I am trying to fix my wifes car and am confused....maybe you can help?
It is a 1996 contour and it idles rough, stalls at stops and low speeds, goes through gas almost double what it used to,and just runs poorly in cold and warm engine states.
I have multiple codes listed below and dont know where to start, Please any advise would be appreciated and very helpful.

p0135.....heated o2 sensor malfunction bank 1, sensor 1

p 0171 ...To lean bank 1

p 0300 ...random misfire detected

p0401 ....egr insuficent detected

p0402 ....egr excesive detected

p 1130 .... lack of ho2 sen. fuel at limit

p1131 ......lack of ho2 indicates lean


This is what i have, I dont know where to start and what to buy, some one told me it could be the catalityc converter clogged, vac leak, dpfe sensor, egr ?
Any ideas, please.............

thanks,
gary

 

You should go buy a Hanes manuel for your particular vehicle[sm=smiley8.gif]. The manuel is very helpful in telling you specifically what the codes mean and what you should do to fix them[sm=groupwave.gif]. The manuel can be bought at an automotive store for about $14-20 usually[sm=yikesomg.gif]. Mine say the Oxygen sensor monitors the oxygen content of the exhaust gas stream, the oxygen content in the exhaust reacts with the oxygen sensor to produce a voltage output which varies from 0.1(low oxygen, lean mixture) to 0.9 volts(high oxygen, rich mixture), the Hanes manuel tell you what to do and how to check the problem.
The EGR Valve Position(EVP) Sensor is attached to the EGR, check both of those.
The Hanes manuel also tells you poor engine power can be caused by a converter that has been overheated and is either non-functional or restrictive, it tells how to find out these things also[sm=trust_me.gif].
That is all I can tell you. I am not anywhere near what you would call a mechanic but I can try and help as much as I can.[sm=smiley10.gif]

 

i would start with the o2 sensor on the passanger side closest to engine, it could be stuck lean so it is throwing tons of fuel at it to make it run better so it is running really rich that should take care of 5 of the codes, it may get rid of the egr codes, but i'm not sure.