I took my 97 ram to Auto Zone yesterday after having issues with it. It threw a code for O2 sensor bank 1 sensor 1.

The issues that I was having was lose of power under a load. Try to give it some gas to get through it and it would "pop" under the hood. It sounds like a tin can when it pops. If put into neutral and reved up, it sounds good and does not pop.

I was told that when the code reads an O2 sensor fault that alot of times it's actually not the O2 sensor but something else...is there merit to this? Should I look at other options or just replace the sensor. I don't want to just throw money at it until it works right

Thanks in advance.

 

first of all...you will always throw money at it...and may never work right.

second... how many miles are on it?

 

Other issues could cause a code to be set for the O2. Best way to check is with a scanner and not just a code reader. With a scanner, you can watch the o2 voltage and see if its actually switching between rich and lean like it should. If a fuel issue is causing a rich or lean problem it might set an o2 code but its more likely the o2 sensor, especially if sensor has a lot of miles on it. If you replace it, I'd try to get an NGK(NTK) sensor. I've had problems with name brand sensors not heating up fast enough and causing idle problems, the NGK fixed the problems on my 1997 Ram.

 

Broken record I know ! Plenum gasket needs to be checked.

 

Thanks guys for the advise...

There are 113,000 on it roughly.

Cheerz