1997 Bravada sluggish/not shifting/CEL/rough idle

My fiance has a 1997 Bravada that has been having problems for some time now. Her parents insisted on taking it to a mechanic that they know (they bought the car and refused to let me touch it). It's gone to this guy 3 times for the same problem. They keep dumping money into and nothing is changing. They finally agreed to let me look at it.

Anyhow. The car has 100k miles on it amd is a 1997. I have no idea what the mechanic has been doing to it, but it seems to be worse off now than it was. The first time it died was when I was driving it. Her parents towed it to this "mechanic" and he said that it "just ran out of gas". Then he changed his mind and said it was bad gas. Put new gas in it and it went back in the next day. This time he said it was the catalytic converter (they were going to put a test pipe on it, but never did). Then they decided to take it to a different mechanic and this guy says that he thinks it's the MAF but says he's not sure because its not showing any codes (the CEL was on...).

The next day, CEL comes on and it's running worse than ever. It will hardly get up to 20 MPH. It's getting about 10 MPG. And it's not wanting to shift right. I checked the codes and got 8 codes, kinda funny since the "mechanic" couldn't get any.

1.) P0101 - MAF or VAT CKT Range/Perf.
2.) P0102 - MAF or VAF Circuit Low Input
3.) P0113 - IAT Sensor 1 Circuit High Input
4.) P0300 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
5.) P0420 - Catalist Effeciency Below Threshold (Bank 1)
6.) P1406 - Manufacturer Control Auxilary Emission Controls
7.) P0102 - MAF or VAF Circuit Low Input
8.) P0420 - Catalist Effeciency Below Threshold (Bank 1)

Now 7 & 8 are repeats of 2 & 5. I'm no mechanic, but I can find my way around and I always do the work on my car myself (a Ford BTW :) ). I was thinking it's probably an O2 sensor, but that was before I got all of these. I was going to replace the MAF and O2 sensor (before the converter). Or try cleaning the MAF, throttle body, and intake. Any ideas? I tried searching, but pretty much all I found was people saying to replace the converter.

Also, any way to check an O2 sensor? I'd rather not spend the $50 if I don't have to... stupid college students.

Thanks for your time and help!

I'd advise you check the IGN power source to the MAF and the reference voltage to the oxygen sensor(s).

Yes, clean the MAf and then se how it runs. If you haven't seen yet the 97 models all have a bad ignition module in the column (called the ign switch but its not the tumbler/key) so random problems are often due to that - see the many post on subject. Next the 0300 random misfire code can be about 10 things and is often lean fuel due to several things and 1 being injection.

http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/generic/p0300-random-multiple-cylinder-misfire-detected.php

Thanks for the responses!:)

Yesterday I cleaned everything out. I cleaned the MAF sensor with some throttle body cleaner, cleaned the throttle body, and ran sea foam through the gas/oil/intake. I also noticed that a little sensor next to the MAF was unpluged, so I plugged that in. Not sure what it is, it's pushed into the air intake tube behind the MAF.

I cleared the computer after that and drove it around a bit (atempted to anyhow:lol:). All codes are now gone except the P0101 - MAF or VAT CKT Range/Perf. I tried desconnecting the MAF and driving like that, it didn't seem any different though (I had one go bad on another car of mine and when I disconnected it, the car drove better). Is it most likely the MAF? Her brother has a 2000 Blazer but lives about an hour away. I'm going to try to get his today to test on her car and see if that works. I'll let you guys know.

I'd advise you check the IGN power source to the MAF and the reference voltage to the oxygen sensor(s).

What is IGN? And how do I check it? I have a multimeter. I'm assuming the oxygen sensors are okay because of the codes that I'm getting now. They should still be replaced, just don't have too much money right now. I'll talk to her parents about it today though.

Bump:frown:

IGN is ignition

The pink wire is the power source from the ingition switch. You can check it by a sticking small sewing needle or stick pin through the insulation then connect your DVOMeter pos. wire to it to get a volt reading...ground on the MAF.
Turn the ignition switch "ON".
If no voltage, ground on a good ground on the engine...still no voltage would be ignition switch change out time.