2005 Kia Sorento EGR Valve and Related Problems

**Hellas** · 2012/08/06, 02:09 PM

This writeup is for a 2005 Kia Sorento EX 2.5 CRDi diesel (BL model).

If you experience loss of power and loads of heavy black smoke, the EGR valve may be stuck.

The symptoms:
Cars starts fine, idling is fine, but smokes heavily under acceleration up to 2000rpm when the turbo kicks in, then the smoke disappears.
Also no fault codes on the scanner.

Before looking at replacing turbos and injectors, do a 10 minute DIY check.

The EGR on the diesel Sorento works with an electro magnet that pushes a plunger in to open the valve which recyles the exhaust gasses into the intake.

Below I have removed the EGR 'electro magnet'. It loosens with 4 x 4mm grub (allen) bolts. Careful not to drop them in the engine bay.

The yellow arrow shows the EGR valve. Unfortunately the valve cannot be removed without removing the starter motor, so you cannot check if the valve is clogged, but you can already see here whether the valve is stuck.

If the valve is stuck the plunger will be pressed in. I used a longnose plier to slightly twist the spring plunger and it popped out. It was clear that it was not moving freely.

I then added some 3 in 1 oil and pressed the plunger a couple of times to make sure it moves freely. In the following picture the plunger is in the 'out' position:

Replaced all the parts and started the car up and all smoke was gone and performance was back to normal.

Now an optional step

to prevent this from happening again is to simply blank the EGR feed pipe. There are 2 'easy' places on the feed line to do this: The one is the flange directly behind the EGR valve, but the easiest one is the flange by the exhaust manifold.

The blank plate should be made from 1mm or 1.6mm plate as the spacing of the flanges is a bit tight. See below (blue arrow):

Flange size: 80mm long x 45mm wide (oval/flanged shape) with 2 x holes 8.5mm dia.

Just make sure that you cooling system is in full working order as the omission of the EGR components may cause your engine to run slightly (not a lot) hotter.
The logic behind this is that the addition of burn exhaust gasses into the intake causes weaker combustion, thus lower temperature. Without the EGR the engine runs with 'fresh/cooler' air the whole time and combustion is better = slight increase in temp.

But the best part is the EGR delete is the better fuel consumption!

**Gaishy1972** · 2013/12/02, 11:24 AM

Thought i was in trouble when i saw the cloud of black smoke from 2005 kia as i am not a mechanic in any sence of the word.then i found this forum the info and pictures made me think i could sort the problem myself so i tried it . When i removed the valve it was covered in a hard black burnt on substance.i removed this and the residue on the part the valve fits to and lubricated everything before reffitting.runs better now than it has done for months
Never thought i could fix something like this but thx to you i did
Cheers and keep doing what youre doing

**Shorty43** · 2014/01/10, 06:44 PM

Hi Hellas, Many thanks for your post on this problem. Very well written and informative, especialy the photos with the arrows (how did you do that). This one post could save someone a lot of dosh in the event of this problem arising. Guys like you make this forum great

PS I have the same vehicle.

**compressorman** · 2014/10/17, 10:25 AM

Just want my mind set at rest?
Same probs as everyone else, black smoke and judder.
Removed solenoid and EGR, valve was not stick.
Connected solenoid to 12volt battery to test solenoid and it worked fine.
I take it the inside housing is coked up?
Anyway I ran the engine with the electrical plug off the solenoid and the engine ran sweet, I ran it up the road and no black smoke, was like new again?
I have no lights on the dashboard so am I okay to run with plug off?
I am concerned that the ECU may build up resistance seeing as it cannot release its signals?
Also can you advise what sensors on the engine tell the ecu to control the egr as I am thinking seeing as valve is free, albeit there may be coke inside, it may just be another gadget stopping it from working correctly.
Its obvious the valve works because of the difference in how the engine runs, but the valve is no doubt opening at the wrong times.
Thanks for any guidence.

**Rocky1964** · 2017/12/09, 12:33 PM

Hi Guys
I have a 2004 Kia Sorento 2.5d it started smoking whiteish on idle when on operating temp.
Any advice, could it also be EGR related?
Could it be something else?
Regards

**SilverNodashi** · 2018/01/18, 01:29 PM

I know this is an old post, but do you still have the photos?

**XLAND_ROVERX** · 2018/01/19, 04:05 PM

I too wild like to know if these picks are still available, allthou our EGR was blanked off long long long ago, still could be interesting

**JGCB** · 2019/02/06, 03:01 PM

These posts might be from a long time ago, but is truly very helpfull! Cheers

**WAJ** · 2019/02/07, 09:29 AM

Cool thanks

I need to get rid of the EGR on my KIA, and sommer get a nice FAT zorst with no restrictions.

Just not sure where in PTA I can get this done.