You’ve probably previously read about the renowned 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 truth, dependent on the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become clogged and cause you a lot of problems. If this is the situation, you are probably wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Lexus NX ? Don’t be anxious, we’ve well prepared this article content to help you with this procedure. To do this, we will initially look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Lexus NX can trigger and to finish the part that will probably interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Lexus NX?

clean-egr-valve-lexus-nx

How to Clean your Lexus NX EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Goal of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines mainly to reduce pollution emitted by cars and to match EURO measures on Lexus NX . It will as a result control the quality of exhaust gas output and get rid of toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your Lexus NX , we will check out how it functions. 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 run mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Lexus NX EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, even though very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your Lexus NX , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will eventually risk obstructing the operation of the valve, until completely blocking the engine unit, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Lexus NX can bring about:

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

How to clean your Lexus NX EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll commence the part you are most interested in, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two methods that you can use.

Do it yourself

How to clean your Lexus NX EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Although this technique is less effective, 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 particular 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 Lexus NX.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the best technique, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to accomplish the treatment yourself. If so, the operation 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 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 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 Lexus NX.

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 Lexus NX? 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 perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if necessary, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning dependent on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.

Remove the EGR valve of your Lexus NX

Finally, a number of people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Lexus NX, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light permanently on and eventually 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.

To get more tips on the Lexus NX, take a look at the Lexus NX category.