[IntrepidGyrll]

Okay... Here's the situation.

I have a 1996 Dodge Intrepid, 3.5 ltr.

About three weeks ago, check engine light came on for a day and then went off.

Had diagnostics read the next day at Dodge Dealership, and it was the following:
O2 Sensor Heater Failure, chry hex code $69, sae code P0141, need part 4606061, for right bank down stream.
Mechanic said that since light went out, that it was probably just a fluke. Said that if it came back on to bring it in and they'd replace the sensor.

Okay. Week later, light comes back on. I purchase the part the Dodge mechanic said I needed, and have a mechanic friend put it in.. as it is suppose to be simple. This was yesterday. Drove the car about 1 hour, and check engine light comes back on.

Today, take it to another mechanic, and have it put on diagnostics... New mechanic says that the "new" part is bad, probably since it's an aftermarket part and not mopar. He said that the following was occuring: Right Bank Downstream O2, Sensor voltages .92 - 1.02 constant, no change. With increased injector pulse width 3.8

I asked him to get me a mopar part, and to put it in. He did so, tested it out, and the 3.8 went down to a 2.8 which what the reading on the left bank had been all along, and what the mechanic said was normal.

Drive the car 1/2 hour to work, and 1/2 hour home, and now check engine light is on AGAIN.

Fears: Bad Cat Converter or Bad computer... What do you all think??

Thanks,
Casey

 

[viprman]

I really doubt it is the catalytic converter. The O2 sensor should be before the cat and has no effect on the feedback loop. The sensor may be fine and the fuel mixture just isn't being adjusted correctly. There may be another sensor for that.

 

[silver97trep]

I've had cats go bad on me before and ya can't miss it...problems w/acceleration, surging etc...if your trep is running smooth, it polly is not the cat.

[ January 15, 2002: Message edited by: silver97trep ]

 

[IntrepidGyrll]

Don't know if I mentioned it or not, but this car has THREE oxygen sensors on it... One on the exhaust manifold, and two (one on left, one on right side) after the cat.

Thanks for your responses
Casey

 

[1mz-fe]

actually the 96 had 4 O2 sensors.

 

[NCBrit]

The 96 has 4 O2 sensors. One in each exhaust manifold, and one in each downstream exhaust stub, after the first 2 cats, but before the 3rd.

3 cats are one on each manifold, and one further back where the exhaust joins into one pipe.

If you have gone through 3 sensors already, I would look for something that is causing an 02 sensor failure. Maybe a bad head gasket. Water getting on the O2 sensors will kill them.

 

[TrepidHelp]

I am getting the 02 senson code on my 96 trepid 96,
i am willing to replace the oxygen sensor today.
Problem is the parts store said there are 2 located on the 96 trepid. Which 1 of the 2 should i replace? one is 69.00 other is like 35.00. Please help. i wanna replace today. 2 hours and counting. lol, Thanxxx

 

[Djnrg]

Just replace the rest of the damn things. I did each of mine a week apart, cause they all died a week apart! Sooo, I would recommend doing all of them to have em done. Plus, you will get better gas mileage, because they could be malfunctioning without registering a code, or lighting the check engine light.

And, its easy as pie to do. The 96's and up have 2 upstream (before the cats) and 2 downstream (after the cats). Just unlplug the electrical connector, which can be a pain. Then get a wrench and pop em out. (er...unscrew em...)

If ya need any more help, just let me know.

BTW, unplug the negative battery terminal for a few mins to clear the check engine codes....