Off to check the wife's van...

[NotDadsW41]

Wife calls me once she gets to work today. Van made it the 20 miles commute, then started acting bad... SES light, trying to stall, etc... My guess is EGR or MAP sensor has gone bad. I'm off to see if I can fix it...

[NotDadsW41]

Code 32. EGR=dead. Jump sprayed a can of GM Top Engine Cleaner into it and I am waiting for that to work its magic now. Then will tackle the EGR valve replacement. Sure wish is was warmer than 13*F right now...

It's better that the -7*F we had yesterday at this time though!

[astrozam]

My EGR went T#%# up about this time last yr as well, never seem to breakdown in the nice weather. Have you seen what new ones cost yet? Dealer wanted over $300, thankfully Crash lives just down the road from me and gave me a sweet deal, otherwise I think I would have just tried to clean it up.

[NotDadsW41]

New one @ Reillys was $95.

I ran a can of GM Top Engine Cleaner through it before I started.

New EGR valve is on.

Now I have this weird, almost ticking sound though. Can't find it. It's pronounced at 700-1000 RPM. Can't hear it after that...

[NotDadsW41]

Well this can't be good. I took the belt off and started the van. Noise is still there. So it's not accessory drive. That means something is rattling inside...

I wonder if a piece of carbon is loose and making that noise??? It almost sounds like a ping.

The more I hear it. The more I am convinced it is a ping. At idle...

WTF causes that?

[NotDadsW41]

Further question for you guys who have replaced a spider on a VIN W.

I did this several years ago on this van. I seem to recall I didn't get one of the poppets seated completely. But I don't recall what it sounded like when I did.

Anyone else have that problem and can described the sound to me????

[astrozam]

Sorry...only replaced my FPR when I had mine apart

[NotDadsW41]

20*F out and I am not looking forward to going out there to diagnose this one... I am sure it's not a stuck valve, a rod/crank bearing or anything else that would be considered "catastrophic" at this point. But I do need to take the dog house off and get the stethoscope out and see where this is coming from...

I've got it idling in the driveway now. Warming it up before I go out there and tear into it. Might as well have a little radiant heat coming off the engine to keep me warm out there right?

[1Gary]

FR aside.Check all the plug wires to make sure one isn't slightly off.

[NotDadsW41]

I'll check those Gary while I am in there. I was thinking about doing plugs/wires/cap/rotor while I was in there. Now have family coming to visit so the digging into the van has to wait a couple of hours....

[NotDadsW41]

Got back to this today. Took the doghouse off and couldn't find the noise...

Started poking around the front again. Thought maybe it was the tensioner pulley. But the noise was there with the belt off. So I poked around the EGR valve.... Sure enough there is something rattling around in there... I have a couple of more cans of GM Top Engine Cleaner laying around so I started spraying one down the throttle body. As I did this the noise almost went completely away. Then it would come back a little, go away etc.... So I got the whole can down it now and I am in the 15 minute waiting period. We'll see if it's this easy of a fix or not.

Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Update - Well crap. The GM stuff didn't do it. I can still hear it. Might have to take the EGR valve off and see if I can vacuum out anything from inside of there. Would that new EGR valve be that noisy????

Other suggestions????

[NotDadsW41]

Update!: It's fixed.

I went a bought a new gasket, the one with the screen. Why the f$#%@# is that one $30 vs. less than $5 for the one without the screen. But anyway....

So I took the EGR valve off and it seems like I may not have had it down snug and flush. So that may have been the problem. I ran the shop vac with a sock over the end up to the holes and didn't get anything. Then I started it up. I let it go for about all of 2 seconds then shut it off.

RE-installed the EGR valve with the new $30 screened gasket and it is quiet as can be now.

WooHoo!!

[1Gary]

The $30 is better than 6 times of replacing the $5.00 ones.Ya know!!.

Good to hear you got it fixed.

[NotDadsW41]

Or having to replace the $100 EGR valve because you didn't use the right gasket too!

[pur3vil]

Not to hijack this thread, but I fully understand working in the cold temps. It was -7 out yesterday @ 2pm while I was working on pulling the upper plenum off... brrrr....

This is the price that's paid for living up north.

Glad to hear you resolved the issue.