You’ve almost certainly already been aware of the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by motorists because it tends to develop more problems than anything else… Actually, according to the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of problems. If this is the case, you are almost certainly concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Avalanche ? Don’t get worried, we’ve made this content to help you with this procedure. To do so, we will initially look at the intent of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Avalanche can reason and finally the section that will almost certainly appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Chevrolet Avalanche?

clean-egr-valve-chevrolet-avalanche

How to Clean your Chevrolet Avalanche EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Purpose of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines primarily to reduce pollution emitted by cars and to fulfill EURO standards on Chevrolet Avalanche . 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 Chevrolet Avalanche , we will take a look at how it works. As seen just before, its goal is to clean the exhaust gases, so it will be positioned 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 principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Chevrolet Avalanche EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, despite the fact very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Chevrolet Avalanche , will unfortunately tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will finally risk blocking the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine unit, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Chevrolet Avalanche can bring about:

  • Motor light on
  • Power loss
  • Technical inspection rejected
  • Black gases
  • Vehicle that grazes at low speed
  • Low RPM settings

How to clean your Chevrolet Avalanche EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll commence the section you are most intrigued by, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two ways that you can use.

Do it yourself

How to clean your Chevrolet Avalanche 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, the reality 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 Chevrolet Avalanche.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the more effective process, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to do the operation without help. If so, the operation 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 steps are carried out, now comes the time for cleaning. To achieve 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 Chevrolet Avalanche.

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 problems (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Avalanche? In such a case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex procedure, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning according to the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Avalanche

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 Chevrolet Avalanche, they simply prefer to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light all day on and in the end risk fouling the engine. We strongly suggest against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t be reluctant to check out our dedicated page.

To get more tips on the Chevrolet Avalanche, take a look at the Chevrolet Avalanche category.