You’ve likely previously heard of the popular EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by drivers because it is likely to create more trouble than anything else… In fact, depending on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of trouble. If this is the case, you are likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your GMC Yukon XL ? Don’t worry, we’ve well prepared this content page to help you with this procedure. To do this, we will first look at the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your GMC Yukon XL can provoke and finally the section that will likely concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve GMC Yukon XL?

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How to Clean your GMC Yukon XL EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Role of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mainly to lower pollution released by automobiles and to match EURO measures on GMC Yukon XL . It will therefore influence the quality of exhaust gas output and eliminate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your GMC Yukon XL , we will take a look at how it works. As seen just before, its objective is to clean the exhaust gases, so it will be located 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 eliminate all unburned toxic particles. It will run mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your GMC Yukon XL EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, despite the fact very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your GMC Yukon XL , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will ultimately risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until entirely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your GMC Yukon XL can trigger:

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

How to clean your GMC Yukon XL EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll start the section you are most serious 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 GMC Yukon XL EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Although this approach 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, similar 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 GMC Yukon XL.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the more effective approach, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to accomplish the operation yourself. 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 guidelines are accomplished, now comes the time for cleaning. To get this done, 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 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 Yukon XL.

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 auto parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your GMC Yukon XL? In such a case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex procedure, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to do the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, 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 Yukon XL

Finally, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their GMC Yukon XL, they simply choose to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution released by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light all day on and ultimately risk fouling the engine. We highly advise against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t be reluctant to check out our dedicated page.

In the event that you have any additional questions about the GMC Yukon XL, do not hesitate to consult our GMC Yukon XL category.