You’ve likely previously been aware of the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by drivers because it tends to cause more concerns than anything else… Actually, depending on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of complications. If this is the situation, you are likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Acura ILX ? Don’t worry, we’ve well prepared this content to help you with this task. To do this, we will first take a look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Acura ILX can provoke and at last the part that will likely concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Acura ILX?

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How to Clean your Acura ILX EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Purpose of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines mostly to lower pollution emitted by cars and to fulfill EURO requirements on Acura ILX . It will consequently control the quality of exhaust gas output and get rid of toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your Acura ILX , we will take a look at how it functions. As described before, its objective is to clean the exhaust fumes, so it will be placed at the engine outlet, thanks to a valve, it will be able to return the unburned exhaust gases to the engine for a second burn which will get rid of all unburned toxic particles. It will perform mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Acura ILX EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, nevertheless very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Acura ILX , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will finally risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Acura ILX can provoke:

  • Motor light on
  • Performance loss
  • Technical inspection rejected
  • Black gases
  • Vehicle that grazes at low speed
  • Low RPM settings

How to clean your Acura ILX EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll begin the part you are most intrigued by, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two approaches that you can use.

Do it yourself

How to clean your Acura ILX EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Nevertheless this methodology is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, in fact, you will only need to use fuel additives, similar to the products used to clean the injection. These particular solutions must be injected into the running engine, at the right operating temperature, diluted in about 20 litres of fuel and run the engine for 3 or 4 minutes in high rev to clean the EGR valve of your Acura ILX.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the more effective methodology, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to do the process yourself. If so, the process is fairly simple. You will need to disconnect the electromagnet from the EGR valve, remove the few screws that hold it in place, and remove it. Once these steps are accomplished, now comes the time for cleaning. To get this done, you will need to use a product such as solvent, petrol, oven cleaning product, which you will leave to act for ten minutes, then scrape off the rest using a scraper, finish cleaning with wire brush. If you want to go further, you can even clean the two canal on which it is connected which may be scorched, for this, use a scraper and a vacuum cleaner to avoid dropping deposits in the conduits. You will only have to reassemble it and you will have finished cleaning the EGR valve of your Acura ILX.

Have it done by a professional

If, your EGR valve is not accessible because of the series or the engine of your car and if removing it would cause too many difficulties (removing too many parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Acura ILX? In this case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex task, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning depending on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Acura ILX

Finally, a number of people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Acura ILX, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the effect of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light permanently on and in the end risk fouling the engine. We highly recommend against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t be reluctant to take a look at our dedicated page.

To discover more tips on the Acura ILX, take a look at the Acura ILX category.