You’ve probably already read about the popular EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not always appreciated by car owners because it has a tendency to cause more trouble than anything else… In reality, dependent on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become congested and trigger you a lot of complications. If this is the case, you are probably wondering how to clean the EGR valve of your Cadillac ATS ? Don’t get worried, we’ve well prepared this article content to help you with this task. To accomplish this, we will initially take a look at the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Cadillac ATS can reason and to finish the section that will probably appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Cadillac ATS?

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How to Clean your Cadillac ATS 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 emitted by automobiles and to meet EURO measures on Cadillac ATS . 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 Cadillac ATS , we will take a look at how it functions. As described just before, its mission is to clean the exhaust gases, so it will be located 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 perform mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Cadillac ATS EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, although very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your Cadillac ATS , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will inevitably risk blocking the functions of the valve, until entirely blocking the engine unit, here are the signs of illness that a faulty EGR valve on your Cadillac ATS can provoke:

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

How to clean your Cadillac ATS 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 solutions that you can use.

Do it on your own

How to clean your Cadillac ATS EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Although this approach is less efficient, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, actually, 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 Cadillac ATS.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the most beneficial approach, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to conduct the operation yourself. If so, the procedure 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 steps are accomplished, 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 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 Cadillac ATS.

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 elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Cadillac ATS? 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 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 Cadillac ATS

At last, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Cadillac ATS, they simply 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 standards, of having an engine warning light permanently on and in the end 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 take a look at our dedicated page.

If perhaps you have any further questions about the Cadillac ATS, do not hesitate to consult our Cadillac ATS category.