You’ve probably already read about the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not always appreciated by motorists because it is likely to create more trouble than anything else… In reality, depending on the use you are going to make of your car, it can become congested and bring about you a lot of concerns. If this is the situation, you are probably concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Buick Envision ? Don’t worry, we’ve made this content to help you with this operation. To accomplish this, we will initially look at the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Buick Envision can trigger and finally the section that will probably concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Buick Envision?
How to Clean your Buick Envision EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Role of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines mainly to reduce pollution released by cars and to match EURO specifications on Buick Envision . It will consequently influence the quality of exhaust gas output and eliminate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your Buick Envision , we will examine how it functions. As described just before, its goal is to clean the exhaust fumes, so it will be installed 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 eliminate all unburned toxic particles. It will function mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Buick Envision EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Buick Envision , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its mechanism, which will ultimately risk obstructing the operation of the valve, until totally blocking the engine motor, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Buick Envision can trigger:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical inspection rejected
- Black fumes
- Vehicle that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Buick Envision EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll commence the section you are most excited about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two methods that you can use.
Do it yourself
How to clean your Buick Envision EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Even though this process 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, equivalent to the products used to clean the injection. These specific 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 Buick Envision.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the best process, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to do the operation yourself. 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 accomplished, 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 Buick Envision.
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 elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Buick Envision? In cases like this, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex operation, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to do 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 Buick Envision
Finally, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Buick Envision, they simply choose to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the consequence of greatly increasing the pollution released by the car, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light permanently on and finally risk fouling the engine. We strongly advise 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 wish more tutorials on the Buick Envision, go to our Buick Envision category.
