The short answer
On a Goodman or Amana gas furnace in Northern Virginia, 3 red flashes on an older board or EE2 on a newer display means the pressure switch never closed. The furnace started its inducer motor, waited to feel the draft, didn’t, and refused to light. The switch is almost always reporting a problem, not causing one: a blocked vent or intake pipe, a full condensate trap, water in the switch hose, or a tired inducer. Clearing a clogged condensate drain is $175 to $420, and the visit starts with a $99 diagnostic.
What the pressure switch does
Before a Goodman furnace lights, a small motor called the inducer pulls air through the burners and pushes the exhaust out the vent pipe. The pressure switch is a little round switch with a rubber hose that feels that suction. No suction, no gas. It’s how the furnace makes sure the exhaust has somewhere to go before it burns gas in your house.
That’s why nobody should jump it out to get heat back. A furnace running with its pressure switch bypassed can push exhaust into the house, and the switch is the one part telling you something upstream is wrong.
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The codes, board by board
Goodman has used several control boards over the years, and the same blink count doesn’t mean the same thing on all of them. Find yours by the model number on the sticker inside the furnace door.
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| Your furnace shows | Which Goodman board | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 3 red flashes | Older single-stage (GMSS9, GMS8 and the Amana twins) | Pressure switch didn’t close |
| 2 red flashes | Older single-stage (GMSS9, GMS8 and the Amana twins) | Pressure switch reads closed before the inducer starts (stuck closed) |
| EE2 | Current display (GR9S, GD9S, GR9T, AR9S and similar) | Pressure switch didn’t close |
| EE1 | Current display (GR9S, GD9S, GR9T, AR9S and similar) | Pressure switch closed at the start of the heating cycle |
| EE8 or EE9 | Current two-stage display (GR9T, GD9T) | High stage pressure switch closed early, or didn’t close |
| Red 3 | Two-stage GMEC96 (green, amber and red lights) | Low fire pressure switch stuck open |
| Red 2 | Two-stage GMEC96 (green, amber and red lights) | Pressure switch stuck closed |
| Red 6 | Two-stage GMEC96 (green, amber and red lights) | The switch opened 5 times in one heating cycle, so the board locked out |
From Goodman’s service manuals for the GMSS9 single-stage, GMEC96 two-stage, current single-stage, current two-stage furnaces. Every code for every Goodman board is in our Goodman furnace codes chart.
What you’ll notice
- The thermostat calls for heat, you hear the inducer whir for a while, and the burners never light.
- On the older single-stage boards, if the switch doesn’t close after 5 minutes of the inducer running, the furnace locks itself out for an hour, then tries again.
- On a high efficiency furnace: gurgling inside the cabinet, or water on the floor near it.
- It works some nights and not others, often worst on the coldest, windiest ones, when ice or a drift blocks the pipes outside.
- It lights, runs a few minutes and shuts off, over and over. That’s the switch opening mid-cycle, and it looks a lot like short cycling.
What causes it
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| Cause | How you’d know | What fixing it costs |
|---|---|---|
| A clogged condensate drain or trap | Water sitting in the trap or the switch hose, gurgling, water near a high efficiency furnace | $175 to $420 to clear it, with a trap and a float switch added |
| A blocked vent or intake pipe | A nest, leaves, a snow drift or ice at the white PVC pipes where they leave the house | Nothing if it’s snow or leaves you can reach. A pipe repair is priced in writing first. |
| Water in, or a crack in, the switch hose | The thin rubber hose has water in it, is kinked, or has come off its fitting | A small fix, priced in writing before any work starts |
| A weak or failing inducer motor | Louder than it used to be, a rattle or a grinding hum, slow to spin up | Depends on the model; priced in writing before any work starts |
| A failed pressure switch | The hose, pipes and drain all check out and the switch still won’t close | Priced in writing before any work starts |
| Stuck contacts or shorted wiring | EE1 or 2 flashes: the switch reads closed before the inducer even starts | Usually the switch itself, priced first |
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. Three things on the outside are safe and worth a look before you call.
- The pipes outside. High efficiency Goodman furnaces vent through two white PVC pipes, usually out a side wall or the roof. Clear snow, leaves or a nest from the openings. Don’t push anything into the pipe.
- The drain. Follow the clear or white tubing from the furnace to the floor drain or the little condensate pump. A trap full of sludgy water, or a pump that’s full and not running, is very likely your answer.
- One reset, after you write the code down. Take a phone video of the light first, because cutting the power erases the blink on the older boards. Then turn the thermostat off, wait 10 seconds and turn it back on. If the code comes back, stop resetting it.
Don’t blow into the switch hose, don’t jump the switch, and don’t take the inducer apart. 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, or the stored faults (L 6 F in the menu on a display board), then works through the switch the way Goodman lays it out: the hose, the vent and intake pipes, the drain and trap, and the inducer. A gauge on the switch line shows the suction the inducer actually pulls against what the switch needs to close, which tells a blocked pipe from a weak inducer from a bad switch. You get the price in writing before any work starts. Most of these calls end with a cleared drain, a cleared pipe or a hose, not a new furnace.
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.
Other Goodman codes, one at a time: 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.
Get it fixed
Call (703) 997-9757 and we’ll get a tech out to look at your Goodman furnace. 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
Why is my Goodman furnace blinking 3 times?
On an older single-stage Goodman or Amana, 3 flashes means the pressure switch didn’t close after the inducer started. The usual causes are a blocked vent or intake pipe, a clogged condensate drain or trap, water in the switch hose, or a weak inducer motor.
What does EE2 mean on a Goodman furnace?
The same problem on the newer display boards: the pressure switch circuit didn’t close, so the furnace won’t light. EE1 is the opposite, a switch that reads closed before the inducer starts.
Can I bypass the pressure switch to get heat?
No. It’s the switch that proves the exhaust is leaving the house before the gas valve opens, and Goodman’s manuals say never to bypass a safety circuit. A clogged drain or a blocked pipe is a cheaper and safer fix.
How much does it cost to fix a Goodman pressure switch problem?
The diagnostic is $99. Clearing a clogged condensate drain, with a trap and a float switch added, is $175 to $420. An inducer motor or a new switch depends on the model, and the tech prices it in writing before any work starts.
What does 2 flashes mean on a Goodman furnace?
On the older single-stage board, 2 flashes means the pressure switch reads closed while the inducer is off: stuck contacts or a short in its wiring. That one is usually the switch itself.
