How do you fix Goodman E1?

Clearing a blocked condensate drain is a reasonable homeowner task and is worth doing, since it causes several related faults. The pressure switch, its hoses, and its wiring are technician work. The switch proves safe venting, and a furnace running with it defeated can vent combustion products, including carbon monoxide, indoors. Full steps and safety notes are on this page.

Goodman furnace E1: Low stage pressure switch closed at the start of the heating cycle

E1 means the control checked the low stage pressure switch before starting the inducer and found it already closed. It is supposed to be open at rest, so the sequence stops there.

Do the simple checks below, then stop. The simple checks listed above are genuinely homeowner work and worth doing first. Beyond them, this fault involves the gas valve, the burner compartment, or the heat exchanger — the parts whose failure can put combustion products, including carbon monoxide, into the air the house breathes. If the simple checks do not resolve it, stop there and call a licensed technician rather than resetting the furnace repeatedly to keep the heat on. Make sure there is a working carbon monoxide alarm on every level of the home, including the level the furnace is on. The conditions that mean stop now.

Applies to: Goodman GMVC96, GMVM97, GCVC96, GCVM97 and Amana AMVC96, AMVM97 series gas furnaces with a two-character alphanumeric display.

What it means

The pressure switch proves the draft inducer is genuinely moving air before any gas is released, and it does that by sensing suction. At rest, with the inducer off, it must sit open. The control verifies that at the start of every cycle, because a switch stuck closed would prove a draft that does not exist — and a furnace that fires believing it has draft when it has none can push combustion products into the house. Finding the switch closed before the inducer has run, the control refuses to continue. This is the interlock working as designed, and the code is telling you something specific rather than pointing at a general area.

Most common causes

The pressure switch contacts have welded or stuck closed and no longer open when the inducer stops.
The sensing hose is pinched or kinked in a way that traps pressure.
Water in the sensing hose or the pressure tap, holding the switch closed.
A short in the switch wiring, which is electrically indistinguishable from closed contacts.
The wrong pressure switch fitted at a previous repair — these are rated per model and are not interchangeable.
The low and high stage switches swapped during service.

How to diagnose it

Note whether the inducer motor starts at all. On this fault it usually does not, because the control stops before that step.
Check whether the furnace was serviced recently. A hose or switch disturbed during other work is a common trigger for this appearing suddenly.
Look for condensate problems — a drain that has been backing up puts water where this switch senses.
Check the display for a stored code as well as the active one; E1 and E2 are opposite halves of the same test and both may have occurred.

How to fix it

Clearing a blocked condensate drain is a reasonable homeowner task and is worth doing, since it causes several related faults.
The pressure switch, its hoses, and its wiring are technician work. The switch proves safe venting, and a furnace running with it defeated can vent combustion products, including carbon monoxide, indoors.
Never jumper a pressure switch to get heat. It is the only thing between a blocked flue and a firing burner.
Replace a failed switch with the exact part for the model. The setpoint is model-specific and a near-match is not a match.

Notes

E1 and E2 are the two failure directions of one test — one says the switch is closed when it should be open, the other says it will not close when it should. Reading the wrong one sends the diagnosis in completely the wrong direction.

All codes for this manufacturer

Goodman and Amana furnace fault codes — every code, with what differs between models.

Models this code appears on

From the manufacturer's per-model database. If your model is not listed, this code may not exist on your board, or it may mean something different — check the model page.

The same fault on other control families

The already-closed pressure switch has an E-code everywhere: Trane E31 on the S9V2, Lennox E224 in the Lennox E-code line, and two flashes in ICP's gas valve diagnostics all describe a switch found closed before the inducer was asked for anything. Goodman's own legacy single-LED boards raise it as two flashes, of which this code is the direct descendant. Every version enforces the same rule: a switch that cannot be seen open at rest cannot be trusted to mean anything when it closes later.

What the fix costs

Pressure switch work sits at $150–400 in the repair cost guide, and a stuck-closed fault usually lands there — welded contacts, a pinched or waterlogged sensing tube, or a switch that has simply failed shut. What keeps this from being a swap-the-part visit is the why: contacts weld for electrical reasons and tubes hold water for drainage reasons, and a competent diagnosis names one before fitting anything. The $75–150 call-out (typically credited against the work) covers that questioning. There is no cheaper branch to hope for here, but there is rarely a more expensive one either — this is one of the more predictable bills in the code list.

DIY or call a pro?

Professional. The homeowner contribution is a power cycle — once — and the history: recent service in the burner area, a condensate smell, anything that changed. The thing not to do deserves its own sentence: do not jumper the switch to get heat tonight. On this fault a jumper does not even fake the furnace past the check — the control wants to see the switch open, and defeating that logic on a device that exists to prove safe venting is working against the one interlock standing between a blocked flue and your living space. If heat is urgent, say so when booking; this is a common, quick diagnosis for someone with a manometer.

What this looks like

From the outside, this usually shows up as the inducer spins up but the burners never fire — that walkthrough covers what to check in order, and when it stops being a homeowner job.

Sources

Goodman Manufacturing — Diagnostic Code Identification System (model-specific fault code lookup)

This site is a reference, not a substitute for a licensed HVAC technician. Gas appliances can leak carbon monoxide and cause fire. Anything involving gas lines, the heat exchanger, or the flame sensing circuit should be handled by a licensed professional. Pages are written with AI assistance from the sources listed on each page and checked against them before publishing.