Ok, I took my Chrysler Pacifica out to Glamis, CA through the dunes. Now I know it really isn't a 4X4 pickup. Anyways, the car is so slow that the sand burned th wires going from the wiring harness just below the connector attaching the O2 sensor. Drove for a week or so, and car started jerking. Had mechanic splice the wires together (going on faith that everything is color coordinated correctly). Car ran good for about 10 miles and started jerking again. Unhooked battery for a few minutes. Car ran fine again. Do I need to reset the computer? If so, is there an easy way to do this from home? Or do I need to take it in to get a new computer or something? Anyone know?

 

Oxygen sensors work by generating a voltage that depends on the amount of oxygen in the gas flowing over them. This voltage varies between about 0.1 volts up to 1.0 volts. So you can see you are dealing with some pretty low voltages here. As a result, the wiring carrying these signals to the computer is somewhat critical. Hopefully, your mechanic made a good splice on the wire.

That being said, it doesn't really explain the 'jerking' you describe. If the computer gets a signal from the sensor that is out of the range it is anticipating, it will set an error code and usually turn on the 'check engine' light.It doesn't make the car 'jerk'.

Something else is going on. Hook up a code reader and see if there are codes. If so, go from there.

 

I have the same problem with the car "jerking". It seems to only be when I'm under 35mph though. Its very hard to explain to someone. I brought it to my mechanic friend one day and it didn't do it. I do have a check engine light on, said it is a bad cat (forgot the code). It happens like 6 days out of 7 though.