code 16 nighmare

[Daveb]

I have a 94 gs, 1.8 stock. It starts hard when cold, you usually have to turn it over a few times, stop, and then it starts right up. Runs OK when cold but when she warms up the ECU light comes on (was randomly but mostly on now when hot), and when you come to a stop it stalls. After stalling with ECU light on, it is usually hard to start (you gotta give it gas). I only run the car in the summer and last year the check engine was coming on sometimes when I first got it out, after a tank of gas it cleared up & ran fine the rest of the summer.
Its a new problem, I had the car a few years & it ran great even though I have had to change the disty a couple times.

I got the ECU code 16, EGR valve poition sensor, when I saw were it was I decided to get my buddy the Mazda mechanic to change it for me (fresh paint), what a miserable placement but I dug up entire unit at the scrap yard & he put it one for me. The old egr wasnt jammed but I figured it was the sensor. He also added a new set of Iridium plugs & a brand new set of NGK wires. I picked the car up yesterday and its still the same.

I took some previous MX-3.com advice and changed my water temp senors (big & little 1), still not fixed. I just finished changing the ECU (I had a spare kicking around) lasted about 5 miles and then light came on again.

I also changed the double selinoids by the throttle body. I am almost out of ideas, I doubt its the wiring, its usually pretty reliable and its not in bad shape. The car used to start perfect, turn the key & vroom, you never even heard the starter turn. Now its lousy. I m starting to think about trying another disty, I ve got a whole running 93 GS parts car coming this weekend, I may be selling parts later on.

Could it be TPS sensor since its on the EGR system circuit or the crank position sensor? It is acting like an EGR problem. I cant believe the odds that my scrap yard EGR sensor would be bad in the same way. That would be bad luck.

I m already seriously thinking KLZE since EGR wouldnt be a problem LOL

Any advice is greatly appreciated

[vansolrick]

Sadly I don't have any advice but I can share that I'm having a similar problem. I get the EGR code 16 when driving in the heat for a while. However, my engine never stalls. But, my idle is always screwed up when the engine is cold. If I give it gas and rev (lets say) to 2k revs, it will drop back down to around 800 revs, then rise on its own up to around 1.4k revs. I'm not getting any other codes at the moment. My TPS is fine, but maybe it's a problem that I installed it on a slightly larger TB (one from an MX-6). Anyway, I'm going to do a KLZE swap sometime in the future so I won't have to put up with the EGR anymore, eventually. But, I still want to fix my issues and keep my K8 running well until then.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Definitely sounds like a bad case of EGR. Maybe the pipe that's the passage to the EGR valve is clogged?

[colinsmx3]

I have been driving with code 16 for 2.5 yrs now... no problems at all like that.... I also changed the sensors but it changed nothing. Something tells me code 16 is not your problem...

[Daninski]

The EGR you installed could of been bad as well?

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Daveb: looks to me you're making the same mistake most people make when it comes to computer codes.
If the computer is giving you a code 16, that doesn't mean AT ALL that the EGR valve is bad. It means "something" in the EGR circuit is bad, or giving a bad reading.
Follow the circuit. It can be something as simple as a dirty connector, or a frayed wire.

[edger0587]

Yeah, I began having a similar problem. I checked for vacuum leaks, and even overhauled the vacuum system with new hoses and pcv valve and everything, but no difference, problem was still there. I took it to a mechanic and told him the problem and that I had gotten a code indicating it was the EGR system. he asked if there was a bad smell of gasoline with the car on, and yes there is, so he said it was the valve.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

How would the EGR valve make the cabin smell like gas?

[edger0587]

i don't know. That's what I was told. I have not idea. He's not that great of a mechanic tho...and the smell was not in the car (I wrote it wrong), but outside when the car is on

[_-Night-Shade-_]

The EGR is a closed system between the exhaust manifold and the cylinder head, unless he meant the actual pipe that goes from the header to the EGR... If it smells I would say it's probably the EVAP system of something to do with the gas tank.