You’ve almost certainly previously been aware of the renowned EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not always appreciated by drivers because it has a tendency to cause more concerns than anything else… In truth, based on the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become blocked and cause you a lot of problems. If this is the situation, you are almost certainly concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Cruze ? Don’t worry, we’ve well prepared this article content to help you with this procedure. To do this, we will initially look at the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Cruze can provoke and finally the part that will almost certainly appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Chevrolet Cruze?
How to Clean your Chevrolet Cruze EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Goal of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mostly to reduce pollution released by cars and to match EURO specifications on Chevrolet Cruze . It will as a consequence 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 Cruze , 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 Chevrolet Cruze EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Chevrolet Cruze , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will eventually risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until entirely blocking the engine, here are the signs of illness that a faulty EGR valve on your Chevrolet Cruze can bring about:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment refused
- Black fumes
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Chevrolet Cruze EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll begin the part you are most excited about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two methods that you can use.
Do it on your own
How to clean your Chevrolet Cruze EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Despite the fact this procedure is less efficient, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, in reality, you will only need to use fuel additives, similar to the products used to clean the injection. These specific solutions 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 Cruze.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the more effective procedure, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to perform the process on your own. 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 done, 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 also 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 Chevrolet Cruze.
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 Chevrolet Cruze? In this instance, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex procedure, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to accomplish the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning based on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Cruze
Finally, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Chevrolet Cruze, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution released by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, 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 think twice to take a look at our dedicated page.
If you want more tutorials on the Chevrolet Cruze, go to our Chevrolet Cruze category.
