You’ve most likely previously heard of the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by drivers because it is likely to cause more concerns than anything else… In reality, dependent on the use you are going to make of your car, it can become clogged and cause you a lot of complications. If this is the case, you are most likely wondering how to clean the EGR valve of your Buick LaCrosse ? Don’t get worried, we’ve well prepared this content page to help you with this procedure. To do so, we will first take a look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Buick LaCrosse can reason and finally the part that will most likely interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Buick LaCrosse?

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How to Clean your Buick LaCrosse EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Goal of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines primarily to lower pollution released by vehicles and to meet EURO requirements on Buick LaCrosse . It will therefore influence 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 Buick LaCrosse , we will examine how it functions. As described just before, its task 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 eradicate all unburned toxic particles. It will perform principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Buick LaCrosse EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, nevertheless very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Buick LaCrosse , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will inevitably risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Buick LaCrosse can trigger:

  • Motor light on
  • Performance loss
  • Technical assesment refused
  • Black fumes
  • Vehicle that grazes at low speed
  • Low RPM settings

How to clean your Buick LaCrosse EGR valve: In practice

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

Do it on your own

How to clean your Buick LaCrosse EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Despite the fact this process is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, actually, you will only need to use fuel additives, equivalent 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 Buick LaCrosse.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the strongest process, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to execute the treatment 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 guidelines are achieved, now comes the time for cleaning. To accomplish 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 even 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 LaCrosse.

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 troubles (removing too many parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Buick LaCrosse? In cases like this, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex procedure, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to carry out the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning dependent on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Buick LaCrosse

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 LaCrosse, they just prefer to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the effect 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 ultimately risk fouling the engine. We highly suggest 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 need more guides on the Buick LaCrosse, go to our Buick LaCrosse category.