Bugger;....didnt work! Fault came back on this morning.
I dont regret cleaning the EGR and throttle assembly out because it needed doing anyway.

However i have noticed i only get the fault on startup and moreover, it seems to be when i start it before the heater lkigth has gone out. I am wondering if in my case i am not giving it long enough to complete all the self tests and thats why it throws an error?

But the Fault P0487 is EGR throttle control circuit A open. So the fault suggests it is not the EGR valve but the throttle control which is linked to it!!! But i cleaned it all up yesterday and checked it worked correctly then.....Im lost now!

 

thanks all for the messages,
i have had the EGR and TPS off and cleaned till they are gleaming and yeah they were really caked in carbon deposits. i even replaced the EGR valve on the front of the engine. starting to think it might be electrical so going to get a fluke on the TPS socket and check for a breakdown in the wire

will keep you all posted

wally.

 

I've got the same error code with the same procedures on my Grandis DI-D... Cleaned everything out changed the EGR valve (both parts) and erased error codes, but still after a restart the same code is there P0488.
Today I even took it to a Mitsubishi repair shop and the charged me an arm and a leg for the same procedure and told me to change the EGR valve...
Question 1. Is there a separate recycling gas sensor somewhere in this system? I can't find one.
Question 2. Can the problem be a fault in the vacuum control unit regulating the valve from the exhaust system? Hope not because that looks like a very expensive unit to buy...

The problem right now is that I can't get my car thru the annual checkup because no error codes are accepted... (in Finland). I have one month to clear the issue and the local repair shop is of no use.

 

Yesterday evening I tore apart all the cable covers from the EGR throttle housing all the way to the point where all cables go into a big bunch out of reach. There was nothing wrong with the cables at all. Then I picked apart the old EGR throttle control and found that the gears inside had seized and wouldn’t move. Then I started thinking that if there is an electric motor there should also be a fuse somewhere. In the engine compartment I found a burnt 10A fuse (marked with the engine symbol). I changed it, deleted the error codes and everything was fine. My wife is driving to the annual checkup as we speak.

I feel like an idiot but can't help to wonder how the Mitsubishi repair shop guy feels when I have a talk with him later today. The same guy that told me to change the EGR valve... again. I know I should have checked the fuses to begin with, but what is his excuse.

By the way. This here sounds alot like a burnt fuse or bad connection to me...

 

Hi could you say where the fuse was please - im looking to fix the same fault on a 2009 Ooutlander 2.0 D-ID . thanks

 

Sorry mate. Mine was a Grandis so the location of the fuse would not be the same anyway. I suggest you open the fuseboxes (most likely two in the engine compartment) ant test all fuses marked with the engine symbol. Most likely you will find it in the engine comparment and not the fuse box inside the car. Ofcourse you need to check the throttle housing first. If you can't move the trottle by hand it's siezed and broken...

 

What i find interesting here guys is that if the motor and geared assembly which controls the air intake flap was seized....how the hell did you manage to use the car? i.e. accelerator pedal wouldnt work!!

With my car now, i rarely get the P0487 fault....but it does appear occasionally and then self resets after a day or 2 once the engine has gone through all its various sequences.

What i am planning to do is blank off the EGR. i.e. remove the metal pipe between the exhaust side and the EGR valve....all it does is reduce emissions which is not part of the MOT as they do a smoke test (theory wont work on petrols). Blanking it off should improve engine response, improve emissions and also stop all that crap clogging up in there!

And to the vacuum question....i don't know what sensor would register a fault there so i doubt it.

Regards
Matt

 

Well Matt... Since mine is a turbo diesel the valve does not have anything to do with how fast the vehicle goes. It only creates a vacuum in the air intake when the vehicle is on idle thus sucking more of the recycled exhaust into the intake. When you press the accelerator pedal, the valve opens and allowes the compressed air to flow ( the EGR then shuts ofcourse).

For the VW made DID engine EGR system two separate modules are needed. The vacuum operated EGR valve and the trottle controll. If the EGR doesn't open because it is clogged up with carbon build ups the ECU doesn't even know it. The car just most likely idles poorly when it's cold and this because the valve is shut and there are no exhaust gases allowed in (eg. the engine chokes). Only if the trottle is broken the ECU gives the fault code.

On a diesel you need a mecanical vacuum pump since there isn't a vacuum made by an accelerator valve (trottle valve). The vacuum is controlled by an electronic switch with one main vacuum hose and many out going that open and shut when given the order by the ECU. One of these vacuum lines operates the vacuum in the EGR valve. If i wanted to circumvent the EGR system I would have to plug the vacuum hose and re-direct the incoming EGR metal pipe to the air filter housing so that the engine doesn't choke when cold and ofcourse plug the outgoing end in the exhaust. But I would not do it because in Finland they check such things in the annual check-up...

 

Very informative response Cashman.....you clearly know the system quite well! That sounds exactly like how my car works and i didnt consider the choking effect....

Given i do all my own car maintance, i could do the mod and get away with it quite easily...however it isnt so straight forward if one needs to start re-directing pipes.

Why do you need to plug the vacuum hose? Surely you could allow the electronic vacuum system to continue to operate as normal and actuate the valve....weather it was blanked off or re-directed to the air intake, it wouldnt matter would it?

Regards
Matt

 

Well actually one could get away with just removing the actual valve from the trottle housing and just leave the valve housing and empty axle. The vacuum hose needs to be plugged so that the EGR doesn't open unnecessarily (i.e. only plug the hose to the EGR valve not the whole system). Actually even I could get away with that...