easiest for me. Especially when I had one pair of extra legs pushing the brake pedal.

According to repair manual the bleeding order in i30 is:
1. Rear right
2. Front left
3. Rear left
4. Front right

That was new thing for me. In my previous cars you had to bleed the rear tyres first...



The "bleed valve for clutch" is in the front end of the transmission. I removed two 10mm bolts so I could get the air intake pipe off and get some room for my hands.



"Clutch bleeding valve"


The brake liquid had seen better days. It was really blurry or "not transparent" as the new one. Started to wonder if It had been ever changed...


I changed the motor oil couple of weeks ago. Changed the air filters (cabin & motor). It should be now ready for new adventures and the next service should be motor oil change after 10 000km. I guess I could wash & wax it, but the weather doesn't seem to allow that...

[Dazzler]

You are a real D.I.Y. Guy! 

[sundiz]

Thanks to Asterix's good instructions ( HOW TO: Change drivebelt on 1,6 CRDi) I was able to change my drive belt. I have 93000 km in the car now and the belt has seen better days. I would think this was original from the factory.


I went to local HY dealer so I would get the right belt. They did not have it there but there was a spare part store near by that they recommended. They even gave me the oem part number (252122A310)  and told the spare part store has those. Went there with the part number and they weren't able to use it for some reason. Then they asked my car specs and told that there are two possibilities 1800mm and 1815mm long belts (thats why I went to the dealer so I would not have to guess which is the right one). The guy checked something from the computer and told he found the right one. I was happy, took the belt and came home. I changed the belt. During the operation I compared it to the old one. Seemed to same lenght. After the fix I checked the package and saw that they sold me 1810mm belt... so basicly it is 10mm too long or 5mm too short. It seems to work so I would guess that few mm's here and there won't cause any issues, except raise my blood pressure. It sure seems that you need to do EVERYTHING by yourself if you want it done properly.

I noticed a very small wear the guide wheels of the belt. Have you also changed them as well? Does anyone know the right name for those wheels or perhaps the oem part number?

The winter is also coming so decided to change the battery as well. Had to cut one side of the battery holder because it did not take "normal" size battry. I had 70Ah HY (original) battery. Now there's a Bosch with 74Ah. Charged it with a ctek smart charger and now it is ready to go. While the battery was out I also changed the crappy battery connector to better.

[Asterix]

Glad I could help. 

I got the 1800 mm (Dayco 5PK1800) and by comparison it seemed to be the same length as the old one. A lot of items is different on the 1,6 CRDi if it's produced before 02.2008.

I haven't done anything about the guide wheels, what I could see they were ok.

[sundiz]

I've had some noises coming from the rear when driving over speedbumps if there is some load in the back. Under heavy load i was able to hear it while cornering to the right tightly.

I decided to check the "rear vertical stabilizer link bars". Or as we call "dog bones" (they look like a bone...).  I was just going to take them out and see if they are ok or not, but I noticed that they cost only 15€ each, so I decided to add new ones with the same hassle. It's simple and easy job for anyone.

Take rear tyre off.


Remove two nuts and take the bar out.
Ols vs. new.


Add new part and tighten up the nuts. The correct torque according gds is ~50nm.



I did a short test drive, but I had nothing to put in the trunk... Hard to tell if this helped or not. The old parts were not badly worn, but the lower parts of those bars were easier to bend around. Maybe they were little worn, maybe not... Still quick and easy job. Took about 60 mins with both sides.

[Dazzler]

  They certainly look better 

Thanks for the info and photos!

[sundiz]

Well, it seems that the rear end was not the cause of the suspension noises. The noises came worse during time. I was able to locate the noise to left side front stabilizer link bar.  I got a tip from a friend to lift the whole front end up, so there would be no tension in the link bars compared to lifting one corner at a time.




Some wd-40 and two 17mm wrenches. The lower nut is too tight for socket, but for the upper I used impact driver.



