I have a passat B6 170PD BMR. Over the past few months I started getting a problem with a strong diesel smell and low power below 1500RPM. I replaced the tandem pump and that cured the diesel smell. Next I replaced the EGR with an aftermarket one but this seemed to make the matter worse so I then replaced it again with a genuine Valeo OM one, but problem still there. This was followed by changing and anti shudder valve but this made no difference and finally I changed all the vacuum hoses which seemed to sort the problem for a few days but then back to not running right.

The issue is on say every 5th or 6th journey the car becomes sluggish and not very responsive and when accelerating a noise that sounds like the exhaust blowing which is it not. So if I stop and unplug the EGR the problem then goes away. This does not immediatly mean there is an EGR problem as im well aware but certainly something linked to that system. Now I dont mind leaving it unplugged and having an engine warning light but the EGR error codes cause a problem with the DSG box which gets very annoying lol.

During this whole process not one error code is generated when checked with VCDS except when I unplug the EGR which is to be expected. I have also tested the turbo actuator which works 100% perfectly and moves a good 20 mm freely. And to be fair if it was a problem with that then it would'nt just vanish when I unplug the EGR as once unplugged the problem never comes back. So sorry for the long post but i'm running out of ideas and avenues to go down.