Hi. I bought a 1994 Chevy Camaro then when I bought the car the guy said that the EGR Valve Will Need to be replaced. Well he gave us reciepts of what the car has had done to It and 30,000 miles ago the car already had a EGR Valve replaced. Well I am thinking If the car needs a new one 30,000 miles later after being replaced then there must be something that Is making this part go bad not that the part Is going bad on Its own but maybe a different part Is causing this EGR Valve to go out 30,000 miles later um. Well I guess I am asking this thread to see what kind of code reader I can get for this car to read codes to see If this Is the problem or what this car needs to be replaced. I talked to a guy today who said I could go to the store then get a little code reader for around twenty bucks then I hook It up and a light on my dash will flash a certain amount of times then by that the book will tell me whats wrong with the car. I was wondering If people know what he was talking about or If there Is a specific kind of one I need. If you could post a link to the one that I need with the book thing that would be great. My car Is a 1994 Chevy Camaro V6 3.4L. If you could find me this thing then link It that would be nice to tell me what the Item Is called then I can look It up myself thanks again lol.

 

Your car doesn't require a code reader it has a 12 pin data link connector. You can flash the codes by jumping terminals A and B in the DLC. They will be in the top row of terminals toward the center of the car as you are looking at the connector. With the key on and the engine off, jumper the terminals. Any jumper wire that will fit the terminal without damaging it will do (in a pinch I have used a paper clip). If the test terminal (B) is grounded with the ignition on and engine not running, the system will enter the diagnostic mode. In this mode, the computer will display a Code 12, three consecutive times, by flashing the "CHECK ENGINE" or "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" light. A Code 12 consists of one flash, a short pause, then two flashes in rapid succession. After Code 12 is displayed, any stored trouble codes will be displayed by flashing the "CHECK ENGINE" or "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" light. All codes are displayed 3 times each then a code 12 will repeat. The codes that represent EGR system failures are 75, 76, 77. Just because the codes are there doesn't necessarily mean that the EGR valve is bad, you will need access to a scan tool to test it. EGR codes can be caused by carbon buildup on the valves themselves, a component failure, or a wiring problem. Hope that hepls.

 

Thank you for helping. But that honestly really confusing. I dont even know where the terminal Is or what wires your talking about Im not a geek with cars I bearly know anything about how a vehicle works.

 

Even though the car is OBDI, the codes cannot be flashed on 94 and newer vehicles. You will need a real OBDI scanner, the cheapo $30 code readers won't work either. In the event that your car came with a 16 pin diagnostic connector (OBDII style), you will still need an OBDI scanner and an adapter cable. GM started using OBDII connectors on OBDI cars toward the end od the 1994 model run, and throughout 1995. Don't know why they did that, except to cause confusion.

 

Well If the 30 dollar cheapo wont work then what are you suggesting. Are you suggesting that there Isnt a way to find out with codes. But Instead I have to manually find out what wrong with the car with me hands. I called two auto shops one said they cant get codes the other said they could. I am kinda confused on what this Is coming down to or If you are suggesting that a code reader wont work on my car. Thanks for checking out my post. I hope to hear back from you for help with this thing.

 

What I am sayng is that you need an OBDI scanner. You are making this more complicated than it needs to be. OBDI only scanners are hard to find since they are no longer made, being that 1996 was the last year for OBDI. However, you can get a scanner that works with both OBDI and OBDII. You can get a basic unit for about $150 to $250, most car part stores carry them. The $30 code readers do not work with your car.
FYI, a code reader only reads the trouble code number, while a scanner can read the code number, see what the various sensors are sending to the PCM, check operation of O2 sensors, operate relays, and many various other things, depending on how fancy the scanner is.

 

Just curious but how many miles are on it?, im not sure what would be causing premature egr valve failure but when i here 3.4L V6 i think of blown head gaskets. From my experience its very common on these engines, dont know if it could be related but just wanted to make you aware, so make sure you aint got water in your oil or blowin white smoke. And about the scanner why not just see what a shop will charge to scan it?

 

The car has like 161,000 miles. It could be a gasket. I have no clue and no clue how to fix a car or check for stuff like that. Of course I cant really try myself because I dont have knowledge In the field unfortionately I might have to end up paying alot to have my stuff fixed because I dont know how.

 

This may or may not help you but I had a 95 that kept blowing egr valves. Turns out that for whatever reason it was building up carbon and chunks would break loose and get trapped in the egr valve holding the little button on the inlet open making it run very ragged until it worked it's way loose. I eventually fixed or at least patched the problem by installing a gasket I found with a screen over the hole keeping the larger chunks out. You can get one of these gaskets at Advance or other parts stores. Hope this helps.

 

I am knew to this car fixing stuff. What type of gasket exactly like could you get me a link to one that would fit my 1994 chevy camaro v6 3.4L. I wouldnt know where I could look. Thanks for helping.