Hi Everyone,

First off, I'm usually found in the Ram CTD forum, but for this one I have to post in here.

The Future Mrs. owns a 2003 Dodge Neon SE that I just started working on.

She has been driving this car since summer with the Engine Light on (didn't have the money then to fix the problem).

Apparently, the engine light coming on was caused by one or both of the O2 sensors (at least what she told me) and I replaced both of them, reset the computer, and viola! No light. Was feeling pretty good, until the next morning when she got in it to go to work and the engine light popped back on.

So, after kicking, screaming, and throwing a hissy fit, I looked up how to pull the codes (thanks to DC for making it easy to pull them) and found the P0132 code stored in the computer:

P0132 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Shorted To Voltage Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained above normal

Ok, fine. What could be causing this? Like I said, I replaced the O2 sensors with some quality units, albeit the universal type, since the OEM spec ones would have to be special ordered. I made absolutely sure that the splice connectors were done correctly and were tight, and that the main connections were also snug when re-installed.

Which sensor should I be looking at? Upstream or Downstream? Are there any problems with pinched or frayed wiring on this model car? If so, where could I generally find the culprit wire for this situation? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Lance

 

if your sensor is being triped it dosent usualy mean you have a bad sensor it means its reading somthing it shouldn't. try a basic tuneup you may be running rich, you could be burning alot of oil or coolent. the sensor dousnt do anything but read what your engine pushes past it.

 

Typical of me to think of the hardest things first! HA! I didn't even think to look at the basics first.

About the only things I can replace, that I can see off hand, are plugs and the fuel filter. Air filter was looked at late last week and is just fine. With the DIS system I don't have to worry about a rotor cap and rotor. Coolant isn't low and haven't added any. Oil change indicated normal oil in engine with no loss.

I can't think of anything else that would need attention unless of course, I'm missing something.

 

no what i ment with the oil and coolent would be a braeck in the head or a worn out seal or ring its the worse case sonario. you could still have a worn wire.

 

I understood what you meant. The car has 44K miles on it so if it was a head crack or some such, it would probably be noticed by either oil usage (low on oil at oil change, say about a qt. or 2), or low coolant. Neither was noted during the oil change last week. Oil was relatively clear (3K miles worth of use clear), and coolant was at its normal level.

I asked her when we went to lunch today about the service done to it before she met me and she said her brother had changed the plugs out a year ago. In my opinion it didn't need to be done but I'm going to move on the presumption that maybe he screwed something up, like plug gap. He's a FURD fanatic so that should explain a multitude of sins!!![sm=boink3.gif]

I'm also going to check the Upstream O2 sensor to make sure it's tight. I had a hell of a time installing it the other night due to the heat shield on the exhaust being a little in the way of my socket. According to the Chiltons manual, this P code corresponds to the upstream sensor.

 

My suggestion would be to take it to dodge and see what they have to say about it.

 

I am relativly new here, but I heard alot of talk about people wanting to replace spark plugs with higher end ones, and the ones with experience on Neons all said they should stick to whatever comes with the car, forgot if that is Champion or NGK (?) or what, but they said if you put others, including higher end, more expensive ones in, it doesn't make the engine work any better, and actually causes more problems (like the engine light coming on?)...so you may want to see what brand he put in and go back to whatever is stock.

 

I found that out when I put a set of Bosch +4 Platinums in my now sold Ram 1500. Mechanic I worked on it with said that those high end plugs don't do diddly on engines that have much more than 50K on them. I would be better served just putting in a set of good 'ol regular plugs.

 

UPDATE: I checked the tightness of the upstream sensor and by golly, it was tight! Verified the wires are correctly connected as well.

Looks like I'll be following the above suggestion and having her take it to a dealer. God I'm against that!!! I hate dealers.

I did find a TSB or some such in regards to wrong codes being recorded by the computer. Haven't had much time to research that though.

 

Yeah I know what you mean. Taking your car to the dealer is never any fun, it could be that the guys really dont know ****, and just follow books that tell them EXACTLY what to do. Or the fact that its really not a hard problem to fix except you ecu wont let you until the dealer uses their computer. Or just self pride. But yeah i hope they do find something simple and are able to fix it for cheap... wait its a dealer. Anyway just let us know what was up if they actually do figure it out.

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