Hello,

I'm new to this forum, but I've had my 2004 Dodge Dakota a little over 2 years now, when I got it it only had 21,000 miles on it, and it is now up to 50550 miles... Anyways, on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 my check engine light came on, and I used the trucks capabilities to see what the error # was, and it brought up P0138. Which is Oxygen Sensor Condition (heated oxygen sensor bank 1 - sensor 2.) Well I went to AutoZone and was told the it could either be a defected O2 Sensor or the Fuel Injector was dirty... Well I bought some Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant and Injector Cleaner, and on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 the Check Engine light went off. Well Saturday night May 23rd, 2009 - the check engine light came back on... And I got to thinking that before the Check Engine came on I had just got gas prior too... Could it be possible that I had gotten BAD Gas? Or is the O2 Sensor bad?

I was reading few other pages, and read that a typical 02 Sensor life expectancy is about 100,000 miles... I'm on a little above 50,000....

Please Help...

Thank you,

Mike

 

Welcome to the forum. There are some good people here. It is not common for an O2 sensor to fail at 50,000 miles, but it is not that unusual either. It's especially possible if the truck has been using lower quality cheap brand gas. Top tier gas has additives in it that help clean up the emissions gases in the exhaust, which in turn can help your cat and O2's live longer lives.

It's very doubtful a dirty fuel injector is the cause of this problem. After you replace the bad O2 sensor, use a good name brand gas and run a bottle of Regane fuel system cleaner (in the clear bottle) or Techron Fuel System concentrate (not the fuel injector cleaner) about every 5000 miles. They will help keep the fuel and emissions system clean. It would also be beneficial to have a forced induction fuel system cleaner and combustion chamber cleaning service done. You can get the BG or Ever Wear treatments done at most any good garage or tire shop. It might be better to have that done first then change out the bad O2 sensor. It will help improve the power and MPG too.

It's best to use the OE O2 sensor from the dealer or order an NGK sensor online. I have heard that the Bosch O2's you can get at most parts stores do not work very well with our engines.

Jimmy

 

check the blue 15amp fuse in the underhood PDC.