You’ve almost certainly previously read about the popular EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by motorists because it is likely to create more trouble than anything else… Actually, determined by the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become blocked and cause you a lot of trouble. If this is the situation, you are almost certainly wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Ford Expedition ? Don’t get worried, we’ve written this article content to help you with this operation. To do this, we will initially check out the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Ford Expedition can provoke and to finish the section that will almost certainly interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Ford Expedition?

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How to Clean your Ford Expedition EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Purpose of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines mainly to reduce pollution released by automobiles and to match EURO requirements on Ford Expedition . It will as a consequence influence the quality of exhaust gas output and reduce toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Ford Expedition , we will check out how it works. As seen before, its objective 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 reduce all unburned toxic particles. It will operate mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Ford Expedition EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, although very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Ford Expedition , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will ultimately risk blocking the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Ford Expedition can bring about:

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

How to clean your Ford Expedition EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll commence the section you are most serious 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 Ford Expedition EGR valve system: Without dismantle

Nevertheless this approach is less efficient, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, the truth 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 Ford Expedition.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the most beneficial approach, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to carry out the process yourself. If so, the procedure is fairly straightforward. 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 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 as well 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 Ford Expedition.

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 difficulties (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Ford Expedition? In this case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex operation, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to carry out the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning determined by the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Ford Expedition

Finally, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Ford Expedition, they just prefer to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the effect of greatly increasing the pollution released by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light all day on and finally 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 hesitate to check out our dedicated page.

If you want more guides on the Ford Expedition, go to our Ford Expedition category.