Hey Everyone,

So I made it across the country with my trusty 3rd gen that I didn't sell, and now I'm in the Philly Suburbs for the summer, right where I grew up.

during the trip, after I got to wyoming or so, the check engine light came on briefly, then went away in about two seconds. And more recently (in the past 3 weeks), the light comes on for a short time, then goes away again. However, over the last 2 tanks of gas, my Fuel milage seems to have gone down dramatically -- I went from 24 MPG to less than 20... it looks like most recently, I've been getting about 15MPG. I know that some of this is due to the fact that I'm driving in stop and go traffic over here, but shouldn't I be getting 19-20, like I used to in the city?

Has my Oxygen sensor died? Or does this mean I need a new fuel filter? The fuel filter and air filter were replaced at 60K in January 2001, right now the car has 71K. I'm going to go check the engine computer soon... but if anyone knows what this most likely is, let me know.

The car has been running perfectly fine, though. no hesitations, no starting problems.

Thanks for the help! And BTW, thanks for the power window regulator instructions, too! That saved me $100.

 

I would suspect an o2 sensor however it could be
something else. What kind of maintainence have you
performed on the car?

 

Quite a bit of maintainance, actually. Fuel injectors were replaced two years ago, 60K service was done in January 2001, which included:

flushing radiator
new brake / power steering / automatic trans. fluid
new fuel filter, new timing belt.

Other maintainance that has been done would probably be irrelavant (tires/brakes/power window repair).

I don't think the O2 sensor has ever been replaced, though.

I am the second owner of the car; I purchased it with 60K miles on it in Jan. 2001, and I have all the repair records for the car dating back to 1994, when the car was first purchased.

 

How about spark plugs cap and rotor do you know about
those parts?

 

IMHO - I'd bet O2 sensor or another bad injector.

Just check the code.