You’ve almost certainly already been aware of the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not generally appreciated by drivers because it has a tendency to cause more trouble than anything else… In reality, based on the use you are going to make of your car, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of concerns. If this is the case, you are almost certainly wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Toyota Highlander ? Don’t worry, we’ve written this content to help you with this operation. To achieve this, we will initially look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Toyota Highlander can bring about and at last the part that will almost certainly appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Toyota Highlander?
How to Clean your Toyota Highlander EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Purpose of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines principally to lower pollution emitted by vehicles and to match EURO specifications on Toyota Highlander . It will as a result 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 Toyota Highlander , we will check out how it works. As seen just before, its task 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 perform mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Toyota Highlander EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very beneficial to limit the pollution emissions of your Toyota Highlander , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate 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 Toyota Highlander can bring about:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical inspection refused
- Black fumes
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Toyota Highlander EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll begin the part you are most interested in, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two techniques that you can use.
Do it yourself
How to clean your Toyota Highlander EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Despite the fact 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, equivalent 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 Toyota Highlander.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the most efficient procedure, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to perform the treatment without help. If so, the operation 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 guidelines are achieved, now comes the time for cleaning. To get this done, 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 even 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 Toyota Highlander.
Have it done by a professional
If, your EGR valve is not accessible 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 Toyota Highlander? 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 carry out the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning based on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Toyota Highlander
At last, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Toyota Highlander, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the consequence of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the car, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light permanently on and ultimately risk fouling the engine. We highly advise against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t hesitate to take a look at our dedicated page.
If you wish more tutorials on the Toyota Highlander, go to our Toyota Highlander category.
