I made a huge mistake. PLEASE HELP??

[Greg T]

I have a 97 SLS and decided to install a new battery. OOPS!! I guess I should have used a jumper and connected another battery to the cig lighter to maintain memory. Well, I DIDNT. Now, I have about 5 codes in history, and a current code of P1139 which isheated 02 sensor insufficiant switching bank 1 sensor 2".

Now, can anyone, first of all, help me clear all the codes, and then tell me what I need to do to remedy this 02 sensor thing?? I would really appreciate it since this is my only daily vehicle at the moment. Thanx in advance.

 

[bwnunnally]

You normally don't have to rig a new battery to "maintain memory"; the codes were probably not caused by changing the battery.

Your car has 4 O2 sensors. 3 are fairly easy to change, one is a little harder. They are located one in each exhaust manifold, then one ahead of and one behind the catalytic converter. They are regular maintenance items at 60-75k miles.

 

[Greg T]

You normally don't have to rig a new battery to "maintain memory"; the codes were probably not caused by changing the battery.

Your car has 4 O2 sensors. 3 are fairly easy to change, one is a little harder. They are located one in each exhaust manifold, then one ahead of and one behind the catalytic converter. They are regular maintenance items at 60-75k miles.

Well, I only have 30K on it, but the check engine light went out. All the codes are now history. I dont know what the hell happened but everything is good. Guess I'll have a spare 02 sensor on my hands since i already ordered it. Is there any easy way to clear out history codes?

 

[bwnunnally]

You can use the onboard diagnostics to clear codes, but there is really no need to clear history codes. Most errors auto-clear after a set number of successful cycles.