kevin2

This afternoon the SES came on and I drove to AutoZone and they retrieved the codes for me.

P0133 - Heated Oxygen Sensor I Circuit Slow Response (Bank1)
P0153 - Heated Oxygen Sensor I Circuit slow Response (Bank2)

When I opened the hood up, I noticed the oil cap was missing. I had been driving about 500 miles with no oil cap since I last had it to Tires Plus for an oil change.

Questions:
1) Could the missing oil cap be related to the diagnostic code? Would it be
reasonable to press Tires Plus to pay for the Oxygen sensor repairs (about $420 for parts and labor).

2) How serious it is to have been driving around for 500 miles with no oil cap? There was a small mess of oil, but the oil level on the dipstick was only slightly low.

3) How hard is it to change these sensors? I'm not a mechanic by any means, but I did manage to change the coils on this car by following instructions I found here. Do I need any special tools?

4) If I do change the sensors, where can I buy them from? What price can I expect to pay?


Thanks!

2000 Nissan Maxima SE with 92K miles

kevin2

Anybody? Can you help me out with my questions?

CBRworm

I can't imagine that the oil cap is related to the O2 sensor failure codes. I would replace the oil fill cap (Tires plus might pay for this). Then reset the codes and see if they come back. If they do I would look into it further.

I would check the fuse for the O2 sensor heater circuit. It is more likely that something external happened than both O2 sensors failing at once, but it is not unheard of.

The next step might be to check for voltage on the correct wires at the O2 sensor on a cold start. I don't remember if it is 5 volts or 12 volts, but on a cold start there should be voltage supplied.

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

That P0133 bank 1, is that the one before the cat or after? Just got it today.

5 ltr. beater

not trying to revive an old thread but my car just threw these codes last night. im assuming since he never posted back that the light never came back.
my car has been sitting in the shop for the past 2 weeks getting the timing chain cover replaced so the car has been sitting for awhile, while being worked on.
on the way home the light came on and it gave me the exact same codes p0133 and p0153.
i took the car back to recheck everything and reset the light. so far it hasnt come back. wondering if its just a phantom code and the ecu picked something up.
anyone else have any suggestions as to what would set off both codes at the same time?