HELLO EVERYONE I PURCHASED A 1996 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN WITH A 3.3 LTR V6 THE VAN RUNS LIKE NEW BUT ITS EATING TO MUCH GAS I HAD THE THING SCANNED FOR CODES IT CAME UP THAT THE OXYGEN SENSOR WAS BAD WOULD THAT MAKE THE VAN BURN A LOT OF GAS COULD ANYBODY HELP I AM GOING TO HAVE IT TUNNED UP AND CHANGE THE OIL AIR FILTER AND THE GAS FILTER IF THERES ANYTHING ELSE COULD YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW.....
First of all you can stop yelling!!! Replace the 02 sensor and tune it up if needed. The other thing you may want to do is clean out the throttle body, when this gets really dirty it could cause a rough idle or even stalling out.
Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech
The oxygen sensors tell the engine computer how much fuel to give the engine. If one or more is bad, the engine computer goes into a failure mode, and will usually meter out more fuel than is really needed, so the engine won't stall. But the engine will be operating inefficiently, as it will be getting more fuel than is ideal. Excess unburned fuel may even be getting into the exhaust and causing the catalytic converter to overheat.
Oxygen sensors often need replacement when the vehicle is several years old, and at about 75,000 miles. One of the oxygen sensors in my 1995 Intrepid with the 3.3L needed it at 90,000 miles. It cost about $45; I already had the special socket to remove/install it, but on that car it could be done with an open end wrench. On a minivan it's probably a bit more difficult.
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