Couple of questions... a few weeks ago, late on night, we hit a dog driving down 40 back to Raleigh. It hit the underside of the front bumper and then, I think, was pulled under the car. Anyway, we got the front end fixed, including the punctured radiator, everything they found up front.

About a week later, the check engine light started coming on sporadically, and Advance checked it and confirmed it was the O2 sensor. The guy said it's possible it could have been tied to hitting the dog, but the repair place told the insurance company it was a maintenance issue and not related. What I want to know is whether or not there is any legitimate way it could be tied to the accident, maybe the dog hitting something under the car? we may argue with them a bit if there is any way it could be related.

The second issue that seems to be independent of the check engine light is this strange sounds coming from the dash intermittently. It sounds exactly like ice water sloshing around. I assume it's related to the A/C or something, and I didn't know if perhaps that could be related to the trash as well. It seems suspect that all this would pop up now on a relatively new car.

Just looking for someone a bit more knowledgeable to back up or refute what the repair shop said. Thanks!

9/1/2010 10:39:13 PM

Whether the accident caused the sensor issue depends on what exactly is wrong with the O2 sensor. If it's physically damaged and malfunctioning, then absolutely - generally they're in a position to get hit by something like that going underneath the car, so it's quite plausible. On the other hand, if it's in physically good shape, just not working anymore, it's probably a coincidence.

How old is the O2 sensor that's in there?

9/2/2010 9:17:57 AM

year/make/model/mileage?

9/2/2010 10:09:38 AM

The impact could have damaged the wiring harness in some way, causing an intermittent problem.

9/2/2010 12:26:22 PM

07 kia spectra, roughly 65k miles... only out of the ordinary driving other than the dog was the recent 2 day drive up to Boston from Raleigh immediately after the repairs were done.

[Edited on September 2, 2010 at 6:05 PM. Reason : dog, not crash]

9/2/2010 6:04:53 PM

Quote :

"The second issue that seems to be independent of the check engine light is this strange sounds coming from the dash intermittently It sounds exactly like ice water sloshing around "

I had this exact same phenomenon begin in my car following the repairs of a front-end wreck.

If you get a response to this I'd love to hear it too. It does not seem to have any adverse effect on operation; it's been over a year since the wreck and everything works fine. It's just annoying.

[Edited on September 7, 2010 at 12:07 PM. Reason : ]

9/7/2010 12:06:55 PM

She took her car to the dealership (to check for physical damage to the O2 sensor, which there was none) and they said that the sloshing noise "is probably just the AC not draining" whatever that means and they performed an "HVAC drain". Not sure where exactly they drained, but whatever. Perhaps someone else here can elaborate and explain exactly what was going on.

[Edited on September 7, 2010 at 5:29 PM. Reason : ]

9/7/2010 5:28:33 PM

water vapor in the air condenses on the cold parts of the hvac system. this water drips down into a pan, which has a drain line that goes under the car. sometimes, this drain can get clogged up.

9/7/2010 6:53:45 PM

a dog was driving down 40 heading to raleigh?

9/7/2010 8:13:14 PM

Nah, walking the wrong way down the middle lane of the highway... in a downpour... at 1 am.

9/7/2010 9:53:49 PM

oh, sorry, i thought you said you hit a dog driving down 40 heading to raleigh.

9/8/2010 8:34:07 PM