04 concorde cats and o2 sensors

[mauve66]

any gurus out there??
2004 Chrysler Concorde LXI, 3.5 v6, auto

a year ago the check engine light went off so when i scanned it it said cats below efficiency, with 105K on it i thought, maybe its the o2 sensor reading wrong.  so i replaced the cats  AND all 4 o2 sensors
after doing this at first it wouldn't idle right and sometimes it would even die at a light.  I kept clearing codes since i was told that it needed to re-learn the operating parameters of the new items (didn't make sense to me, these are replacement items)

after 2 weeks the idle is stable but the power seems down slightly (according to the wife, what does she know about power, seems the same to me) and the check engine light comes back on after it gets its drive cycle, and i still get a code but now it is

P0132 - o2 sensor shorted to voltage, o2 sensor input voltage maintained above normal operating range
P0152 - o2 sensor shorted to voltage, o2 sensor input voltage sustained above normal operating range
to me, both of these are the same, why would they have 2 codes for the same thing??
i get these codes for bank 1, sensor 1 and bank 2, sensor 1 - i assume these are the upstream o2 sensors (between the engine and the cats)

i also changed the exhaust slightly while doing this.  this car originally had the following:

             cat
engine               resonator        muffler              resonator                bumper
             cat

now it has the following:

             cat
engine                resonator         high flow muffler          bumper
             cat

any ideas??  i'm stupid when it comes to a multimeter, i have one but the directions don't make any sense.  I think its written for someone with an electrical degree or something

[Troy]

First thing, checked for burnt or frayed wiring. This stuff is extremely sensitive to electrical power. I would definitely pay close attention to this in your case since you still had issues after replacing the parts.

Second, which brand of parts did you use? OE sensors and cats are generally (but not always) better quality. This is especially the case with cats as the factory computer will often show a failed cat when it hits 95% - but many after market cats are only about 90% of the stock specs right out of the box.

The P0132 should be a front (upstream) bank 1 sensor and P0152 is the front bank 2 sensor. These can go bad if your spark plugs are fouling since the PCM adds more fuel which overheats the O2 sensor. Since both of your codes are for front sensors I wouldn't worry about the cats or rear sensors at this point - although a screwy front sensor can cause the computer to do dumb stuff which will kill the cat.

Some other info I ran across:
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0132
http://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen-durango/181980-1999-o2-senser-question.html
http://www.justanswer.com/dodge/2y1vu-getting-code-p0132-saying-02-sensor-high.html
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0152
http://repairpal.com/obd-ii-code-p0152

Troy

[mauve66]

from what i can see the o2 sensor connections are tight and clean, no melted/frayed wires
they are bosch sensors from autozone, i figured bosch would be a good brand

so i should look at the plugs??
i just put in new coils/plugs last year

[rt green]

different brands of o2s can have different styles. make sure you the same style that was in there. also, some cats in the aftermarket are "too efficent" as they work better than the oe ones. they will be proud to make that statment, but if the computer reads a reading that is below or in that case above the range, i'tll still throw the light on. was the battery disconneted during the new parts install? if so it'll lose its memory in the system and will have to be reset by a capable scanner. it will relearn most  the memory in time but not as good as a reset.  my

[mauve66]

battery not diconnected
and the sensors that are coding are before the cats
i just don't understand how they can be getting too much voltage from the way i read the codes

[cdr]

battery not diconnected
and the sensors that are coding are before the cats
i just don't understand how they can be getting too much voltage from the way i read the codes

wrong sensors

[Silver R/T]

which brand sensors was on the car from the factory? Usually Denso/NGK is the best one and won't give you problems after replacement.

[mauve66]

update, you guys are amazing, but of course you already know that don't you??

i thought you guys were crazy.
i figured a part made to spec would be the same no matter the manufacturer so i went and got another set of the bosch (figured the first set was just bad).  had the same issues.

switched to the NGK and everything is fine from the moment i started the car

thanks to all