1994 Lesabre dies when turning or slowing.

OREGONJOHN

MEMBER
1997 DODGE RAM
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
153,000 MILES

1994 Buick LeSabre dies when slowing or turning. Code for O2 sensor. The check engine light comes on. It used to come on occasionally but now it comes on almost all the time. When it dies about once a week now, it just turns off. No sputtering or anything. I just put it in neutral and it starts right back up and I keep driving. It also seems to have a problem getting fuel or something when you get to cruising speed cause it kind jumps or surges a little when you maintain any speed. No problem if you're excelerating just when you level out. My mechanic says it shows a code for Oxygen Sensor but that it could be a lot of things. He kept it for the day but couldn't get it to stall. I have changed the plugs, wires, ran Seafoam through the lines and changed the fuel filter.

Monday, August 22nd, 2011 AT 5:20 AM

1 Reply

DRCRANKNWRENCH

MECHANIC
3,380 POSTS

First, the 2 sensor is probably just part of the issue as your mechanic has said. With the mileage it is time to replace as aprt of routine maintenace. It can have dramatic affects on gas mileage as well as performance.
A common source of idle issues is fuel management. If you can rule out vacuum leaks and spark plug wires, etc. Then look into is the Idle Air Control Valve, IACV, which is sometimes also referred to a the engine Load Sensor, ELS.
This is an electro-mechanical device which idles up the engine when loads such as; power steering, A/C and other accessories or situations call for it.
It can adversely affect the performance of the engine.
It is tough to diagnose problems such as these because electric/mechanical control modules feed from sensors all over the engine and accessories which makes it hard to tell if a sensor is bad, the control unit is bad, an IACV is a control unit that sometimes has integrated sensors, or if the is a problem with the Vehicle Main Computer.

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Monday, August 22nd, 2011 AT 5:33 AM