You’ve most likely already read about the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by motorists because it is likely to cause more problems than anything else… Indeed, based on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of concerns. If this is the situation, you are most likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Ford Explorer ? Don’t stress, we’ve prepared this article to help you with this process. To do so, we will first check out the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Ford Explorer can reason and to finish the section that will most likely concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Ford Explorer?
How to Clean your Ford Explorer EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Purpose of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines principally to reduce pollution released by automobiles and to match EURO requirements on Ford Explorer . 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 Ford Explorer , we will check out how it works. As seen before, its goal is to clean the exhaust fumes, 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 perform mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Ford Explorer EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, even though very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Ford Explorer , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its mechanism, which will eventually risk blocking the operation of the valve, until completely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Ford Explorer can bring about:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment refused
- Black fumes
- Vehicle that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Ford Explorer EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll start the section you are most intrigued by, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two approaches that you can use.
Do it on your own
How to clean your Ford Explorer 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 fact, you will only need to use fuel additives, equivalent 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 Explorer.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest procedure, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to do the operation without help. If so, the process 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 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 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 Ford Explorer.
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 troubles (removing too many auto parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Ford Explorer? In cases like this, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex process, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, 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 Ford Explorer
Finally, a number of people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Ford Explorer, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the consequence of greatly increasing the pollution released by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light permanently 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 take a look at our dedicated page.
If perhaps you have any further questions about the Ford Explorer, do not hesitate to consult our Ford Explorer category.
