EGR valve, an important device that reduces the car nitrogen oxide emission. A faulty EGR valve can damage your engine in many ways including misfiring and a damaged turbocharger. There are several symptoms of a failing EGR valve like reduced engine performance, increased fuel consumption, smell of fuel in exhaust, and a delay in engine start.
Driving a car sure has made our traveling life easier than in ancient times, hasn’t it?
But is it more environmentally friendly than before? Of course, the answer is no, although we can control how much car effect the environment using exhaust gas recirculation EGR.
It’s not possible when our EGR breaks down. Not only does a faulty EGR hamper our environment, but it also damages our cars. How can a faulty EGR valve damage your car? How can you fix it? What are the symptoms of a damaged EGR valve?
To figure out all of the answers to these questions, you need to stick with us till the very end. So let’s unravel the truth about the EGR valve together, shall we?
What is an EGR valve?
An EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve is a device that recirculate the exhaust gasses in the engine. It take exhaust gasses from the engine outlet and reinject them in the engine air inlet. It’s monitored by an ECU, also known as Engine Control Unit.
An EGR device helps us to decrease the pollution caused by our cars and increase our car fuel economy. The exhaust gases in our cars include Nitrogen oxide and the EGR helps to reduce the amount of it.
There are a few names for the EGR valve in the mechanical engineering department such as a wastegate, a boost controller, a bypass valve and a turbo timer, etc.
What are the symptoms of a failing EGR valve?
A good car owner should know that their car EGR is failing by the symptoms of a bad EGR valve but this is not that easy. Symptoms of failing EGR valve are difficult to monitor and need special dedicated & continuous monitoring of several parameters.
General symptoms of failing EGR are discussed below
A great delay on your engine
When your engine has a delay longer than 5 seconds or more when you start your vehicle is a symptom that your EGR valve is faulty. What happens here is that the EGR valve repeatedly opens and shuts and the flow of EGR gases goes towards the manifold.
Car poor performance
Poor performance by car engine is one of the symptom of failing EGR. When the EGR valve is open or closed permanently, you will notice that your car engine is performing poorly in terms of delivering power. The EGR valve’s dysfunction can cause this type of problem.
Fuel consumption getting increased
When your car has a failed EGR valve with the valve being continuously open, you might observe that the fuel consumption has rapidly increased.
This is mainly due to two reasons, first is that there is less oxygen in the air fuel mixture due to more recirculating gasses, this result is more fuel consumed for delivering the required power.
Second the high air intake force engine to put more fuel to maintain a good air fuel ratio.
You would be able to smell fuel
As there is a continuous flow of EGR gases into the manifold, so, when the EGR valve is always open, you can smell the fuel. This same as above where less oxygen results into incomplete burning of fuel.
With more fuel in exhaust and EGR being continuously open you can smell fuel while being in the car. It’s also because in low temperatures, not all of the fuel burns, so the hydrocarbon gases discharged from the engine elaborates the smell of fuel in the atmosphere.
What damage can a faulty EGR valve cause?
A defective EGR valve is not only harmful to the atmosphere, but it also harms our body and the car. So we need to learn about the damages a faulty EGR valve is causing.
Damaging the Turbocharger
An EGR valve that is defective would most likely build up carbon and rapid soot because of the constant flow or opening and closing of the EGR in the engine.
The EGR gases contain a massive amount of carbon, and when the valve is being opened for a longer period, the carbon starts to build up. This scenario causes damage to your turbocharger and other valves.
Causing a misfire
A misfire can be caused by the congested passages inside the car’s engine air inlet valve. It might terminate your car’s power output.
The oil vapors in the engine would escalate carbon imbalance in the EGR valve. It will trigger the frozen valve.
A bad ECU reduces the amount of fuel insertion and that leads to the reduced output of your car’s engine. All of these will cause a misfire while driving the car.
Damaging the EGR solenoid
The EGR solenoid can be considered as one of the most crucial parts of the EGR device itself. It would be the EGR valve itself that might damage your vehicle’s EGR solenoid.
A bad EGR valve results in a permanently opened EGR solenoid valve. A damaged EGR solenoid will cause performance problems in the engine and the entire car.
FAQs on an faulty EGR valve
1. Can bad EGR valve damage engine?
Yes, it can. A faulty EGR solenoid, which is mostly caused by a faulty EGR valve, will muster carbon in the consumption manifold and freeze up the engine’s EGR solenoid. It will cause some performance issues for the engine in your vehicle.
2. Is it dangerous to drive when you have a faulty EGR valve?
Yes, it is dangerous to drive when your EGR valve is at fault. The valve will be constantly opened and the EGR gases will insert into the combustion area to cool the chamber down. It will decrease the oxygen insertion. When your EGR valve is at fault, the EGR gases’ emission will escalate and it will cause engine overheating.
3. What will happen if the EGR valve gets stuck?
Actually, it is the EGR solenoid that will get stuck. But the EGR valve will cause that sort of scenario. If an EGR solenoid gets stuck on either opened or closed, the flow of EGR gases will get interrupted. It will cause performance issues in your engine.
Final Thoughts
The EGR device is a crucial part for both your vehicle and the environment. As you’re aware of the fact that EGR gases consist of a lot of greenhouse gases, we need to control emission of those gases to protect the atmosphere.
And if you want to repair your vehicle’s faulty EGR valve, you can go to any automobile repair shop like Midas International that can be found in any nation in South-East Asia.
Now, you know how can a faulty EGR valve damage your car, so you should be on guard more than ever.
