You’ve probably already heard of the famous EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not usually appreciated by car owners because it tends to cause more concerns than anything else… In truth, depending on the use you are going to make of your automobile, it can become clogged and bring about you a lot of concerns. If this is the case, you are probably concerned about how to clean the EGR valve of your Volvo XC90 ? Don’t worry, we’ve prepared this content page to help you with this task. To do this, we will first check out the purpose of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your Volvo XC90 can cause and to finish the part that will probably appeal you the most, how to clean the EGR valve Volvo XC90?
How to Clean your Volvo XC90 EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Purpose of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been added to diesel engines primarily to reduce pollution released by cars and to fulfill EURO specifications on Volvo XC90 . It will as a consequence influence 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 Volvo XC90 , we will examine how it works. As described 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 function principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your Volvo XC90 EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very effective to limit the pollution emissions of your Volvo XC90 , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its mechanism, which will inevitably risk blocking the functions of the valve, until completely blocking the engine unit, here are the symptoms that a defective EGR valve on your Volvo XC90 can provoke:
- Motor light on
- Performance loss
- Technical assesment rejected
- Black fumes
- Automobile that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your Volvo XC90 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 methods that you can use.
Do it on your own
How to clean your Volvo XC90 EGR valve system: Without taking it apart
Nevertheless this procedure 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, equivalent to the products used to clean the injection. These particular 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 Volvo XC90.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the most beneficial procedure, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to perform the operation on your own. 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 guidelines are accomplished, 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 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 Volvo XC90.
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 complications (removing too many auto parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your Volvo XC90? In this instance, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex task, 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 depending on the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your Volvo XC90
Finally, a number of people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their Volvo XC90, they just choose to block it in the closed position. This modification will have the outcome 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 eventually risk fouling the engine. We strongly recommend 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 find more tips on the Volvo XC90, take a look at the Volvo XC90 category.
