bogged down till warmed up

i have a 2000 rodeo 4cys with 51k on it...when i start the engine i can forget going anywhere until its up to operating temp...and even then its still a little rough but smooths out after a mile or 2...check engine light is on.......took it to autozone for their free code check and the first thing that showed was the o2 sensor...so i changed both and check engine light went off for about half a day(after diconnecting the battery)...so i took it to a different autozone that i was close to and they said it was the camshaft position sensor(159 bucks and from what i see in the manual its a pain to get at)...ive also had 2 other suggestions made to me 1. map sensor 2.egr or something (some kind of exhaust sensor)...im goin on vacation at the end of the month to new orleans and i would like to have it fixed b4 but i dont want to keep changing stuff that isnt the prob...also i really dont have alot of money with the vacation around the corner...some one help and let me know which of these things u would start with?


i dont mind letting it warm up but it sounds so bad while idleing at that time and i am afraid that i will damage something else

thanks ahead of time

That's funny that you mention that. . . I mean, not really, but you know I've always teased my truck about how it's a cold-blooded thing, mainly the tranny, I think, not so much the engine.

Mine has always been hesitant to move, sorta-speak, when cold, and has been since the day I drove it off the lot 7yrs ago. I now have 124K miles, and have never been too concerned about it, aside from the fact that I do let it warm-up for at least 3-4 minutes above 50 degrees, and for nothing less then 6-10 minutes below 40 degrees.

I have always done this because of her hesitance to want to shift out of 1st-into 2nd when cold, and she idles, not exactly rough, but louder, if you will. Sticking to this regimen has been good for me, obviously, as I've never had to replace more then just the valve cover gaskets, and she doesn't tick or burn oil either.

If this is a "new thing" for your truck, I'd have it looked into. However, if it's always been there, I doubt there's a problem.