You’ve probably already been aware of the popular EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by car owners because it tends to cause more problems than anything else… Indeed, dependent on the use you are going to make of your car, it can become clogged and bring about you a lot of trouble. If this is the case, you are probably concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Subaru Forester ? Don’t be anxious, we’ve made this content to help you with this operation. To do this, we will initially check out the intent of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Subaru Forester can bring on and finally the part that will probably concern you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Subaru Forester?
How to Clean your Subaru Forester EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Purpose of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mostly to lower pollution released by cars and to meet EURO measures on Subaru Forester . It will as a result 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 Subaru Forester , we will examine how it works. As seen just before, its objective is to clean the exhaust fumes, so it will be positioned 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 mainly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Subaru Forester EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, despite the fact very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your Subaru Forester , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its system, which will ultimately risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until entirely blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Subaru Forester can bring about:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical assesment refused
- Black gases
- Vehicle that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Subaru Forester EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll begin the part you are most excited about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two approaches that you can use.
Do it on your own
How to clean your Subaru Forester EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Although this procedure 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 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 Subaru Forester.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the most reliable procedure, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to execute the operation yourself. If so, the process 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 steps are carried out, 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 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 Subaru Forester.
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 Subaru Forester? In this instance, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex operation, 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 dependent on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Subaru Forester
Finally, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Subaru Forester, they simply prefer to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution released by the car, of no longer complying with pollution standards, 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 think twice to take a look at our dedicated page.
Whenever you have any additional questions about the Subaru Forester, do not hesitate to consult our Subaru Forester category.
