Hi all. It'* been a while, but after my 1996 Bonneville SSEi was destroyed in a fire last year, and my 1997 getting high in the KM'*, I got a good deal on a 2001 Bonneville SLE. It has the standard 3800 Series II V6, and is in pretty good shape for 270,000 KMs (around 169,000 miles).

Since I bought the car a few weeks ago, it has had a hesitation at very low throttle, such as lightly accelerating from a stop, or once I get the car up to cruising speed (say 50 KPH) keeping the car there. It'* almost like a vacuum leak, but they all seem fine. The "Check Gas Cap" light has been on since I bought the car, even after I bought a new gas cap.

I took it to a mechanic, and they said the intake gaskets were shot, so they were both replaced. The hesitation hasn't stopped, and now I have a P1401 (EGR) SES light. Is there anyway the EGR could be causing the hesitation? A full tune up was also done (plugs, wires, PCV, fuel filter) a couple of weeks ago.

I've been reading that sometimes the "Check Gas Cap" light is brought on by an EVAP leak under the car, so I'm going to have my mechanic check that (due to an accident, my spinal cord was damaged, so I can't get under the car myself, or do much work), but I'm just worried why the EGR code would come up after the gaskets were replaced. The mechanic seems like a very nice guy, and is totally willing to take another look at the car, but I've only known him for a week now, as I can't find anyone around here who will work on the car. Shops want at least $90 (Canadian) an hour, and I just can't afford that.

Something else I found was the possibility of a plugged catalytic converter?

Sorry to babble on, but does anyone have any suggestions? At the moment, I'm seriously considering repairing the brake line on the 1997 Bonnie and dumping this car, as I just can't handle the stress at the moment.

Any help is appreciated.