88 s-10 gone wacko - HELP!!

My 1988 S-10 2.8L has had rough idle/hard to start when warm/hesitation on takeoff problems for a while now. However, yesterday it did something new. I drove the truck a few miles, stopped at the store for a few minutes (not long), then hopped back in. Had to press the gas to start it (that's what I mean by hard to start when warm), but this time the SES light came on and stayed on, and the truck refused to stay running unless I kept my foot on the gas. Tried to pull codes with my handy paper clip, and the light stayed steady.....no flashes. I checked and double checked that I was connecting the clip right, the thing just wouldn't respond. So I just kept one foot on the gas and used the other to brake when needed to get the thing home. 8 hours later, i go for a test run, and it is still hard to start once warmed up, but will stay running, no SES light. The usual problems that I described above are better/worse depending on the day. I'm clueless. Any ideas?

TIA Jim

Reply to
Strangel
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Suspect your egr valve.. hesitation on takeoff, rough idle, hard start, common symptoms. Has the problem been getting pregressively worse?(as the egr valve clogs up more) take it off, and make a block plate and gasket to cover the egr hole with. Go for a test drive to see if the problem is gone or not.(might noticte the stalling rough idle dissapears, but now it pings a lot under load.) If the stalling etc goes away with the egr temporarily removed, then thats the problem. put the egr valve back on after the test, or engine damage (pistons with holes in them) may occur due to pinging under load.,(cleaning the carbon build up out of the egr valve may cure ya, a new valve is a bit pricey.) As for the stoned ses light, ?? who knows. i dont..

Reply to
grunt/sniff

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