You’ve likely already heard of the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by motorists because it has a tendency to develop more concerns than anything else… In actual fact, according to the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become clogged and bring about you a lot of complications. If this is the situation, you are likely wondering how to clean the EGR valve of your Ram ProMaster ? Don’t be anxious, we’ve written this article to help you with this process. To achieve this, we will initially take a look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Ram ProMaster can reason and finally the section that will likely interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Ram ProMaster?
How to Clean your Ram ProMaster EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Goal of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mainly to reduce pollution released by vehicles and to match EURO standards on Ram ProMaster . It will consequently control the quality of exhaust gas output and reduce toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Ram ProMaster , we will examine how it works. As seen just before, its objective 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 reduce all unburned toxic particles. It will operate mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Ram ProMaster EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Ram ProMaster , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will inevitably risk obstructing the operation of the valve, until totally blocking the engine, here are the signs of illness that a faulty EGR valve on your Ram ProMaster can trigger:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment rejected
- Black gases
- Vehicle that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Ram ProMaster EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll start the section you are most curious about, 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 Ram ProMaster EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Even though this technique is less efficient, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, actually, 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 Ram ProMaster.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest technique, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to execute the operation without help. If so, the operation 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 simple steps are accomplished, 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 Ram ProMaster.
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 complications (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Ram ProMaster? In such a case, 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 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 Ram ProMaster
At last, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Ram ProMaster, they simply prefer to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the consequence of greatly increasing the pollution released by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution criteria, of having an engine warning light permanently on and eventually risk fouling the engine. We strongly 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 Ram ProMaster, do not hesitate to consult our Ram ProMaster category.
