rough running 3.8

[nda0602v6]

For about 3 days my SES light was on but didn't see or hear any problems. Today the car started running really bad, like it was missing so I took it to Autozone and when they ran the scan. They said two codes were given po420 and po300... "bank 1: catalytic effiency being below thresh hold" and "eratic firing/ignition." I have no clue what all that means but they suggested I replace the oxygen sensor on the drivers side and replace the spark plugs. I replaced the sensor and put new AC-platinum plugs in and filled the tank with premium gas. The engine runs smooth again with no more hesitation. Do you think the oxygen sensor was causing the problem then? the car has 28K on it. The guy at autozone was also saying its possible that my cat. converter could be bad/clogged. How could it get clogged?

[grayman]

probably just the sensor. "bank 1"

he suggested to change the plugs as insurance...and you had a good chance of buying them from him. :D

probably not the rear (cat) convertor nor the cat sensor...those were off because your Air fuel mixture
was off because of the front 02 sensor(s) being bad.

[98Camaro3.8]

P0420 is a very common code caused by high flow cats. It has nothing to do with oxygen sensors before the cat.

P0300 is Random Misfire.

Change your plugs and wires first. Check air filter and fuel filter, etc.

The misfire is dumping alot of fuel into the exhaust, which could cause P0420.

[nda0602v6]

I replaced the plugs and the oxygen sensor and so far everything seems okay. The old (factory) plugs didn't look gunked up or anything but I replaced them anyway.

The air cleaner that's in the car now looks like one of those re-usable ones. How do you clean those? or should I just buy a regular Fram type air filter? As far as the fuel filter goes, I think its still the original one. I'm going to replace it just to be safe.

[teal99camaro]

if its a k&n filter, get a filter recharge it at autozone

k&ns are pink