The exhaust manifold of a vehicle contains oxygen sensors which track the amount of unburned oxygen coming out of the engine after the internal combustion process takes place. As you know, exhaust gases are produced when air and fuel are ignited after they’re combined. The engine control unit wants to track the amount of unburned oxygen in these gases by using the oxygen sensors. The sensors send the information to the engine control unit to verify the amounts are normal.
Oxygen sensors rely on heat in order to function properly. Heating elements are used by oxygen sensors to allow them to operate quickly. If it wasn’t for these heating elements, then it would take a long time for the oxygen sensors to transmit information back to the engine control unit. This would have a devastating impact on the power production of the engine and the ultimate drivability of the vehicle.
Oxygen Sensor 2 on Bank 1 is responsible for making sure that the catalytic converter is working productively. It does this by tracking the air and fuel ratio that is emitted from the catalytic converter. If the heater circuit of Oxygen Sensor 2 on Bank 1 ever shorts or experiences a lot of resistance, then it’ll cause the engine control unit to generate trouble code P0141.
The common symptoms of trouble code P0141 include a rough running engine, poor fuel economy and a Check Engine warning light turning on. The causes of these problems may include a short in the wiring, bad wiring or connections, and bad oxygen sensor altogether.
The overall problem has a moderate severity level, so it does not need to be addressed immediately. However, you should be prepared to make repairs sometime in the next couple of weeks. A lot of people will either ignore the problem indefinitely or misdiagnose the problem as being something else.
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Before you go and replace the oxygen sensor, make sure that the oxygen sensor is the actual problem. You don’t want to end up replacing the oxygen sensor and then finding out later that your catalytic converter or wiring was the problem. That is why a professional mechanic is your best bet at assuring this does not happen.