Fixing some trouble codes

[yangs13]

My service engine soon light came on one day after driving through a rain storm. I read the code(s); and code P0140 came up. Code p0140 states, " oxygen sensor no activity bank 1 sensor 2". So I figured it got shorted out or some thing after hitting a huge puddle. The car only has 75,000ish miles on it, and heated multi-wire o2 sensors typically last at least 100k. After some research and trying to figure out which sensor was sensor 2 on bank one, I pulled it and did a simple o2 sensor test. Basically, you heat the sensor with a torch and read the voltage on a multimeter. Check out this youtube video to get an idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9vtD_ssjg

It was this sensor:



Turns out the sensor didn't register much of anything in terms of voltage. I didn't want to spend about $100 on an oxygen sensor, so I purchased a universal 4 wire sensor off ebay, a Borg Warner universal for $25 shipped. When I finally got the thing, the wires were purple, brown, and two white wires. the OEM wires were black, gray, and two white. Looking online, I found this:

http://www.sunriders.com/articles/sensor.html

I figured the white wires would match and matched the purple to black and brown to gray. Idk, but it worked. Installed the new sensor and reset the light. I drove around for a few days...no issues.

Then damn, SES triggered. I figured maybe the new sensor wasn't the problem. I read the codes, codes P0420 and P0430. These codes correspond to," catalyst efficiency below threshold, sensor one and two". I was stuck, pretty sure the cats weren't bad. I luckily ran into a guy at work that had worked on a 2001 maxima before, and he told me to "space out the sensor with a spark plug non fouler so it sits further back in the exhaust stream. getting new sensors and cats won't solve your problem." So, did some more research and found this:

http://www.energeticforum.com/....html

So, did what this guy did, put the sensor back in, reset the light. I've driven a little over 200 miles since then, and the light hasn't come on. I've also gotten my typical gas mileage back. Only spent about $30. Here's what it looks like:

[Jiggy686]

nice , im gonna try that