(1)Just went to the station to get gas and then the ses light popped on.It's steady no blinking or anything. I pulled the fuse to see if the ses light would come back on,well the light never went off after leaving it out 5 mins. I went to autozone to get it scanned,but they closed at 8pm. Car runs fine,so i'm puzzled(2) Think i'm going to invest in a code reader.Anyone have any experience with a good one. I saw one that auto xray has(model 2000,i think)for around 130.00 bucks. Thanks

 

I bought mine from Advance Auto about 3 yrs ago. Works fine.
If the lite is just on solid, it may go off on its own, if its not a critical fault. Get it scaned though.

 

my 95 Trans-Am is doing the same right now. i got it scanned and nothing popped up so i don't really know what is going on inside there at the moment. now its popping on at different times about to go up there again. if you get an idea on what it is let me know. but rumor is going around thats its an O2

 

It's weird.The gas station is a minute away at most.It was fine going there,but popped on coming back.

 

Be sure the gas cap is on good and tight.

 

this started happening to me when an 02 sensor was on its way out. get someone that has a laptop and software that they can hook up to your car while it's running... you can check what all the sensors are reporting and see if anything is off.

 

Took the car to Autozone and it had a P0161 code(o2 sensor bank 2,behind catalytic convertor on pass. side)Dang,that thing is almost 70 bucks. Haven't had time to replace it yet,but i'll post the outcome when i do. I checked the manual and there is a p0161,so i guess the guys knows what he is talking about. There was just that one code,so that's good i guess. How hard is the o2 sensor to get to? Are there more than one one that side,so i know which one to remove??Do i need to put it up on jacks???Thanks

 

** Remember the actual sensor may not be "BAD" -- it may be getting the actual reading, since it is behind the cat. This code may mean that your cat is not working properly. I had the same thing and just used O2 sims on my car. You can get a set for like $25 on the internet. Depends which route you want to go. I believe there is 2 and you should just replace both.

 

what is a 02 sim??? So,there are two 02 sensors behind the cat that i should replace??? Wow,that's 140 bucks.

 

First, do NOT pay $70 for an O2 sensor. You can get the correct, AC/Delco (now Delphi??) O2 sensors for 1/2 of that price from the discount guys like Jason Cromer and Dal Slabaugh who are mentioned on here frequently.

Before you change the sensor, find out whether its a sensor or a bad catalytic convertor. There as an "after cat" sensor on each bank of the exhaust. Switch the two sensors side to side. If the problem stays on the passenger side, its the cat (or possibly a wiring problem). If the problem moves to the other side with the sensor, its a faulty sensor.

 

I am pretty sure that the cat is the original one that came with the car. Would it make sense to go ahead and replace it anyway??

 

How would i get in touch with these guys?

 

O2 sims are oxygen simulators.. they send the data back to the PCM that it expects.. regardless of what is actually going on... so, if you use O2 sims, you can remove your cats and the PCM will think they are still there. I am pretty damn sure you can get these cheaper than real sensors.. once again.. if your cat is really bad.. you can go and put a new sensor in and its going to still report a problem.. I would definitely try swapping them just to see what happens... and use this for a process of elimination tactic. have fun.. you can search for "OBDII 02 SIMS" on google.com -- there are a ton of companies that make them... I forget who I got mine through.. maybe some one else on this board can suggest a place. l8

 

Removing the cats isn't an option. The inspection guys around here actually jack up the car to make sure all the emission junk is intact. So if they were to see my cats were gone,i'm screwed. I'll just swap out the sensors and see what happens and if the cats bad,i'll have my local mechanic put me one on.Will that dang SES light go out right away if the problem is fixed???Thanks