You’ve almost certainly already heard about the renowned EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by motorists because it is likely to create more concerns than anything else… Actually, depending on the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become congested and bring about you a lot of trouble. If this is the situation, you are almost certainly wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Subaru Outback ? Don’t stress, we’ve well prepared this article to help you with this procedure. To do this, we will first take a look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Subaru Outback can bring about and to finish the section that will almost certainly interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Subaru Outback?
How to Clean your Subaru Outback 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 emitted by automobiles and to match EURO standards on Subaru Outback . It will therefore 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 Subaru Outback , we will check out how it functions. As described just before, its task is to clean the exhaust fumes, 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 Subaru Outback EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, even though very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Subaru Outback , will unfortunately tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will finally risk blocking the operation of the valve, until entirely blocking the engine motor, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Subaru Outback can trigger:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment rejected
- Black gases
- Automobile that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Subaru Outback EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll begin the section 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 yourself
How to clean your Subaru Outback EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Despite the fact this technique 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 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 Subaru Outback.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the best technique, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to carry out the treatment on your own. 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 steps are finished, 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 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 Outback.
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 auto parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Subaru Outback? In this case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex procedure, 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 depending on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Subaru Outback
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 Outback, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the outcome of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light all day 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 think twice to check out our dedicated page.
To get more tips on the Subaru Outback, take a look at the Subaru Outback category.
