You’ve likely already read about the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by drivers because it is likely to cause more problems than anything else… Indeed, dependant upon the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of problems. If this is the situation, you are likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Audi Q5 ? Don’t stress, we’ve well prepared this article content to help you with this process. To do so, we will first check out the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Audi Q5 can bring about and at last the part that will likely concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Audi Q5?

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How to Clean your Audi Q5 EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Purpose of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines principally to reduce pollution released by vehicles and to fulfill EURO specifications on Audi Q5 . It will consequently control the quality of exhaust gas output and reduce toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Audi Q5 , we will examine how it operates. As described before, its task is to clean the exhaust fumes, so it will be positioned 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 reduce all unburned toxic particles. It will run principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Audi Q5 EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, nevertheless very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Audi Q5 , will unfortunately tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will eventually risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until totally blocking the engine unit, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Audi Q5 can trigger:

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

How to clean your Audi Q5 EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll commence the part you are most curious about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two solutions that you can use.

Do it yourself

How to clean your Audi Q5 EGR valve system: Without dismantle

Despite the fact this methodology 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 specific 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 Q5.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the most beneficial methodology, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to execute the process on your own. If so, the procedure is fairly straightforward. 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 simple steps are completed, now comes the time for cleaning. To make this happen, 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 Q5.

Have it done by a professional

If, your EGR valve is not reachable because of the series or the engine of your car and if removing it would cause too many complications (removing too many auto parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Audi Q5? In such a case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex process, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to accomplish the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning dependant upon the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Audi Q5

At last, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Audi Q5, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution released by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light permanently on and ultimately risk fouling the engine. We highly advise against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t think twice to check out our dedicated page.

If you wish more tutorials on the Audi Q5, go to our Audi Q5 category.