I have a 2003 Accord EX 4 Cylinder with 62k miles.

I picked my car up from the autobody place today because the rear bumper had some scrapes and needed to be sanded and painted. As I take my car out of the lot, I now notice that my check engine light is on. It was not on before I went to the autobody place.

I went to Autozone for a diagnosis. This is what it said (I have left out a little that I do not think is necessary):

"The PCM has determined a malfunction exists in heater circuit for oxygen sensor 2 in bank 1."

"Probable Causes: 1 - Oxygen Sensor defective 2- Poor connection to sensor 3- Check circuit fuse"

Any thoughts? Could the bumper repair have caused this or is this just a coincidence?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

That sounds like your O2 sensor on your exhaust manifold.... Unless I'm reading that wrong.... if it's the one on the cat the only way that a bumper repair could have caused that was if they had to remove the bumper and thus disconnected the exhuast. Then when they re-connected the exhuast the lifted it up to high and broke the connections to the O2 sensor.

If it's the one on the manifold it probably just happened because it was going to... if it's the one behind the cat on the exhaust then make sure it hasn't been hit, bent, disconnected, or broken, if it has then it's possible that the body shop damaged it.

 

According to Autozone's print out....oxygen sensor 2 in bank 1 - it says that osygen sensors 2 and 3 are located further downstream and are typically mounted in or after the catalytic converter - bank 1 identifies the location of cylinder #1, while bank 2 identifies the cylinders on the opposite bank.

Does that information help with determining if this rear bumper repair job did the damage? I believe they took the bumper cover off to do the job.

 

Since it's an 03 I'm less familiar with the O2 setup. Most cars that I'm aware of (4 cyl) have 2 sensors, the second one is located behind the CAT Converter. If that's the one we are talking about then I'd inspect it and see if it's bent or something is wrong with it. I'd also make the Body shop aware of the issue ASAP so they don't think that you took it home and messed something up yourself. Who knows, maybe they'll offer to inspect it and repair it.

 

The printed explanation isn't too good (IMHO). Better to get the actual code NUMBER.

There's 2 sensors, not three. Neither one is anywhere near the rear bumper.But if they were stupid & hit it when lifting the car, then ??? But how do you prove that...

K-series engine exhaust manifold is behind the engine, against the firewall. Sensor #1is below that, so get it from below.

Sensor #2 is mounted in the catalytic converter, so look underneath from the right side.

Either one, you can unplug it & measure resistance between the 2 same-color wires leading to the sensor. Should be between 10 & 40 ohms, if not, buy a new sensor. I'm not sure butyou may have to go inside the car under the passenger seat to find the plug for the #2 sensor (follow the wire). It's #17 & you can see the place where the wiregoes thru the floor.

 

This is weird:

" I picked my car up from the autobody place today because the rear bumper had some scrapes and needed to be sanded and painted. "

I just picked up my car (in shop 5 days) after having the front bumper and hood painted and now my check engine light is on!!!

I am going to Advance to have the code read and I'll be back!!!

 

I probably started my car a dozen times before I took it to Advance Auto to have them read the code. COde came up P0141 02 Heater circuit Bank 1 Circuit 2. We talked and he said drive it for a while, see how it runs (gas mileage) and see if the light goes out. He thought that sitting all week at the painters could have caused it to come on. If not come back and her would erase it, then see if it comes on again. Well, when I started it up, it was gone!! No more check engine light!!! I have drivren it a few times and no light. So far so good.

 

Code says downstream O2 heater has failed. Not the upstream sensor. Cost is around $85 Bosch for non CA. Should be easy to replace.

 

My 03 4cyl accord engine light came on about 2 weeks ago. The dealer said I had code p0141 and needed to replace the sensor for $390 or $1,500 if they stripped the threads (he said it was 50/50) and that I would have to replace the engine eventually if I did not do the repair. I declined. Any advice?

 

Advice? Find a honest dealer. The newer cars never pull threads. And ignoring a O2 sensor code won't kill your engine unless you leave it for a long time. The car has two sensors and uses them both. And the sensor will usually still work after heater failure.