Thabulldog Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 Hey guys... long time no post... hope everyone is alright... could any1 tell me the symptoms of a bad EGR valve, i got the code and wanan see if thats wats making me lose power... THanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrulz4u Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 Well generally an EGR Valve is stuck OPEN or CLOSED. Most common is one that is stuck OPEN. Basically it will cause poor idling and poor performance in the low RPM range, such as acceleration. I believe since your car is a 1990, you probably have the GM Digital EGR Valve. In that case, it's almost impossible to do a lot of the DIY checks that is possible on other styles of EGR Valves... Which code did you get? 32? Here's a GREAT .pdf file you should look at: http://www.wellsmfgcorp.com/counterpoints/Counterpoint3_4.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 Yeah, if you have a rough idle and EGR code I bet its stuck open. The EGR should normall be closed at idle, and if its open at idle, the idle will be rough. Just get a FFP chip and tell them to turn the EGR off, problem solved, lol. If you have emissions testing, dont do that. That was more of joke, but here in KY we dont have testing, so when I get the FFP chip, that EGR is going off. Robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcanada Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 This is going to be hard to do with words and no diagrams, but you can in fact quite easily test the EGR. a. Making sure there is power going to the EGR: 1. Unplug the electrical connector to the EGR 2. Turn your ignition to the ON position. 3. Grab a voltmeter 4. Now, the connector looks like a Y. What you want to do is touch the positive end of your tester to the pin at the base/bottom of the Y, and the other to a ground (bolt on the strut tower). 5. Do you get 12 volts or close to it? If not the wiring is a problem. b. Testing whether the 3 solenoids are energizing and opening as they should: (you'll need some additional parts for this, including fused jumper wires and some little alligator clips for ease, and maybe even a 2nd person to help hold wires and make it a cinch) 1. Attach a 12 volt power source (the battery) via a fused jumper wire to the same corresponding terminal as part a., but this time on the valve itself (ie. the pin that would correspond to the bottom of the Y on the actual EGR valve for this test) 2. Using another fused jumper wire touch one end to each of the remaining pins on the valve one at a time, with the other end touching a good ground (strut tower bolt will work fine again). 3. Each time you touch a pin on the valve your RPM/Idle should change. 4. If it doesn't, then either a) the valve is shot (an additional resistance check can test this. I can provide what the readings should be if this test is needed), or the EGR tube or passageways are plugged. This is an easy one to attempt fixing. Buy some bicycle brake cable. Cut a piece about 2 feet long. Spread out one end so it looks all frayed. Attach the other to a drill, insert in tube, run drill to scrape out the inside of the tube. When I did this I also attached a piece of skinny tubing to a vacuum when I was done just to get rid of most of the gunk I loosened. The remainder should burn off. Hope this helps. Jeff crap, i just realized that this is in the above PDF file. oh well, call this the abbreviated version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathead45 Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 well this is one of my big problems then. i have really crappy idle and i know i have the egr messing up b/c they told me that is what that is what the code was. im gonna have to find a used one of those to fix it. thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 I don't know if this will help, but heres a tip about the egr http://www.bstuff.com/index.php?act=ST&f=46&t=8374&s=7ed4b619caa22f440713d38ba99e8497 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted August 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2003 So maybe if i clean the egr and the passages this will get rid of the code? do u guys think that will do the trick? Thanks for the input by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmo1234 Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 I just finally replaced my EGR after having the code 32 lighting up for like 5months. With mine it was working OK but the gasket in the middle of the EGR (when you take it all apart) was all dry and in pieces so the valves werent making a good seal (there was a lot of exhaust carbon all over the outside of the EGR). All that needed replacing was that gasket but I got a whole EGR (from a used '92) with good gaskets and in good shape for like $15 (real good deal) at the j/y. So if you can find someone that just sells the gaskets change those first if you cant find a cheap EGR in good condition. I will try to post some pics of before and after..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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