You’ve most likely previously heard of the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by drivers because it is likely to develop more problems than anything else… In reality, depending on the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become clogged and cause you a lot of complications. If this is the situation, you are most likely wondering how to clean the EGR valve of your Dodge Grand Caravan ? Don’t stress, we’ve well prepared this content to help you with this procedure. To do so, we will first take a look at the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Dodge Grand Caravan can bring on and to finish the section that will most likely appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Dodge Grand Caravan?
How to Clean your Dodge Grand Caravan EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Goal of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mostly to lower pollution emitted by cars and to meet EURO standards on Dodge Grand Caravan . It will therefore influence 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 Dodge Grand Caravan , we will have a look at how it functions. As described just 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 eradicate all unburned toxic particles. It will operate mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Dodge Grand Caravan EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, despite the fact very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Dodge Grand Caravan , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its mechanism, which will finally risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine unit, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Dodge Grand Caravan can cause:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical assesment rejected
- Black fumes
- Automobile that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Dodge Grand Caravan EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll begin the section you are most excited 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 Dodge Grand Caravan 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, equivalent 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 Dodge Grand Caravan.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the more effective procedure, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to execute the process without help. 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 finished, now comes the time for cleaning. To make this happen, 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 Dodge Grand Caravan.
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 difficulties (removing too many parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Dodge Grand Caravan? 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 depending on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Dodge Grand Caravan
At last, a number of people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Dodge Grand Caravan, they simply prefer to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light permanently on and ultimately risk fouling the engine. We highly recommend against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t be reluctant to take a look at our dedicated page.
In the event that you have any additional questions about the Dodge Grand Caravan, do not hesitate to consult our Dodge Grand Caravan category.
