EGR problems....again!!!

[metako]

Our 2.0 FSI was coughing or stumbling at random times today, so I removed the EGR valve cover and sure enough there were broken teeth on the black plastic "half-wheel" cog. I'd replaced the "full-wheel" cog last year with a new, improved one from Germany which was easy enough, but the "half-wheel" is attached to a big spring underneath, and doesn't look like it just pulls off.

Has anyone taked this cog/wheel off without taking the whole EGR valve off?

[metako]

I went to Imlachs self service wreckers today to see if I could find a good SH EGR valve. I could only find one MkV 2.0 FSI despite there being 5 listed (its very hard to find specific cars at Imlachs as they don't group them together very well). The one I did find had an EGR with a broken "half-wheel" like mine.

So as the EGR was of no use to anyone, I tried to pry the plastic "half-wheel" off with 2 hefty screwdrivers and it just broke apart. I had to use a screwdriver and hammer to hammer the rest of the plastic wheel from the shaft - it seemed to be either a very tight interference fit or heated up when fitted so that it clamped on tight when it cooled. So its nothing like the "full-wheel" cog, which can be just lifted out easily, and not user-replaceable unless you experiment with heating it up somehow. There are a few repair videos on youtube where people attach toothed metal plates to the broken wheel or glue in a single metal replacement tooth, but who knows how long these will last.

So I'll try a few more self-service wreckers over the next couple of weeks to see if I can find a good SH one, or even 2 as they are all near the end of their service life.