What are the symptoms of a bad Oxygen sensor and will a bad one make the car run like complete ***? hesitation under 2500 rpm and backfiring . HELP!

 

Hesitation is a good first sign. You getting a SES light? If so go get the code read.
It might come up as one of these:
P0130 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction Oxygen sensor heater element malfunction.
P0131 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Shorted To Ground Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained below normal operating range.
P0132 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Shorted To Voltage Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained above normal operating range.
P0133 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Slow Response Oxygen sensor response slower than minimum required switching frequency.
P0134 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Stays at Center Neither rich or lean condition is detected from the oxygen sensor input.
P0135 (M) 1/1 O2 Sensor Heater Failure Oxygen sensor heater element malfunction.
P0136 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction Oxygen sensor heater element malfunction.
P0137 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Shorted To Ground Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained below normal operating range.
P0138 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Shorted To Voltage Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained above normal operating range.
P0139 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Slow Response Oxygen sensor response slower than minimum required switching frequency.
P0140 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Stays at Center Neither rich or lean condition is detected from the oxygen sensor.
P0141 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Heater Failure Oxygen sensor heater element malfunction.
P0143 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Shorted To Ground Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained below normal operating range.
P0144 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Shorted To Voltage Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained above normal operating range.
P0145 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Slow Response Oxygen sensor response slower than minimum required switching frequency.
P0146 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Stays at Center Neither rich or lean condition is detected from the oxygen sensor.
P0147 (M) 1/2 O2 Sensor Heater Failure Oxygen sensor heater element malfunction.
P0151 (M) 2/1 O2 Sensor Shorted To Ground Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained below normal operating range.
P0152 (M) 2/1 Sensor Shorted To Voltage Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained above normal operating range.
P0153 (M) 2/1 Sensor Slow Response Oxygen sensor response slower than minimum required switching frequency.
P0154 (M) 2/1 Sensor Stays at Center Neither rich or lean condition is detected from the oxygen sensor.
P0155 (M) 2/1 O2 Sensor Heater Failure Oxygen sensor heater element malfunction.
P0157 (M) 2/2 O2 Sensor Shorted To Ground Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained below normal operating range.
P0158 (M) 2/2 O2 Sensor Shorted To Voltage Oxygen sensor input voltage maintained above normal operating range.
P0159 2/2 Sensor Slow Response Oxygen sensor response slower than minimum required switching frequency.

 

Yeah, the heat elements in mine started going out. Whenever it was colder out during the fall, winter, and early spring, I got an SES light because the 02s weren't heating up correctly/quick enough.

 

first check the fuse under the hood, its engine sensor and its a 20 amp. but if that doesnt work some symptoms would be like posted above and really shitty gas mileage.

 

My SES light is on . I had it scanned before at autozone , I had multipe cylinder misfire, bank 1 and 2/sensor 1 were thrown ( dont know the specific code , the dumbass at autozome wouldnt tell me ) , The MAF was throwing one also . So 4 codes in all . I Got under the car and found that the drivers side sensor was hand loose , so i tightened it and adjusted my lid . Went back to have the car scanned. It was throwing the Multiple cylinder misfire and bank 2 sensor 1 . After more searching for the problems , i turned to the spark plugs and wires. I found out that the #5 and 7 spark plugs were hand loose . took all the plugs out ( Ngk Irridium tr55 ) and inspected them , they seemed fine so i cleaned them and re-installed. The plug wirea are Gm replacement Omnispark from oreilly's . I have MSD wires waiting on installation. I Have yet to have the car scanned again , but it is seemingly running worse than before. It bogs out from 1000-2500 and it backfires like crazy. Could the cheap wires and a possible bad 02 sensor cause this? The plugs are gapped accordingly to the Haynes manual at .060.

 

The car also began to run worse after i installed the TSP Duals. I was thinking maybe the drastic change in exhaust flow made one of the sensors crap out? Causing the car to run like ***.

 

Thats a good possiblility, did you check that fuse i told you about?????? my car ran like **** even after i got new bosch sensors and come to find out it was a simple 20 amp fuse was blown.

 

i will check that fuse ASAP. What would cause the backfire? The Engine reading lean , dumping more fuel , and the unburnt fuel ingniting in the exhaust? All because of the O2 sensors? or do i have a different problem? I could handle a little bit of a backfire, but this sounds like a .22 going off at times.

 

yeah if your 02s are reading bad then the car will run really rich and to much fuel going through the injectors isnt a good thing.

 

SES light.

 

ill check the fuse tomorrow

 

nope, not the fuse for me.

 

I have had these problems with bad o2's.

 

I would think you would be throwing at least some lean codes, in which case replacing the O2's or a vaccum leak is in order. Make sure your MAF is clean and debres didnt get on the screan. I'm supprised your plugs didnt show any signs of your running condition...