You’ve likely previously been aware of the popular EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not always appreciated by drivers because it has a tendency to cause more trouble than anything else… In actual fact, according to the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become congested and cause you a lot of problems. If this is the case, you are likely wondering how to clean the EGR valve of your Toyota Tacoma ? Don’t worry, we’ve made this article content to help you with this operation. To do this, we will first check out the goal of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Toyota Tacoma can cause and at last the part that will likely interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Toyota Tacoma?
How to Clean your Toyota Tacoma EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Purpose of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines principally to lower pollution emitted by automobiles and to meet EURO requirements on Toyota Tacoma . It will consequently influence the quality of exhaust gas output and reduce toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your Toyota Tacoma , we will examine how it functions. As described before, its mission 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 work mostly at low speed because at high speed the combustion is sufficient to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Toyota Tacoma EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very useful to limit the pollution emissions of your Toyota Tacoma , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will accumulate in its mechanism, which will ultimately risk obstructing the functions of the valve, until totally blocking the engine, here are the symptoms that a faulty EGR valve on your Toyota Tacoma can bring about:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical inspection rejected
- Black fumes
- Car that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Toyota Tacoma EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll start the part you are most serious about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two solutions that you can use.
Do it on your own
How to clean your Toyota Tacoma EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Although this approach is less effective, 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 particular 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 Toyota Tacoma.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the strongest approach, which will require sufficient access to the EGR valve to execute the operation without help. If so, the process is fairly easy. 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 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 as well 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 Toyota Tacoma.
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 parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Toyota Tacoma? 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 according to the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Toyota Tacoma
Finally, some individuals make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Toyota Tacoma, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This manipulation will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light all day on and finally 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 be reluctant to take a look at our dedicated page.
If perhaps you have any additional questions about the Toyota Tacoma, do not hesitate to consult our Toyota Tacoma category.
