You’ve most likely already read about the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by drivers because it is likely to cause more concerns than anything else… In fact, 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 most likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Express ? Don’t get worried, we’ve written this article to help you with this task. To do so, we will first take a look at the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Express can trigger and at last the part that will most likely appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Chevrolet Express?
How to Clean your Chevrolet Express 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 emitted by vehicles and to fulfill EURO requirements on Chevrolet Express . It will consequently control the quality of exhaust gas output and get rid of toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Chevrolet Express , we will check out how it functions. As seen before, its objective is to clean the exhaust gases, so it will be installed 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 get rid of all unburned toxic particles. It will perform mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Chevrolet Express EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, nevertheless very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your Chevrolet Express , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will finally 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 Express can trigger:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment refused
- Black gases
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Chevrolet Express EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll start the part you are most curious about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two approaches that you can use.
Do it yourself
How to clean your Chevrolet Express EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Despite the fact this methodology 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 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 Express.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the best methodology, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to do the process yourself. 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 steps are done, now comes the time for cleaning. To accomplish 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 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 Chevrolet Express.
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 problems (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Express? In this instance, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex task, 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 dependent on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Chevrolet Express
At last, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Chevrolet Express, they just prefer to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light all day on and ultimately 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.
If perhaps you have any further questions about the Chevrolet Express, do not hesitate to consult our Chevrolet Express category.
