Chrysler Repair: 94 grand caravan wont idle., head gasket, grand caravan

Question
Russell,
I am having trouble with my '94 Grand caravan 3.0 V6.  Within the last 2 years, I have blown a head gasket, replaced the water pump and had the timing belt replaced by a local mechanic.  Since the timing belt was replaced, the engine began to surge when idling to the point of shutting off.  It would start up with no problem, but still exhibited the surging.  I felt as if I had gotten some bad gas or something, but after changing the fuel filter it didn't seem to get better, but it didn't get any worse either.  About 2 weeks ago, when I start it in the morning, the engine would run but began to idle very rough.  As I would try to drive it, it would baulk and hesitate for about 5 to 7 minutes of driving, then clear up and run good.  When I started it in the evening, it would do the same thing.  With in the last 2 days, it baulks anytime i try to drive it and is now continuous.  It won't idle at all.  When I had the timing belt replaced, one mechanic that looked at it told me that the computer gave a code for the EGR valve was bad, but not to worry about that.  Another mechanic, who didn't want to work on the vehicle, tried to tell me that I needed a new computer, EGR valve, and many other repairs that would be more than the van was worth.  The shop that put in the timing belt couldn't find anything else wrong on the codes and simply fixed what they could find.  

The van has 250,000 miles on it, but I really can't afford to replace it at this time.  With so many conflicting opinions, I am getting confused. Now with this problem, I'm not sure who to trust or what to do to fix this problem. Any suggestions you might have to help would be appreciated.

Gary

Answer
First, the EGR seems to be the common diagnosis for what ales you van. Concider having that replaced. Secondly, it's not uncommon for that engine to have an excessive carbon build-up on the back of the intake valves. This would be ecspecially true of a vehicle with the amount of miles on it that your has on it. Which may be the underlying problem. What happens is this, once the engine has stopped for a long period of tome the carbon dries up, when you restart the engine the dried up carbon absorbs a good amount of fuel as it's trying to get to the engine. Once it has absorbed as much as it can the engine will more fuel and start to run better. Butthe flow of fuel and air is still diminished and the engine cannot produce enough power. There is no cheap way to fix this. The cylinder heads will need to be rebuilt or replaced.