You’ve most likely previously heard about the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by drivers because it is likely to create more problems than anything else… In reality, determined by the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become congested and trigger you a lot of trouble. If this is the case, you are most likely concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Audi A5 ? Don’t worry, we’ve prepared this content to help you with this procedure. To do this, we will first take a look at the intent of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Audi A5 can reason and at last the part that will most likely interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Audi A5?

clean-egr-valve-audi-a5

How to Clean your Audi A5 EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Purpose of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines principally to lower pollution released by vehicles and to fulfill EURO specifications on Audi A5 . It will as a result control the quality of exhaust gas output and eradicate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Audi A5 , we will have a look at how it functions. As described before, its goal is to clean the exhaust gases, 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 eradicate all unburned toxic particles. It will perform mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Audi A5 EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, nevertheless very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your Audi A5 , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will inevitably risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until totally blocking the engine unit, here are the signs of illness that a faulty EGR valve on your Audi A5 can cause:

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

How to clean your Audi A5 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 on your own

How to clean your Audi A5 EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Despite the fact this procedure is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, in reality, you will only need to use fuel additives, similar to the products used to clean the injection. These particular products 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 Audi A5.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the more effective procedure, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to do the operation without help. If so, the operation is fairly easy. 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 guidelines are achieved, now comes the time for cleaning. To do this, 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 also clean the two conduits 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 Audi A5.

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 complications (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Audi A5? In such a case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex procedure, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning determined by the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Audi A5

Finally, a number of people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Audi A5, they simply prefer to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the consequence of greatly increasing the pollution released by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light permanently on and ultimately 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.

If you need more tutorials on the Audi A5, go to our Audi A5 category.