i own a 1997 328i and i've just got it back from the shop after getting a new starter and alternator. when i started the car, my check engine light was on and the engine struggles when i drive it and the idle seems to be lower than usual

so i brought it to autozone here in mira mesa and asked to use there diagnostic tool and it gave me:

P0170 : Fuel Trim, Bank1 Malfunction
P0173 : Fuel Trim, Bank2 Malfunction
P1189 : Linear 02 Sensor / Compensator Resistor Short to B+
P1188 : Linear 02 Sensor / Compensator Resistor Short to ground

the guy said i need to replace the o2 sensor thats before the cat. he didnt even look at P1189 and P1188 and just said that thats some dealership stuff. so i bought a new sensor and when it came to installing it we found that there were two o2 sensors before the cat. one for pistons 1,2 and 3. the other for pistons 4,5 and 6. so i went back to this guy and i asked which one should i replace or if i need to replace both. then the guy looked at my diagnostic codes again and said "oohhh if P0170 and P0173 show up together then its your mass airflow sensor."

so HERE IS MY QUESTION FOR YOU SANDIEGO-ERS

To someone with a scan or diagnostic tool, could we meet up anytime soon so i could check my fault code's? it wouldn't take that long and it would save me 600 bucks on new o2 sensors and a new MAF. thanks

1 - moving this to cali forum

2 - i have one, and i might be able to meet in the mira mesa area around lunch time during the week - pm me

i tried to pm you but this came up:

benjo, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
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so i tried to email you but i dont know if you got it. so im back to asking you here. im down to meet anytime this week too. if we could meet up anytime soon it would be great. just come up with a time and place and yeah

Hey - Sorry, the week is off to a crazy start. I have to find the Peake tool - its not where I thought it was. Hopefully next day or two - i'll let you know.

ok sounds good. but, do you think driving my car around in this condition is fine? not long drives, more like thinks withen a mile radius. it just has a really lumpy idle when i start it but, then after that the only problems are a lower than usual idle at stoplights and this whirring sound.

OBDII and I don't really mix. :dunno

I have an Peake code reader if you need to see what's up. Let me know if you still need it. You would have to drive up to Escondido.

I finally met up with the benjo man today and read out his codes ... all like 9 of them lol.

DUDE - let me know how it turns out.

fo sho guys, im working on it. when things work out then ill post the codes up and tell you guys how we got it fixed.

Can you tell me how you got your car fixed? I just had a diagnostic run on my car and it came up with the same fault codes as yours. P0170 means fuel trim malfunction (bank 1). P0173 means fuel trim malfunction (bank 2). P1188 means linear 02 sensor/compensator resistor short to ground. P1189 means linear 02 sensor/compensator resistor short to B+. I would like to avoid taking my car into the dealership and coming out with a hefty repair bill. I just read an article about cleaning the MAF with a carb cleaner that leaves no residue. Does anyone know if that would that take care of the whole problem or just the fuel trim malfunction?

those codes could also mean a vacuum leak. i am currently dealing with teh same codes. i found a probably vacuum leak and am giving it a few more miles before i declare it fixed.... it all started when i installed my s/c.

i did get the P1188 code again today but that was it. anyone know how i would go about testing the O2 sensor with a multimeter? mine are new so im not sure why it would say short to ground....

oh, and you should buy a can of MAF cleaner instead of carb cleaner to clean your HFM. its the same thing but not as strong for sensitive electronics. im not sure that is your problem though.