You’ve almost certainly already heard about the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by motorists because it has a tendency to develop more problems than anything else… Indeed, based on the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become congested and trigger you a lot of concerns. If this is the situation, you are almost certainly wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Lexus RX ? Don’t be anxious, we’ve prepared this content to help you with this process. To do so, we will first look at the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Lexus RX can reason and at last the part that will almost certainly concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Lexus RX?
How to Clean your Lexus RX EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Role of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines mostly to reduce pollution released by automobiles and to match EURO requirements on Lexus RX . It will consequently influence the quality of exhaust gas output and eradicate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Lexus RX , we will check out how it works. As described just before, its goal is to clean the exhaust gases, 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 operate principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Lexus RX EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Lexus RX , will regrettably 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 entirely blocking the engine motor, here are the signs of illness that a defective EGR valve on your Lexus RX can provoke:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical inspection rejected
- Black fumes
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Lexus RX EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll commence the part you are most excited about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two techniques that you can use.
Do it yourself
How to clean your Lexus RX EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Nevertheless this technique is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, the truth is, you will only need to use fuel additives, equivalent 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 RX.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest technique, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to accomplish the operation on your own. If so, the procedure 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 steps are finished, now comes the time for cleaning. To make this happen, 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 also 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 RX.
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 Lexus RX? 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 do the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, 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 Lexus RX
Finally, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Lexus RX, they just prefer to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution released by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light permanently on and in the end risk fouling the engine. We highly suggest against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t think twice to check out our dedicated page.
If you need more guides on the Lexus RX, go to our Lexus RX category.
