Alright, first and foremost I'm an offroad guy, however I needed to pick something up that was relatively cheap. Found this 98 Camaro, 3.8 Autotragic, seemed like a fine deal to get me from a to b untill I could get another pick up. Well it was great for the first couple of months, the fastest acceleration of any vehicle I've ever owned and so on. Fast forward and the car becomes unruly. First the car would surge during idle, then it started to stumble and hesitate during acceleration, especially after coming to a stop. Now the rpms will drop during acceleration until the car dies, got the codes scanned and it came up with P0154 (circuit condition, heated O2 sensor bank 1), P0155 (heater condition, O2 sensor bank 1) and P0174 (ECM detected rich/lean condition on engine bank 2) and a code for the camshaft position sensor. I was unable to work on the vehicle for a while as I just did not have the resources. A couple days ago I replaced the camshaft position sensor and then had to jump start the car, got it running but it still hesitated and died during acceleration. My biggest question is whether or not the O2 sensor would be enough to make the engine run as previously stated, thankyou, Bonemaro. Also if this post is in the wrong section, I'm sorry.

 

P0154 indicates the O2 sensor is showing no activity. The ECM relies on the O2 sensors to adjust the fuel mixture, and a dead one could cause the engine to run poorly. Before replacing them check the wiring and connectors.

 

I'll check that out tomorrow after getting a new battery, thanks.

 

check both 02 sensors for fouling, if wiring is ok and your replacing one, probly be best to replace both. if they are not working right computer will run it rich and foul things. better check you plugs for fouling as well. pull the dip stick an smell your oil for gas, if it does smell of gas change it. may want to test fuel pressure just for piece of mind.

 

Alright so I got a donor battery for the time being, like I said I placed the camshaft position sensor recently, just checked the codes again and its still throwing codes for the cps so I'm going to start looking are wiring tomorrow. Actually being able to check the o2 sensors has been a bit of a problem because the front of the car is so low to the ground that I cant get a jack under it. Going to try and get it up on some 2x4's to get some extra clearance to jack it up.

 

Clear the codes. One of the biggest issues I see when people scan for codes and then replace parts is they do not remove the code from the system after replacing a part. Yes, the computer is supposed to realize the part has been fixed after so much driving, but I see this is not the case more often than it is.

Check wiring as has been stated, but clear the codes and see what comes back. Many of times, stored codes will cause an issue because that's all the computer is still seeing that fault.

Check voltage to O2s with key on, you should have 12 volts between one of the wires and ground. If not, check wiring up to computer and fuses. If you know someone will a good code reader, they can monitor voltage of the O2s while it's running. This will confirm you have a dead one.

How does it run at first start up? The computer doesn't use O2 feedback until the car enters closed loop mode, usually a few minutes after start up.

 

Got it started yesterday with the donor battery, and it ran horrible. Had to feather the gas to keep it running, sounded like it was only running on a few cylinders. It was actually comical that the car would even run sounding how it did. Checked codes afterwards and the only code it threw was the p034, no O2's or misfires.

 

I'm assuming you meant P0134, not P034.

If that's the case, that's a O2 sensor, bank 1 fault. Check the fuse's for the heater circuit to start, then the voltage to the O2 sensor. If those both check good, it's a good indication the O2 sensor is the problem.

 

Oops good catch but I actually ment P0341.

 

Oh, well in that case, you're back at it with the cam sensor, which will cause the conditions you're getting as well as a no start condition. I'd have to check the book, but I'm sure there's a way to test the cam sensor to make sure it's bad.