First off I want to say sorry if I'm posting this is the wrong place, but I just started using this site last night and I know I have a lot to learn. I've searched and search on here trying to find the answers to my problems and have yet to come up with them so here goes....

One week agoI purchased a 96 Z28 auto w/104,000.After buying the car I noticed that I'm getting really bad gas mileage and it seems to stall a little when driving at slow speeds. I took the car to the local auto zone and they checked if for codes, sure enough it came back with egr and maf problems.

Since then I have installed a new maf and the gas mileage seems to be great but it didn't fix the stall/hesitation, I guess my question on this one is if there is a better maf sensor than the stock one or are they all the same?

As far as the egr I started the car and push in on the egr and it died. Once I took the vacuum line off the egr the car drove great, can I leave the vacuum line off or is that going to screw up more in the long run?


Once again I'm new so take it easy on me, but at the same time I am open to constructive criticism.

 

nope you picked the right spot for your question. like most things in life you usually get what you pay for however with electronics it can be a crapshoot but usually dealer supplied or performane aftermarket will be better quality and usually more expensive. there are exceptions and brands that just plain overcharge but thats what research is for

i highly recommend keeping ALL systems on a car running as they did from the factory. the egr system is no exception it has several purposes. get it fixed, it sounds like it may be leaking or worn and or being applied at the wrong time. dont leave the vacuum line off, engine damage can result if you do this

im glad to see a simple code reading at the store has aided in your repairs but please be careful with it. often the problem is NOT in the replacement part its in the circuit(wiring) or computer, connections etc and throwin a new part at it (one you cant return cause its been installed) does not fix the problem kurt

 

I know what you mean about not being about to return parts, they were very clear about that when I bought the new maf, lucky for me it was or at least seems to be the fix for the bad gas mileage. Have you heard of that being a problem in the past?

Like you I want to keep the car as it came from factory, but after seeing how big of a pain it would be to take the egr off and replace it ($84) I thought I'd try to find a secret. Thanks for the help Kurt!

 

Either replacing or cleaning the EGR valve will probably clear up your hesitation issue. Take off the EGR valve and see if it has a lot of carbon buildup that isn't allowing it to close completely, if this is the case, you should be able to clean it off and be good to go. It is possible that it's just not making a good seal and the whole valve is shot, in which case you'll need to replace it. Good luck!

 

Well I replaced the egr tonight and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, but I did manage to loose the vacuum tube that hooks to it.Don't ask me how I did it, but I did. I searched for about 15 minutes under the car looking up and reaching my hands as far back behind the intake as I could but no luck, guess I'll have to make another trip to the parts store tomorrow for a new one.

 

clod nice thing about electronics on the new cars is that alot of the parts can not only have the effect of bad gas mileage but about 10,000 other annoying symptoms. the maf not being an exception has been the cause of poor mileage in many scenarios that ive seen.

slvr z may be correct in that the egr valve may just need cleaning(see, the code wont tell you that) you can remove it and spray throttle body cleaner into the mechanism, let sit and spray again, clean out then reinstall. if this doesnt correct the problem then a new one may be in order. theres no secrets anymore it all has to work, no more mickey mouseing it, no more bypassing this and that, its pretty much all or nothing unless you like to make big payments for the stuff your gonna ruin

 

Also one thing that I think should have been mentioned regarding the EGR. Go and get a AC Delco part! The EGR valves from the Autozone suck! Any time I get parts of that nature (emissions) I always get the parts from the Dealer. You pay more yes but they are better quality parts to me.