Air Hose
Can a loose air intake hose cause an engine to run rich or mess up oxygen sensor readings?
My check engine light has been on and the dealer says I have a bad oxygen sensor. It's a 2003 Caravan and I was under the hood last night to see how difficult it would be to change the sensor. They also told me my throttle body needed cleaning so when I went to check it out I realized they didn't put the intake hose from the air cleaner to the throttle body on all the way. After I checked it and put the hose on correctly the check engine light went off after I drove about 30 miles. I put the two things together and wonder if the sensor is really bad or the readings were off because of a lose intake hose. Anyone have any advice on this?
Update- The mechanic told me it was the upstream sensor and it was reading 38% oxygen.
Yes it can. I know on most newer cars they have a computer on board that tells the engine to shut off if the hoses are not connected. I don't think the that the oxygen sensor is bad, but if one is bad its probably the front one