Some older domestic EGR's can be defeated by drilling a hole in a penny and partially blocking the EGR pipe.

Has anyone tried this on a 1996 EGR with the wiring harness plug in?

a U.S. quarter fits quite nicely in the EGR body, so wondering if a small hole drilled into it will keep the system "thinking" it is working , albeit at a much lower volume.

Why? I had the IM throughly baked and cleaned 30K ago and I cant beleive the crap back in there after a scant 30K miles.

I did actually install the "25 cent piece" with a small orifice. But awaiting a glow plug relay before I fire the car up and hopefully go on a roadtrip. I'd prefer to find out before the road trip if its a no-go!

I know there is a way to trick the wiring harness written about here as well. I'd like to try the KISS method first.

Thank you for any replies.

If it can be reversed in a parking lot, and the ECU can be reset by unhooking the battery I would go for it. If it goes into limp mode, grab lunch while the ECU resets and pull the quarter.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Assuming you mean a 1996 Mercedes E300 diesel, you can block the exhaust flow at any point and the system won't know the difference. Leave the EGR valve and its wiring intact; the valve will open, the wires will report to the electronics and the system will be happy. The 1996 system is not very sophisticated -- it doesn't know whether anything is actually flowing through the EGR valve. Most of us block EGR by replacing the existing sheet-metal gasket between the valve and the crossover pipe with a gasket cut from scrap and missing the center hole. Keep the original gasket in its place so you don't lose it, in case you ever have to go for an inspection.

Once that is done and you're having no problems, remove the intake manifold and clean out all the carbon crud. The engine will be happy. While you're in there, remove the vacuum-operated flap that's in the pipe next to the EGR valve. It's located between the EGR valve and the air cleaner. All it does is to restrict air flow and create a partial vacuum in the intake manifold so more exhaust can be sucked in. Remove two Philips screws and the flap inside the pipe can be removed. Leave the rest of the parts in place. If you have to get the car inspected, replace the flap and take the block out of the EGR path and you're ready.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

You'll need to solder in a resistor or two to trick the CPU. Search for the Om606 EGR delete

So Jeremy, I wasted a few mintues drilling a small hole in the quarter? Bummer. There was no "gasket", but there is now!! I'll report back results. I did pay for "rush" shipping on the GP relay, so I'll have a day or so to check out the 25 cent fix before I put 1000 miles on her for Easter.

I dont have the time to mess with soldering up any electronics, so if that's what it takes it'll stay on.

Is the '96 EGR system different than the '97?

I only ask because my understanding is that the normally aspirated 606 engines do need to see a change in airflow or they'll throw a code and that there isn't an easy resistor/diode "fix" like the one that works so well on the '98 & '99 turbocharged engines.

If you find that you can't trick it you might consider rerouting the egr pipe so it pulls clean air from the air filter housing. Saw that on a '97 recently. P/O cut the egr pipe in half and used some hose to connect the EGR to the air box / crimped the other piece to seal off the manifold. That will work too and wouldn't be too tough to reverse if needed.

Disconnect the ERG from the exhaust manifold. Seal off the exhaust manifold hole using a solid piece of steel. I used a knockout plug from an electrical connection box. Connected a small air filter purchased at Autozone or other parts store to the accordion pipe leading to the erg valve. Leave every thing else alone. From that point on, the ERG valve will be sucking in clean fresh air, and the computer will never even know the difference.

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96 E300d

About 96-97 I dont know. The 97 has ALOT more computer stuff going on. The 96 has the better analog transmission to be sure.

We'll keep the quarter in there for now and I will report back. If it works, I may throw a solid slug in there and test Jeremy's theory that it just doesn't matter, which is a preferred solution to rigging extraneous plumbing.

Thank you for all the replies.

For 1996 the coin trick does indeed work. No error codes, runs mint. Next time I'm in there I might swap an undrilled quarter in its place. ( and remove the airdoor as mentioned). thanks.