You’ve likely previously been aware of the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by car owners because it tends to create more trouble than anything else… Indeed, dependant upon the use you are going to make of your car, it can become clogged and cause you a lot of complications. If this is the case, you are likely concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Mazda 6 ? Don’t stress, we’ve made this article content to help you with this process. To do this, we will first take a look at the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Mazda 6 can bring about and to finish the section that will likely appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Mazda 6?
How to Clean your Mazda 6 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 released by automobiles and to fulfill EURO requirements on Mazda 6 . It will consequently control 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 Mazda 6 , we will take a look at how it functions. As seen 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 eradicate all unburned toxic particles. It will function mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Mazda 6 EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, even though very important to limit the pollution emissions of your Mazda 6 , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its mechanism, which will ultimately risk blocking the functions of the valve, until totally blocking the engine unit, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Mazda 6 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 Mazda 6 EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll commence the section 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 on your own
How to clean your Mazda 6 EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Even though this process 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, 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 Mazda 6.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest process, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to accomplish the treatment without help. 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 simple steps are finished, now comes the time for cleaning. To do 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 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 Mazda 6.
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 problems (removing too many parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Mazda 6? 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 required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning dependant upon the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Mazda 6
Finally, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Mazda 6, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution released by the car, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light all day on and in the end risk fouling the engine. We strongly 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.
Whenever you have any additional questions about the Mazda 6, do not hesitate to consult our Mazda 6 category.
