You’ve most likely previously heard of the popular EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by car owners because it is likely to create more problems than anything else… In fact, according to the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become blocked and trigger you a lot of complications. If this is the case, you are most likely wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your Volvo V60 ? Don’t get worried, we’ve prepared this content page to help you with this operation. To accomplish this, we will first check out the intent of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Volvo V60 can trigger and at last the part that will most likely appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Volvo V60?

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How to Clean your Volvo V60 EGR Valve: Role and Operation

Goal of the EGR valve

The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines mostly to lower pollution released by vehicles and to fulfill EURO requirements on Volvo V60 . It will as a result influence the quality of exhaust gas output and get rid of toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.

Operation of the EGR valve

Before we learn how to clean the EGR valve on your Volvo V60 , we will have a look at how it works. As described just before, its objective 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 get rid of all unburned toxic particles. It will function principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.

How to clean your Volvo V60 EGR valve: Identifying faults

The EGR valve, nevertheless very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Volvo V60 , will sadly tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its system, which will eventually risk blocking the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine unit, here are the signs of illness that a defective EGR valve on your Volvo V60 can cause:

  • Motor light on
  • Power loss
  • Technical assesment refused
  • Black fumes
  • Car that grazes at low speed
  • Low RPM settings

How to clean your Volvo V60 EGR valve: In practice

And now we’ll begin the part you are most curious 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 Volvo V60 EGR valve system: Without taking it apart

Although this methodology 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, equivalent 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 Volvo V60.

How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly

Here is the most efficient methodology, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to execute the operation yourself. 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 guidelines are finished, now comes the time for cleaning. To do 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 Volvo V60.

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 troubles (removing too many elements that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Volvo V60? In cases like this, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex operation, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to accomplish 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 Volvo V60

At last, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Rather than cleaning the EGR valve of their Volvo V60, they simply prefer to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution released by the automobile, of no longer complying with pollution standards, of having an engine warning light all day on and finally risk fouling the engine. We highly suggest against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t hesitate to check out our dedicated page.

If perhaps you have any additional questions about the Volvo V60, do not hesitate to consult our Volvo V60 category.