Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting 2.5L code help please.

You will always find that non-manufacturer branded parts that are a one-to-one replacement are cheaper. Does not mean worse quality. I will admit though, I had a couple of 3rd-party replacement parts in the past that were just slightly off of original spec, even though they were supposed to be an exact fit. In the end, they had to be replaced, and I had to go with original manufacturer parts. Had to pay twice basically. One was the tensioner pulley. 3rd-party part was off by a small amount. It ended up throwing belts just part way until they would split and shred. It wasn't until I replaced it with factory parts that I saw the slight difference.

Just one example. I am sure that this is the exception to what most people will find, but I thought that I would share.

In the case of O2 sensors, I am sure that the Bosch ones are OK. Don't let the price fool you. I just wish that I had a machanic in town that I could trust that didn't always have to put manufacturer parts in. I could have saves $130 and still had them do it.

You will find that a lot of times, one company will make parts for another and their own branded items are less expensive. In the automotive industry, it just seems more noticeable, but I have seen it in Audio/Video, and other places I'm sure, but just don't realize it.

Welcome Dan the rug man .

"I have codes showing 0135, 0136 & 0137."
Disconnect Fuse 11 in the Power Distribution Box next to the battery for 2 minutes or so. Then drive it for a few days and see which codes come back. It could be the connector at the PCM (next to the Power steering reservoir on the passenger side). You have both upstream and downstream codes. And yes, the Bank 1 (firewall side) upper and lower sensors could be gone at 75k miles.

Bosch O2 sensors are fine. Get them from Autozone or Advance if you need them.

I did a little checking on the price of Bosch O2 sensors. Part #13133 downstream. Bosch4less.com $48.05 O'Reilly $48.69 Checker (sister comp. to Advance) $59.99. Part #13115 upstream. Bosch4less.com $55.85 O'Reilly $56.50 Checker $66.99. These are all OE direct fit. (correct wire harness no splicing). Bosch for less has free shipping over $35.00. O'Reilly has local stock with free use of O2 sensor sockets. I will buy from O"Reilly. O'Reilly had the motorcraft AGSF32FM plat. plugs at $3.99 ea. Autolight XP104 at checker $7.59. I have found locally that if you do not shop checker's price that some items are well priced and others run about double of anywhere else. The above parts are for '96 SE with 2.5 V-6. The reason I shopped the price is that there are 2 of each sensor on the car. $10.00 overcharge adds up. (free oil change) Thanks Dan

Well, so far, no check engine light. Like I originally posted, it would come on after just a little bit of highway driving. Well, yesterday, I drove it about 300 miles without even a flicker on the CEL. Thanks to all that helped out. Now, on to some maintenance... New plugs, wires, flush the fluids, etc, etc...

I found that the fault in the O2 sensor was the fault of the mechanic that did the clutch work. He left the wire for the downstream sensor on bank 1 resting on the tube that goes to the EGR valve. Melted about 3 inches of the insulation on all four wires. I repaired the wires, replaced all 4 o2 sensors, new motorcraft plugs (fine wire) and the codes are gone. Runs like a r_ped ape. Also I found that instead of going at the upstream sensor from the top that it is easier from the bottom. I removed part of the trans. mount and it allowed me to reach the sensor with a min. of trouble. I tried to get it from the top for about 1/2 hour. Used a crows foot O2 socket/wrench and it worked like a charm. Just having a brew to celebrate.