You’ve likely already heard of the renowned EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not always appreciated by drivers because it tends to create more concerns than anything else… Actually, according to 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 wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Nissan Xterra ? Don’t stress, we’ve well prepared this content page to help you with this procedure. To achieve this, we will initially check out the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Nissan Xterra can bring about and to finish the section that will likely interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Nissan Xterra?
How to Clean your Nissan Xterra EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Role of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines primarily to lower pollution released by cars and to match EURO requirements on Nissan Xterra . It will therefore control the quality of exhaust gas output and eliminate toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Nissan Xterra , we will check out how it operates. As described before, its task 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 eliminate all unburned toxic particles. It will operate mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Nissan Xterra EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, despite the fact very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Nissan Xterra , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will inevitably risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until totally blocking the engine motor, here are the signs of illness that a defective EGR valve on your Nissan Xterra can trigger:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical inspection refused
- Black fumes
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Nissan Xterra 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 yourself
How to clean your Nissan Xterra EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Even though this methodology is less efficient, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, the truth is, you will only need to use fuel additives, similar to the products used to clean the injection. These specific 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 Nissan Xterra.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the most effective methodology, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to do the operation without help. If so, the procedure is fairly straightforward. 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 completed, 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 also clean the two conduits 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 Nissan Xterra.
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 elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Nissan Xterra? In this instance, 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 according to the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Nissan Xterra
Finally, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Nissan Xterra, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution released by the car, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light all day on and eventually 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 be reluctant to take a look at our dedicated page.
To get more tips on the Nissan Xterra, take a look at the Nissan Xterra category.
