New Owner

[wezsitat]

Hello! I'm new to the forum and have a few questions already.

I just bought a 1993 X with 89000 miles. It ran fine for a week, then started stalling at 20-30 MPH. I read the codes and it says bad HO2 sensor, which is a "heated oxygen sensor". The guy at NAPA has no idea what a heated sensor is, so he suggested I change the O2 sensor. Are these two parts the same thing?
I did replace one of the O2 sensors. The one I replaced was pretty new, so I checked the other and it was old. This did not fix my problem.
The only codes I get are for the HO2 sensor... Anybody have any ideas on what else I can change? FPR? Clean IAC??

Thank you,
Shawn

 

[gavin]

the O2 sensors are heated, so yes they are the same thing. If you give the exact code that's being put out, it will help.

 

[wezsitat]

Codes

The codes I retrieved were 137 (HEGO sensor fault/always rich) and 173 (HEGO sensor fault/rich). I also have an oddodor in the vehicle when driving, which could be rich fuel.?
After changing the O2 sensors, the problem was corrected for a day, but started reoccuring today...

I'm still worried that I bought a lemon

Thank you,
Shawn

 

[wezsitat]

Stalling

I changed the plugs today and found plug #1 has a bit of built up carbon on it. Not oily, which I hope is a good thing. Anybody have any ideas what might cause that?

Shawn

 

[gavin]

a dark plug means the vehicle has been running rich... proved by the 137 and 173. As for the 137 and 173, check the wiring. I'm not sure what would cause it to always run rich. Also, have you tried resetting the computer? You can do that by just removing the negative cable on the battery for a few minutes. Might be worth a shot...

 

[wezsitat]

Spark Plug

I'll try resetting the computer today. The thing has been running better, but I still notice an occasional surge in RPMs during driving, not idling. It's really strange.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[FROADER]

The funky smell could be the catalytic converters going bad. I started smelling rotten eggs, and found out that's what it was.

Welcome to the site.

 

[wezsitat]

Froader

Thank you for the information. After resetting the computer, everything seems pretty normal. Spark plug 1 still has ashy deposits, but I have no stalling or revving. Any ideas what would call the problem with cylinder 1?

 

[wezsitat]

Maf

Should I try cleaning the MAF or IAC?

 

[gavin]

what color are the "ashy" deposits? a white'ish color?

 

[91EX4x4]

If you find you havnt fixed it you may consider my post...Im not really sure about this but try your coil packs. My dad recently bought a 96 taurus sho, and everything was fine until one day we started it, it ran really rich, so we reset the computer and went on our way, under hard acceleration it would stall. We replaced the trottle possition senor, and a few other things. After we that we decided to take it to the ford dealer where they determined 3 of the coil packs were bad. I am not sure if this could be the problem you are haveing...just trying to throw something out there for you. We are going to be changing the plugs and putting the new coil packs in so i will have to see what the plugs look like.
Travis

 

[wezsitat]

Ash

The ashy deposits are black.

I'm not much of a mechanic, but I think I'll clean the MAF tonight. I haven't the slightest idea where to find the coils and such. But if cleaning the MAF or IAC doesn't work, it gives me something else to check.

Thanks again