ERROR Code, please help

[cooperjd]

my ses light is on, so i went to autozone.. the code is P1406, which looked up to be EGR Valve Pintle Position Circuit. it's on a 95 obdII, which i hear is trouble as far as computers go. 4.3-W (cpi). does this mean i need a new egr valve, or a new egr position sensor? it has been running like crap lately, i put seafoam through it, helped some, but the more i drive it the worse it seems to get. should i clean the egr valve, and what do i clean it with? any help is much appreciated, i'm trying not to spend too much.

[onthecheap]

well if you have to replace the egr valve it gonna be expenseve! about $250. i put one on a 95 blazer ,1st gen body with the cpi ,and it did not help the crappy mpg or performance??? i guess they needed more time with the blazer body then the truck cause 2nd gen started with 94 or 95 truck and 96 blazer. i also replaced the injector another $400 and noticed that ful was puddling on the floor of the lower half of the intake? maybe that was to blame. i didn't think you could get the fuel lines inside the manifold but LMC has them for $45.

[Old Man]

Running like crap and that code, its stuck or no good. Take the EGR valve off and clean it out real good, specially around the pintle end in the one end. When the EGR is stuck open it wont idle or idle real rough!! If there is nothing holding the pintle open and its not real dirty, then the EGR valve magnet has gone sour!

[cooperjd]

it will idle ok, and i did 2 treatments of sea foam today (is that too much, and if i do another soon will it hurt?.. smoked a lot both times) idle is ok, and low speeds is ok, but when i put my foot in the acc. pedal, is when it wants to stall out on me. and runs real rough. still sound like an egr problem??

[Old Man]

Nope doesnt sound like and EGR problem. EGR always causes problems at low rpms and also extremely so at idle!

Now, next question, when was the last time the fuel filter was changed. This sounds more like a fuel delivery problem. When you step on it, it cant deliver enough fuel and lacks of fuel and will cause it to buck, die off etc!

But you still need to remove the EGR valve to make sure its clean. After you know its clean and the intle has seated , install it again and run the vehicle without the wires connected to the EGR valve. See what happens, if it runs fine throughout the power band the valve could be shot.

Codes dont always tell exactly whats wrong. Codes just give direction and in this case since it could be running out of fuel, the ECM is trying to richen it up on its own by shutting down EGR and it doesnt close, but also doesnt know its got a plugged filter or something!

[cooperjd]

fuel filter was changed couple weeks ago... fuel pump replaced about a year and a half ago. i'll remove the egr tomorrow and see how it looks. when this problem first started, my code was an o2 sensor, but when i got to a dealer, the light was off, and no codes were in the history.. i've changed my plugs, wires, cap&rotor, had my fuel pump pressure checked, fuel checked, all ok. after the seafoam treatments today it really helped, before it ran pretty rough at low rpm's as well as high. after the seafoam it was running like a champ around my neighborhood, low speeds, and i was even able to stomp it and get the rpm's to about 4500, with some hesitation. but the more i stomped on it, the worse it got....again. i'm getting frustrated, and don't have a whole lot of money to fix it. and do i keep doing seafoam treatments (through pcv hose) until i get no smoke???

[Old Man]

Sounds kinda like you sea foamed something lose and it plugged it back up again. Originally the sea foam removed something and running it got back in there again. Yeah take the EGR valve off and make sure it aint crapped up agai and while your at it, have a air gun nozzle?? I'd blow back through the egr lines and try to push any carbon out the exhaust manifold that might be lose!!

[cooperjd]

took off the egr today, and took it to autozone to have it tested. it tested ok, the pintle will move freely. i'm gonna clean it and put it back tomorrow. however, there was liquid in there when i removed it, smells like gas i think, only had a little on a Q-tip. should there be any liquid in there?? i wouldn't think so. also i got some sludge on the qtip when i put it in the hole on the intake, but it is dark outside and i haven't examined it thoroughly...do it tomorrow. so if the egr is good, could something in there be plugged up real bad?? this problem is driving me crazy, my whole problem is under a post called 'big engine problem, need help' from a few days ago. cause my truck runs like crap. it doesn't run fine at low speeds, but it runs pretty good, when i stomp it it runs bad, real bad, but the fuel pressure checked out ok. i read it could be timing related, arcing in the cap-rotor., or leaking fuel in the spyder...

[67Truckin]

Check out NAPA for a new EGR gasket with a screen. This will keep the chunks out of the EGR valve and hopefully prevent any future problems with the valve. :)