idle bad on 94 astro cargo van...

[cydnee]

i bought the van a week ago and it was running like a champ...it has 200,000 (yes i know thats a lot) miles on it and i dont know the vehicles history...it was bought cash from an individual...today when going to lunch it drove great...when i was leaving it didnt want to idle when started...i had to lay on the gas to keep it running...i drove back to work this way...just slipping it into nuetral when stopping and riding the brake and acc at the same time and then going back to drive when driving again...what could make this abrubtly happen?...i am thinking it could be the plugs or wires b/c the gas is full and there doesnt seem to be any problems other than a little exhaust smoke with the first drive of the day and when sitting for a while...thanks for your help...cydnee...

[brcidd]

Sounds like your EGR valve - mine does this occasionally- Did the SES light come on?- you can jumper the ALDL connector- or go to autozone- to read the code- a code 32 is EGR- What happens is little pieces of carbon get lodged on the sealing seat of the valve- then it creates air passage to intake when you don't want it to- such as when idling- On mine- I used to pull the valve out- find the carbon- then clean it with carb cleaner- re-install and all is fine-- of course if you take it somewhere they will install a new valve- (they come without carbon chips trapped in them) I am still using my original valve- it has 320,000 on it- But now I have a scan tool that will electronically "exercise" the valve open and shut- it tells me the valve is at 37% when it needs to be at 0% (closed)-- then I open it to 100% (runs really rough-like yours) then rev the engine a few times- then the carbon blows out and all is fine- usually takes about 3 minutes to fix now- just did it again last week. Just my thoughts.....