You’ve probably already heard about the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by car owners because it has a tendency to create more concerns than anything else… In truth, dependant upon the use you are going to make of your car, it can become congested and bring about you a lot of problems. If this is the situation, you are probably wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Cadillac Escalade ? Don’t stress, we’ve prepared this content to help you with this process. To do so, 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 Escalade can provoke and to finish the part that will probably concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Cadillac Escalade?
How to Clean your Cadillac Escalade EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Role of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines principally to reduce pollution released by cars and to match EURO requirements on Cadillac Escalade . It will therefore influence the quality of exhaust gas output and eliminate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Cadillac Escalade , we will examine how it functions. As seen just before, its objective is to clean the exhaust fumes, 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 run mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Cadillac Escalade EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very important to limit the pollution emissions of your Cadillac Escalade , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will eventually risk obstructing the operation of the valve, until entirely blocking the engine unit, here are the signs of illness that a defective EGR valve on your Cadillac Escalade can bring about:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical inspection refused
- Black fumes
- Automobile that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Cadillac Escalade EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll commence the part you are most serious about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two techniques that you can use.
Do it on your own
How to clean your Cadillac Escalade EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Although this technique is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, the truth is, 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 Escalade.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest technique, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to perform the treatment yourself. If so, the process 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 done, 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 Cadillac Escalade.
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 auto parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Cadillac Escalade? In cases like this, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex process, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, 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 Cadillac Escalade
Finally, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Cadillac Escalade, they simply choose to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the consequence of greatly increasing the pollution released by the car, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light all day on and finally 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 hesitate to take a look at our dedicated page.
To find more tips on the Cadillac Escalade, take a look at the Cadillac Escalade category.
