I'm new to this board, so bear with me. I have a 87 Camaro with a V6 in it. It's pretty plain, for now. I have a SES light that comes on. The Camaro was basically stalling occasionally, and I have a hard time accelerating in 1st and 2nd gear (yes it's a manual). It'll all of a sudden take off and kind of seems like it's holding back. I took it to a mechanic who could not figure out what was causing it. Someone gave me a tip that it could be the EGR valve. I have Chilton's Repair Manual for the 82-92(?) Camaro. It stated that if you had problem pushing the flap up on the bottom of the valve, it is probably not working correctly. I ended up replacing the valve, along with the distributor cap, plugs, and wires. It does run a little better now, but I still get that SES light as well as the hesitation. Any ideas on what else it could be? Are there any adjustments to the valve, or did I maybe not installed it correctly? (It seemed pretty simple to me). Does the SES light tend to not go away after a while? I did see a post from TomP(I think that's right) about getting a flashing error code. Is this what I should check? I'm learning this car as I go, and I would consider myself a beginner in mechanics. I want to eventually add some MOD's onto the car to give it a better look and some more power, but I figure I better get it running better first. After the SES is taken care of, I do plan on doing a Major Tuneup like TomP had posted. So, to end this, I think you'll be hearing much more from me with more ?'s as I get deeper into this car. I really like the Camaro and hope to have a really fine looking car sometime in the future. Thanks for the help!

shootsnlad

 

Welcome! If the mechanic couldn't fix a service engine code, you might not want to ever go back to him... seriously. To get your own error code, check out the thirdgen.org FAQ, at the end of the miscellaneous section, here's the link. (The whole FAQ is off the main thirdgen.org page, in the tech section.) https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/f...gen.shtml#misc (Roll up to see the rest of the FAQ, I linked you to the misc section.) Instead of using pins 6 and 12, use pins 5 & 6. Remember to NOT start the car!! Just turn the key to the position right before crank. The SES light will flash the codes for ya.

Glad to hear you're interested in the major tuneup... the manual I mentioned is a great beginners guide to the car, and doing the tuneup is a great way to learn. When you get into more advanced stuff (like diagnosing an engine error code via the SES light), think about picking up the GM manual, published by http://www.helminc.com - it's a bit pricey, but well worth it! If you've seen my code 32 and code 45 chart floating around, they're typed straight out of my GM/Helm manual.

Oh and yeah, the EGR replacement is a simple procedure. But if any vacuum lines are cracked, they'll throw the EGR off, and could set a code. An EGR that's stuck open will cause stalling and poor driveability (acceleration problems), but one that's closing okay won't. Even if you throw a code for EGR (#32) but your EGR is closed, your car will still run fine.

computer codes stay in the computer's memory for a while. But, if there's no more problem, the light will go off. if your light is staying on, the problem still exists. For example, say you check the codes and get 21, 32, 34, and 44. 34 might be the "current" error code, and 21/32/44 might be old ones. How to cure? Disconnect the NEGATIVE battery cable for a minute or two. In theory, you can disconnect it for just a few seconds, but I like to keep it off for at least a minute. This resets the computer to it's default settings, with an empty error code memory. Keep in mind that the computer will have to re-learn the car, so it'll drive like *** after a reset. To fix this will take forever if you drive around in town. A good way to fix it all at once is to go for an hour's drive at highway speeds- I drive away from my house for a 1/2 hour at 60-65, then 1/2 hour back to home. You'll also lose your radio presets, and if you have a coded aftermarket radio, you'll need to enter that code again.

Remember to disconnect the negative cable instead of the positive. The car is grounded to the negative cable. So if you're leaning on the fender and disconnect the negative, you're safe. If you happen to unhook the positive cable while leaning on the fender, you "could" create a short circuit between you and the fender, causing a hell of a shock.