Chrysler Repair: EGR Valve, vacuum hoses, chrysler sebring

Question
1998 Chrysler sebring LXI

Hello Roland,

My sevice engine light went on. I took the car to Chrysler to get diagnosed and was determined that the EGR valve needed changing. I replaced the part but the service engine light was still on. I disconnected and reconnected the battery which made the service engine light go off. But now when i drive the car, the oil light goes on, the gas pedal becomes stiff and then it shuts down. I can restart the car and drive it but then it happens again minutes later. What do you think the problem might be.

Answer
Hi Victor,
I have another suggestion: in my '95 manual it says that if you disconnect the battery as an effort to erase a trouble code, then after reconnecting the battery start the engine and let it warm up and then let it idle for 15 minutes longer. I believe the engine controller may go thru some adjustments during that period that may help it to run the engine properly. Your '98 may not need to that, because it is an OBD-II system rather than an OBD-I system as in '95, but it is worth a try as there appears to be no other explanation.
Let me no, please, if that corrects your situation.
Roland





Hi Victor,
I haven't worked on the Sebring myself, but I do have the shop manual for the '95 model. The oil light going on may be due to a problem with the idle speed because of the engine is hesitating or operating at lower than spec rpm the oil pressure will be proportionately lower than spec which may set off the oil light sensor switch. I can't imagine how the gas pedal feel ("stiff") could be related to changing the egr unless the cable between the pedal and the throttle on the engine was disturbed during the process of exchanging the egr. Are you sure that all the parts for the egr are correctly routed (the vacuum hoses, and the electrical connector)? It is also possible that the cruise control cable is interfering with the gas pedal, but there is nothing about this possibility in the manual. Does the car die in a few minutes if you just let it idle, or does it only happen when you drive it? I think you may have to have the codes read out again to see if there is a clue there as to what is causing the engine to die.
Does the pedal free up as soon as the engine dies? Have you examined the cable for binding up or malformation?
I can send you a few pages on adjusting the throttle cable if that would be of help. Similarly there are some pages on the egr system. I can copy these for about 4 cents a side and then mail them to you. If you would send me back some postal stamps to cover the cost of copying and mailing then that would offset my costs. If you want me to do that respond with a postal mailing address and I'll copy them early next week.
I wish I had a simple answer but this situation is not obvious as to its cause.
Roland