Bought 2003 Taurus with 180K miles on it. Has been running well until 2 wks ago when I got an engine light. I had gotten gas that very morning. No funny smells or sounds. Took to Auto Zone; machine said problems on Bank 1 and Bank 2, which the counter guy said it was “running too lean,” that the O2 sensor couldn’t do it’s job, and that I should put Seafoam in it at next fill up (that was two days ago). Light did not go away. Started to have rough idle. My husband droped me off at work (his '96 Chevy S-10 needs a water pump as of this weekend, so we’re batting really well in the car department this week), and it just “stops” at an intersection and can’t be restarted. What are possible problems? Cost is always an issue, but with two cars down, I’m in real trouble.
Forget what they said it meant, we need the actual five character OBD-II code or codes that were/are present in your car’s computer to help.
In the absence of information, a vacuum leak, clogged fuel filter, failing fuel pump, bad or dirty MAF are all wild guesses that I’ll throw out.
Look carefully at all the plastic/rubber duct work from the air filter to the throttle valve. If possible, take it apart so you can see the bottom side of the tubes. See if there are any cracks letting in air between the mass airflow sensor and the throttle. If you find cracks, you can fix such cracks temporarily with duct tape and shoe goo, until you can get new pieces.
Like tardis said, you need to post the specific code.
That said I’m going to guess P0171 and P0174. The odds that this is an O2 sensor problem are low. Both go bad at the same time? I’d guess you are running lean and the O2 sensors are just reporting that.
Manolito’s advice is good. I’d add getting some MAF sensor cleaner and using it. Peruse this: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0171