You’ve probably already been aware of the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by motorists because it has a tendency to develop more problems than anything else… In fact, depending on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become clogged and cause you a lot of problems. If this is the case, you are probably wondering how to clean the EGR valve of your Cadillac CTS ? Don’t worry, we’ve prepared this article to help you with this process. To achieve this, we will first check out the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Cadillac CTS can trigger and at last the section that will probably appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Cadillac CTS?
How to Clean your Cadillac CTS EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Role of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mostly to reduce pollution released by vehicles and to fulfill EURO standards on Cadillac CTS . It will as a consequence 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 Cadillac CTS , we will examine how it works. As described before, its mission 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 work principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Cadillac CTS EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Cadillac CTS , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will eventually risk blocking the functions of the valve, until totally blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Cadillac CTS 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 CTS EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll commence the section 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 on your own
How to clean your Cadillac CTS EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Despite the fact this process is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, the reality is, 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 Cadillac CTS.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest process, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to perform the treatment on your own. 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 simple steps are accomplished, now comes the time for cleaning. To get this done, 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 CTS.
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 troubles (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Cadillac CTS? 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 do the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, 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 Cadillac CTS
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 Cadillac CTS, they simply choose to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution released by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light all day on and eventually risk fouling the engine. We strongly recommend 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.
To discover more tips on the Cadillac CTS, take a look at the Cadillac CTS category.
