for a couple of weeks my car has been going into reduced power mode, i tried the egr cleaner sprays with little success.

I have the jlr sdd and it came up with fault relating to the egr cooler.

after studying the rear of the engine where the egr is fitted i could see it would be a pig of a job to remove but i had no choice

Well it took 3.5 hours to remove, although the landrover manual tells you what to remove, it doesnt tell you what to remove before getting to the egr, i removed the scuttle, centre bulkhead, battery box and battery, i disconnected the wiring plugs that go to the main ecus, the black pipe that goes from the airbox onto the turbo, the cover that fits over the cambelt. along with a host of other small bits.

luckily my partner had a small mirror that i could use to help me to locate the bolts that fasten the egr to the engine (this was the easy bit)getting it out from behind the engine was a pain also.

I was tempted to remove the black plastic Valve Cover but this also entails removing the fuel rail.it would make access easier and would make it easier to remove the cooler and egr valve assembly from their location.

Access is very very poor, i found myself kneeling on top of the engine. To improve access, i removed both front road wheels, and dropped the car as low as my jack would go. I also stood on a caravan step.

Was it worth it, well the egr cooler valve is seized solid, so yes it had to be done. Hopefully fitting will be easier as I know what to expect.

If yours is giving problems good luck

My EGR is goosed and the Indie was keen to let me do it myself after the conformation of what we suspected. I feel sorry for his younger mechanic doing it next week after reading your description as my days of crawling down the back of an engine are at an end.

One of the weak points it seems of my very cosseted car

So once done can the carbonising up be avoided in the future and by what means ?

Thanks for the write up as it gives us all a better idea about tackling this job or not at home.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

hi bob, to be honest part of why i did this myself was because i thought, what if the egr is good and its something else. then i would have spent 300+ on labour and i still cant tow with the car.

Although it been difficult at least i know the problem was the egr cooler, but if you have time and patience i would do it yourself, however remove the front wheels and drop the car to the floor - most stuff can be removed from above.

Also my car is a 2012 model, the topix guide says you need to remove the heat cover thats fitted over the turbo, on my car there is something that looks like a lambada sensor that is fitted through a hole in the heat shield.
this is situated to the left of the lambada sensor, well the heatshield cant be removed without extracting this sensor first.

however although i followed the instructions i was able to remove the egr and cooler without removing the heatshield.

The most difficult bits to access are the 2 bolts to the far left of the egr cooler where it bolts to the manifiold, to remove these i had to remove the plastic tube that feeds the turbo and attaches to the air filter and also the cambelt cover.
obviously next time i will know what to remove and not waste time ( about)

i like the freelander, i live in a cul de sac and with its good turning circle its a lot easier to manoeuvre that my last car which was an xc 90, however i may sell this and get a pre dpf freelander . or the alternative is every couple of years remove the egr and give it a clean.

i suppose all cars have their faults. I will pst a few pics on friday before i refit the egr and cooler

You definitely have to remove the bulkhead or you won't get the egr/cooler out. You do not need to remove the manifold heat shield as the Haynes manual says , (and can't anyway as one of the bolts is below the cooler) . You don't really need to drain the coolant either as you only loose a small amount which can be topped up later .
Pig of a job