I was not able to torque the lower nut in to the right tension due tight space. Upper I torqued to 110nm.



After the job I did a test drive and all extra noises disappeared. 

[Dazzler]

Thanks again

[xiziz]

Just found this thread! Thanks for sharing all this sundiz!

[sundiz]

Just found this thread! Thanks for sharing all this sundiz!

Tack. I'm glad you like it.

I mentioned in some topic I have issues with the clear coat. Especially the bonnet is in poor condition.



I used airbrush to spray some new clear coat over those spots where the clear coat had chipped away. Of course there were huge spots of spray mist around every spot I sprayed.



They were like this during the whole winter. I just wanted the new clear coat to dry and harden well. Now I bought Scholl Concepts S17+  rubbing compound and polished the spray mist with polishing machine. Few hours of work and the car looks a lot better. I had approx 30-40 spots to polish.



I think I need to buff the whole car with somekind of rubbing compound. The spots I worked got really even deep and nice red colour. The old paint looks like a bit grayish when compared to buffed spots.

[Dazzler]

Nice work sundiz! 

[ibrokeit]

This reminds me that I need advice on my i30cw - regarding suspension, etc..

Good pics BTW and useful info.

[sundiz]

3 years and 60 000km since last time I changed manual transmission oil. Last few low temp days (-20'C) of winter I had some difficulties to get reverse gear on and the transmission was a bit stiff. So the job waited for better weather. Weather was crappy (3'C and rain) but I had no better way to spend time so did the job anyway.



Took the bottom cover out with few 10mm bolts and drained the old oil out. A lot darker than new but seemed to still run nicely. On the top left is the 17mm fill plug. On the right is the 24mm drain plug.





I used massive oil syringe to fill the transmission. Oil capacity is 1.9L. I used torque wrench with the fill and drain plugs. Manual says 60-80nm so I used 70nm.

I used the same oil as before castrol multivehicle syntrans because it worked well in low temps before. Did a test drive and transmission worked really smoothly.

A week or two and the I can change summer tyres. Few thousand kms more and I can change engine oil.

[diesel1984]

Great job sundiz.

[asathorny]

I love this kinda work, I could stand and watch it all day   

[nzenigma]

@sundiz
IF IT WAS AN AUTO 1.9L of fluid WOULD be a bit short. The trans including torque converter takes 6.6L.
get the car up to running temperature , idle in Neutral and check that the level is correct.
Good work .
MODIFIED BY DUMB PERSON.

[nzenigma]

I love this kinda work, I could stand and watch it all day   

Don't torture us, We all lie under cars and dream of living in Manchester. 

[tw2005]

@sundiz
1.9L of fluid may be a bit short. The trans including torque converter takes 6.6L.
get the car up to running temperature , idle in Neutral and check that the level is correct.
Good work .

@nzenigma , Have you had a bump to the head recently? Funny looking Auto

[sundiz]

@sundiz
1.9L of fluid may be a bit short. The trans including torque converter takes 6.6L.
get the car up to running temperature , idle in Neutral and check that the level is correct.
Good work .

My car is manual. I believe automatic takes more oil. Last time my car was leveled and 1.9L was all it took. Now the front of my car was little bit higher than rear so I measured 1.9L oil and went with that. 1.9 is also given oil capacity in the repair manual for manual transmission.

[Asterix]

@sundiz
1.9L of fluid may be a bit short. The trans including torque converter takes 6.6L.
get the car up to running temperature , idle in Neutral and check that the level is correct.
Good work .

@nzenigma , Have you had a bump to the head recently? Funny looking Auto

 

[diesel1984]

75w85 or 75w90 gl4 only.
In my opinion castrol multivehiche 75w90 gl4 is the best oil for this box on the market.
1.9l is correct value for manual.

[sundiz]

I used 75w90 GL4. Local stores did not even have the other one and to be honest I did not know that there is other product also. I've been happy with 75w90 performance. Especially in the low temps.