DTC 13 - O2 Sensor
GunsBK314
10-30-2008, 01:13 PM
Hey Guys, this ones kind of long:
I bought this cool little convertible. It runs (ran?) good. Consistently got 34-37 MPG. The guy I bought it from had the radiator fan manually overridden. The heat sensor that closes at 205 degrees and turns the radiator fan on was replaced with a manual toggle switch that was run into the cockpit.
Took off his canon plug, the oriiginal fan canon plug was still there. Checked continuity from the fan canon plug to the switch canon plug, checks good. Plugged the fan canon plug back to the fan, jumpered the canon plug and the fan came on.
Replaced the fan sensor switch. Its attached to the thermostat manifold. That was tedious - it was right under the distributor and vacuum controller. Could only turn the wrench a 1/16 turn, flip the wrench over, turn another 1/16, and so on until it came off.
Put the new switch on, same tedious installation, took about five minutes to install it. On the final torque.....SNAP!, the switch busted off. I was pissed! Felt like throwing the wrench.....but didnt want to break anything else.
Went into the house, had a coke.
Came out, removed the distributor, and was able to remove the bolt embedded in the manifold. Dug a flathead screwdriver into the copper bolt at an angle and was able to tap it out slowly with a mallet...whew!
Got a another new switch and carefully installed it. At least the distributor was out of the way and took less than a minute to put it in.
Put the distributor back in. Jumpered the diagnostic connector on the drivers side like it says in the manual and timed it to the area of 8 BTDC.
Started the car, let it idle heat up, the fan came on when it got hot. Cool! solved that issue.
Went to pick up my kid from football practice later and the car had no power. Took like 20 seconds to get to 45 MPH. Hmm.
Performed the other method for timing: disconnected the bottom line from the vacuum controller, the timing was way off, timed it and got the power back. There! thought everything was cool and life goes on. WRONG!
So i'm driving my almost 25 miles to work the next day and the check engine light comes on. Don't have time to address it cause work is the priority. Work that day, dirive home the light is off, then 5 miles from home, bam, the light pops back on.
Jumpered the junction box and got that 13 code. Disconnected the O2 sensor, slapped a volt meter on, revved the car up to 1200 rpm, reads 345 mV steady. Reconnnected the senxor. Attempted to check the voltage going in to the ECM, but its so friggin up there above the junction box that it cant be reached. This happens whenever its driven. I reset the code, the light is off, drive it for a while, then the code pops back in. I'm stumped.
Theres my issue. I wrote the history of what I did immediately before my title issue in case any of it was related.
I bought this cool little convertible. It runs (ran?) good. Consistently got 34-37 MPG. The guy I bought it from had the radiator fan manually overridden. The heat sensor that closes at 205 degrees and turns the radiator fan on was replaced with a manual toggle switch that was run into the cockpit.
Took off his canon plug, the oriiginal fan canon plug was still there. Checked continuity from the fan canon plug to the switch canon plug, checks good. Plugged the fan canon plug back to the fan, jumpered the canon plug and the fan came on.
Replaced the fan sensor switch. Its attached to the thermostat manifold. That was tedious - it was right under the distributor and vacuum controller. Could only turn the wrench a 1/16 turn, flip the wrench over, turn another 1/16, and so on until it came off.
Put the new switch on, same tedious installation, took about five minutes to install it. On the final torque.....SNAP!, the switch busted off. I was pissed! Felt like throwing the wrench.....but didnt want to break anything else.
Went into the house, had a coke.
Came out, removed the distributor, and was able to remove the bolt embedded in the manifold. Dug a flathead screwdriver into the copper bolt at an angle and was able to tap it out slowly with a mallet...whew!
Got a another new switch and carefully installed it. At least the distributor was out of the way and took less than a minute to put it in.
Put the distributor back in. Jumpered the diagnostic connector on the drivers side like it says in the manual and timed it to the area of 8 BTDC.
Started the car, let it idle heat up, the fan came on when it got hot. Cool! solved that issue.
Went to pick up my kid from football practice later and the car had no power. Took like 20 seconds to get to 45 MPH. Hmm.
Performed the other method for timing: disconnected the bottom line from the vacuum controller, the timing was way off, timed it and got the power back. There! thought everything was cool and life goes on. WRONG!
So i'm driving my almost 25 miles to work the next day and the check engine light comes on. Don't have time to address it cause work is the priority. Work that day, dirive home the light is off, then 5 miles from home, bam, the light pops back on.
Jumpered the junction box and got that 13 code. Disconnected the O2 sensor, slapped a volt meter on, revved the car up to 1200 rpm, reads 345 mV steady. Reconnnected the senxor. Attempted to check the voltage going in to the ECM, but its so friggin up there above the junction box that it cant be reached. This happens whenever its driven. I reset the code, the light is off, drive it for a while, then the code pops back in. I'm stumped.
Theres my issue. I wrote the history of what I did immediately before my title issue in case any of it was related.
Crvett69
10-30-2008, 04:59 PM
a new O2 sensor single wire type is under $20, just replace it, they are considered tune up items
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