The short answer
On a Goodman or Amana gas furnace in Northern Virginia, EE6 on the display, 7 red flashes on an older board, or a rapid amber flash on a two-stage GMEC96 all mean the same thing: the flame sensor’s signal is weak. The furnace lights, can’t prove the flame well enough, and starts to struggle. Most of the time it’s a thin coating on the sensor rod, and a cleaning is $95 to $180. Left alone it turns into a lockout, 1 flash or EE0, and no heat at all. The visit starts with a $99 diagnostic.
What the flame sensor does
The flame sensor is a thin metal rod that sits in the burner flame. The board sends a tiny current through it, and a flame carries that current back. Goodman calls it flame rectification. If the board doesn’t see enough current within about 4 seconds of the gas valve opening, it shuts the gas off. That’s the whole job: proving there’s a flame before gas keeps flowing into your house.
Over a season or two, a nearly invisible coating builds up on the rod. Goodman’s manuals describe it as acting like an insulator. The signal drops, the furnace gets twitchy, and eventually it quits.
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The codes, board by board
Find your board by the model number on the sticker inside the furnace door. The weak flame warning and the lockout it leads to are different codes, so both are here.
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| Your furnace shows | Which Goodman board | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 7 red flashes | Older single-stage (GMSS9, GMS8 and the Amana twins) | Flame signal is low, but the furnace is still running |
| EE6 | Current display (GR9S, GD9S, GR9T, AR9S and similar) | Flame sense signal is minimal |
| EE6 | Modulating (GRVM97, GDVM97) | Low flame signal |
| Rapid amber flash | Two-stage GMEC96 (green, amber and red lights) | Low flame sense current |
| 1 red flash | Older single-stage (GMSS9, GMS8 and the Amana twins) | Lockout after 3 tries to light |
| EE0 | Current display (GR9S, GD9S, GR9T, AR9S and similar) | Lockout after 3 tries to light |
| Red 7 or red 8 | Two-stage GMEC96 (green, amber and red lights) | Lockout: the flame never proved (7) or kept getting lost (8) |
From Goodman’s service manuals for the GMSS9 single-stage, GMEC96 two-stage, current single-stage, modulating furnaces. Every code for every Goodman board is in our Goodman furnace codes chart.
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| Board | Normal flame signal, in microamps |
|---|---|
| Older single-stage | 1 to 4 |
| Two-stage GMEC96 | 1 to 4 |
| Current display boards | 3 to 8 |
| Modulating | 1 to 8, usually 2 to 4 |
What you’ll notice
- The burners light, run a few seconds, shut off, and the furnace tries again. Three tries and it locks out.
- It works for a day after someone cleans it, then starts again weeks later.
- 7 flashes while it’s still heating: the warning before the lockout.
- It heats, quits, heats again, a lot like short cycling.
- The house slowly loses heat overnight, and the furnace runs fine once someone resets it.
What causes it
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| Cause | How you’d know | What fixing it costs |
|---|---|---|
| A coated or dirty sensor rod | A dull, frosted or dark rod; the signal comes back after a cleaning | $95 to $180 to clean it |
| The sensor is bent or out of the flame | The rod doesn’t sit in the flame the way it should | Usually fixed with the cleaning |
| A lazy flame | Yellow, soft or lifting burner flames from low gas pressure or poor combustion air | Priced in writing before any work starts |
| Wiring, ground or polarity | A loose sensor wire, a poor ground, or hot and neutral reversed | Priced in writing before any work starts |
| A sensor past cleaning | Cracked porcelain or a rod that won’t hold a signal | $240 to $410 to replace the sensor or igniter |
| The control board | Every other check passes and the board still won’t see the flame | $550 to $1,180 for a new board |
What you can check yourself
Goodman’s manuals are written for trained technicians and say not to bypass any safety circuit, so the line for a homeowner is the outside of the furnace. Cleaning the sensor is on Goodman’s list for a qualified servicer, with steel wool and never sandpaper, because a scratched rod coats faster. Here’s what’s fair game.
- Video the light before anything else. On most Goodman boards, opening the door or cutting the power erases the code. A 20 second phone video saves the tech time.
- The pipes outside. On a high efficiency furnace, check the two white PVC pipes for snow, leaves or a nest. A starved flame reads weak.
- The filter. A clogged one doesn’t cause EE6 directly, but it’s worth swapping while you’re there.
- One reset, then stop. Turn the thermostat off for about 10 seconds and back on. Goodman says a furnace that has to be reset often has a problem that needs fixing, and a weak sensor is just that.
Don’t pull the sensor, don’t sand it, and don’t jump anything on the board. If you smell gas, get everyone out and call the gas company from outside. If a carbon monoxide alarm is going off, that comes first.
What a tech does on the visit
The tech reads the code and the stored faults, watches the furnace light, then puts a DC microamp meter in series with the sensor to see the real signal against Goodman’s range for your board. If it’s low, the rod comes out, gets cleaned with steel wool and goes back in the flame, and the meter has to show a healthy number before the tech leaves. If cleaning doesn’t bring it back, the tech checks gas pressure against the rating plate, the ground and the polarity before calling it a bad sensor or board. You get the price in writing first.
Goodman’s yearly inspection checks ignition, the burner flame and flame sense at the start of the heating season, which is the cheap way to never see EE6. Our heating check is $67 per system through December 31, for a furnace, heat pump or boiler.
We fix Goodman and Amana furnaces across Northern Virginia, in Ashburn, Leesburg, Sterling, Herndon, Chantilly, Fairfax, Arlington and Manassas. Every furnace repair price we charge is on our heating page.
Flame sensor trouble on any brand is in our flame sensor guide.
More Goodman and Amana, one problem at a time: pressure switch: 3 flashes or EE2; limit switch: 4 flashes or EE3; lockout and weak flame: 1 flash, EE0, EE6; solid red light, no light or rapid flashing; rollout switch: 6 flashes or E11; Goodman heat pump and AC codes; display codes: 1dL, 9H, F02; how to reset a Goodman furnace; inducer motor noises and codes; troubleshooting by symptom; Amana furnace codes; a Goodman heat pump that won’t heat; a Goodman furnace that keeps shutting off; a Goodman furnace blowing cold air; how old is my Goodman: the serial number. Other brands are in our error codes and warning lights guide.
Get it fixed
Call (703) 997-9757 and we’ll get a tech out to look at your Goodman furnace’s flame sensor. We answer day or night. Rather book online? Pick a time here and a box of warm cookies comes with the visit. A repair visit starts with our $99 diagnostic, and you get the price in writing before any work starts. Already have a quote? We’ll give you a free second opinion. Rated 5.0 stars across 1,138 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook, Virginia Class A license 2705192276.
Questions people ask
How do I know if my Goodman flame sensor is bad?
The burners light, run a few seconds and shut off, and the board shows 7 flashes, EE6 or a rapid amber light. Most of the time the sensor is coated, not bad. A tech confirms it with a microamp meter.
Can I clean a Goodman flame sensor myself?
Goodman lists sensor cleaning for a qualified servicer, with steel wool and never sandpaper. It means pulling a part out of the burner area, so we’d leave it to a tech.
What does EE6 mean on a Goodman furnace?
The flame sense signal is low. The furnace may still be running, but the next step is a lockout, EE0, and no heat.
How much does it cost to fix a Goodman flame sensor?
Cleaning it is $95 to $180. If it has to be replaced, an igniter or flame sensor is $240 to $410. The diagnostic is $99, and the price is in writing before any work starts.
