1996 Nissan Sentra oxygen sensor?

COBWEBSINATTIC

MEMBER
1996 NISSAN SENTRA
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
197,000 MILES

My car has never given me any problems.A couple of days ago, the car started to shutter a little. The check engine light now comes on, blinks for a few minutes, then stays on steady. It has been suggested that it could be the oxygen sensor. Car runs normal at high speed but shutters at idle. Checked all the spark plugs and they appear to be fine, only 6 months old. All fluid levels are fine. Even tightened the battery terminals just in case. Takes a mile or so before the car gets up to 55 mph.

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 AT 12:38 PM

1 Reply

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Hi bwebsinattic, Welcome to 2carpros and TY for the donation and selecting us as your auto repair site. Feel free to ask questions at anytime-

]Check engine light being On indicates there's a problem within the engine management system-You need to scan the computer for code/s this is your starting point finding out what's going on-

Below are some probable causes:

Oxygen sensor
Catalytic converter
Dirty fuel injectors (cleaning the injectors often fixes this).
Bad MAP (manifold absolute pressure) sensor
Bad TPS (throttle position) sensor
Bad or dirty MAF (mass airflow) sensor
Low fuel pressure (leaky fuel pressure regulator or weak fuel pump)
Vacuum leaks (intake manifold, vacuum hoses, throttle body, EGR valve)
Bad gasoline (fuel contaminated with water or too much alcohol)

Sometimes, what feels like a hesitation is actually ignition misfire rather than lean misfire. The causes of ignition misfire may include:

Dirty or worn spark plugs
Bad plug wires
Weak ignition coil
Wet plug wires
Cap and Rotor

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Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 AT 3:18 PM