You’ve most likely already heard of the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by drivers because it tends to develop more concerns than anything else… Indeed, depending on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become congested and trigger you a lot of concerns. If this is the case, you are most likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your GMC Sierra ? Don’t worry, we’ve prepared this article to help you with this task. To accomplish this, we will first check out the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your GMC Sierra can provoke and at last the section that will most likely appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve GMC Sierra?
How to Clean your GMC Sierra EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Role 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 meet EURO measures on GMC Sierra . It will consequently influence the quality of exhaust gas output and eradicate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your GMC Sierra , we will have a look at how it operates. As described just before, its task is to clean the exhaust fumes, 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 work mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your GMC Sierra EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, despite the fact very important to limit the pollution emissions of your GMC Sierra , will unfortunately tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will finally risk blocking the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your GMC Sierra can cause:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment refused
- Black gases
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your GMC Sierra EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll commence the section 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 on your own
How to clean your GMC Sierra EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Even though 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, 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 GMC Sierra.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the more effective methodology, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to execute the operation on your own. 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 accomplished, 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 GMC Sierra.
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 problems (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your GMC Sierra? In such a case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex task, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform 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 GMC Sierra
At last, 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 GMC Sierra, they simply choose to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the result 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 in the end 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.
If perhaps you have any additional questions about the GMC Sierra, do not hesitate to consult our GMC Sierra category.
