Urgent! Need help asap!

rlees85

Ex. Club Member
Hi, im starting a job on monday, thats 15 miles away so im going to be relying on my car to do 30 miles round trip a day.

Typically, something has gone really really wrong on it, and i wouldnt trust it to take me 2 minutes down to the shops.

The symptoms are of the o2 sensor failing: Its hesitating when i put my foot down and then surges forwards after a few seconds, and engine light is on.

A few days ago i took the bolts out of the primary cat that join it onto the manifold, but as i couldnt get the rest of them out, i just put them back in again and tightened.

So im wondering if the exhaust is blowing, that could be causing it all?? (I cannot hear any blowing at all!) - but would the exhaust blowing cause such a huge noticeable problem with the car?

I also sprayed a LOT of wd-40 onto where it joins onto the downpipe, could that have seaped thru and blew the 2nd o2 sensor?

The symptoms where almost instant today (like 30 seconds after the car was started) - would the ECU still be in open loop mode at this point? (ed, pete?? lol) as if it was still in open-loop mode it means its not the o2 sensor causing it.

i realy dont know what to do, money isnt good at the minute and i need to make a choice weather to assume its the exhaust blowing and get somebody to re-seal it.. or get a new o2 sensor and stick it in.

And no i cant get a fault code read-out this side of £40 quid and the paper clip method doesnt work on post-2000 :(

thanks, any advice will be really appreciated!
 
ok - just had to go to asda and i thought id try unplugging the primary oxygen sensor to see if it would change how the car drove:

well it definatly did that. it didnt drive perfect but it drove 200% better then it was.

now the question is to those ppl who are dead clever with ecus:

will i be doing more damage to my engine and cat running with the o2 sensor plugged in and faulty or with it unplugged therefore the ecu on open-loop mode?

obviously as a tempory measure until i get myself a new sensor :)
 
not 100% on the micra system and ecu but most cars if they lose a sensor revert to a set figure from that particular sensor as a get you home.

for instance if a coolant sensor failed it would just say assume a coolant figure of 80C irrespective of what the actual coolant temperature was
 
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