Here's the full, long history and it's not over yet because my mechanic is stumped. A year ago the car started hesitating during acceleration and chk engine light came on, diag. said "misfire #3 cylinder". We replaced the plugs and wires, plug tips were black and engine then ran perfect. This happened 2 more times in the span of a year and each time we replaced the plugs and wires and then it ran fine. The 3rd time however a few weeks after we replaced the plugs and wires the chk engine light remained on and I noticed one week that I had suddenly lost 100 miles per tank in mileage. So I took it to the dealer and the computer read "bad air sensor and cat. converter not running at peak" or something like that:). I bought the sensor from the dealer and replaced it at home but forgot to disconnect the battery. The car immediately died after starting with the new sensor. We put the old sensor in and it ran fine. The next day we disconnected the battery, replaced the sensor and again it died, it would accelerate ok but as soon as you let it idle it died. So maybe a bad air sensor? We put the old one back in and this time it ran a bit rough while idling. So ordered another new sensor, disconnected the battery, replaced it and the car did the same thing. We put the old sensor back in and the car would idle for a minute then die, accelerating was fine till you let your foot off the gas. We gave up and brought it to a mechanic and he found a clogged cat. converter, it was glowing red right near the oxygen sensor. He cleared out the clog, ran it and it didn't immediately die but would die after 5-10 minutes of idling. He spent a week running it off and on to try and get a code and nothing came up. He replaced the oxygen sensor and still nothing came up. His thought is that the computer might need to be replaced? I've got a message into the Cartalk guys but haven't heard back from them yet. Any thoughts?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Here's the full, long history and it's not over yet because my mechanic is stumped. A year ago the car started hesitating during acceleration and chk engine light came on, diag. said "misfire #3 cylinder". We replaced the plugs and wires, plug tips were black and engine then ran perfect. This happened 2 more times in the span of a year and each time we replaced the plugs and wires and then it ran fine. The 3rd time however a few weeks after we replaced the plugs and wires the chk engine light remained on and I noticed one week that I had suddenly lost 100 miles per tank in mileage. So I took it to the dealer and the computer read "bad air sensor and cat. converter not running at peak" or something like that:). I bought the sensor from the dealer and replaced it at home but forgot to disconnect the battery. The car immediately died after starting with the new sensor. We put the old sensor in and it ran fine. The next day we disconnected the battery, replaced the sensor and again it died, it would accelerate ok but as soon as you let it idle it died. So maybe a bad air sensor? We put the old one back in and this time it ran a bit rough while idling. So ordered another new sensor, disconnected the battery, replaced it and the car did the same thing. We put the old sensor back in and the car would idle for a minute then die, accelerating was fine till you let your foot off the gas. We gave up and brought it to a mechanic and he found a clogged cat. converter, it was glowing red right near the oxygen sensor. He cleared out the clog, ran it and it didn't immediately die but would die after 5-10 minutes of idling. He spent a week running it off and on to try and get a code and nothing came up. He replaced the oxygen sensor and still nothing came up. His thought is that the computer might need to be replaced? I've got a message into the Cartalk guys but haven't heard back from them yet. Any thoughts?
- svmaine, York, ME, US