You’ve probably previously heard of the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by drivers because it tends to develop more problems than anything else… Actually, dependant upon the use you are going to make of your car, it can become congested and cause you a lot of trouble. If this is the situation, you are probably wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Dodge Nitro ? Don’t stress, we’ve prepared this article content to help you with this operation. To do this, we will first check out the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Dodge Nitro can trigger and at last the part that will probably concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Dodge Nitro?

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How to Clean your Dodge Nitro EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Role of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mostly to lower pollution emitted by vehicles and to fulfill EURO requirements on Dodge Nitro . It will therefore 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 Dodge Nitro , we will examine how it works. As described before, its goal is to clean the exhaust gases, so it will be placed 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 operate mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Dodge Nitro EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, nevertheless very important to limit the pollution emissions of your Dodge Nitro , will unfortunately tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will inevitably risk obstructing the operation of the valve, until completely blocking the engine motor, here are the signs of illness that a defective EGR valve on your Dodge Nitro can bring about:

  • Motor light on
  • Performance loss
  • Technical inspection refused
  • Black gases
  • Car that grazes at low speed
  • Low RPM settings

How to clean your Dodge Nitro 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 techniques that you can use.

Do it on your own

How to clean your Dodge Nitro EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Although this procedure is less efficient, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, actually, you will only need to use fuel additives, equivalent to the products used to clean the injection. These specific 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 Dodge Nitro.

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 conduct the process without help. If so, the operation is fairly easy. 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 guidelines are carried out, 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 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 Dodge Nitro.

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 complications (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Dodge Nitro? In cases like this, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex operation, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to do 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 Dodge Nitro

Finally, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Dodge Nitro, they simply choose to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the car, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light permanently on and in the end risk fouling the engine. We strongly advise 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 additional questions about the Dodge Nitro, do not hesitate to consult our Dodge Nitro category.