hey all, a lil problem has presented itself. my economy has dropped ALOT and my engine light comes on when idling however turns off when i touch the throttle. im thinking O2 sensor? help me out
cheers

hey all, a lil problem has presented itself. my economy has dropped ALOT and my engine light comes on when idling however turns off when i touch the throttle. im thinking O2 sensor? help me out
cheers
Yup sounds like an o2 sensor to me. You can double check by taking your car to mits and having them read out the problem.

yeah, they cheap? easy to replace? cheers

I'm pretty sure that the oxy sensor isn't used when idling. My understanding is that it's only used while cruising to keep a stoichiometric air fuel ratio, generally the idle mix is a bit rich. Also in all the second gen 4 cyls produced after '92 they stopped the oxy sensor from turning on the check engine light according to the workshop maunal.

I don't think that it'd be the idle circuit either as I've never heard of it causing the check engine light to come on.

Do you have the workshop manual? I'd suggest either buying a copy or preferably downloading the official mitsu one from here(mitsu one is much better) http://www.thehammer.net/magna/. Then get a check light/multimeter and check the engine diagnostics to see what fault is being thrown up. Either that or take it in to Mitsu as suggested.

I'd still suggest you dl/buy a workshop manual anyhow as it pretty much tells you how to do everything in there.

mmmmm not really what i wanted to hear.. but it helps lol. o2 sensor may b screwing up my economy tho?

called mitsu, they rockon the sensor is causing the bad economy, and quoted me $95 for a full diagnostic. im gettin a new sensor from work. im assuming they'll plug into the current lead thats already there?

Go wreckers man and grab one off there if you can!

dont need to change the lead do i? just plug the new sensor into the same lead?

called mitsu, they rockon the sensor is causing the bad economy, and quoted me $95 for a full diagnostic. im gettin a new sensor from work. im assuming they'll plug into the current lead thats already there?
$95 just for them to plug a computer in?
you're kidding?
An o2 sensor will cost you around $100, use that money to fix it.

Yeah the sensors should just plug in. Make sure it's the one for the 4cyl though as the V6 ones are different. I still think that there'd be something else wrong with it as the check engine light's coming on.

$95 for the diagnostics seems a bit rich, especially since you can do a similar job with a check light. The error code that pops up will point you in the right direction, rather than you just replacing parts till the problem is fixed. If you want I can post up the relevant pages from the workshop manual on what to do to use the engine diagnostics.

Good luck with fixing it, electrical problems are such a pain in the ****.:doubt:

$95 just for them to plug a computer in?
you're kidding?
An o2 sensor will cost you around $100, use that money to fix it.

:confused: I paid $35 for mine from bursons...

:confused: I paid $35 for mine from bursons...
Isn't that for the generic one? I mean it still fits, but i paid $90 something for a genuine spare part, yeh probably could have gone with the cheaper option but i didn't know about it at the time.

Isn't that for the generic one? I mean it still fits, but i paid $90 something for a genuine spare part, yeh probably could have gone with the cheaper option but i didn't know about it at the time.

Yeah thats the generic one... havent felt any difference in power or fuel consumption from the genuine one... so i'll keep this one on.

Or you could go potluck and grab 2-3 o2 sensors from the wreckers for a couple of bucks each.

Yeah thats the generic one... havent felt any difference in power or fuel consumption from the genuine one... so i'll keep this one on.

Or you could go potluck and grab 2-3 o2 sensors from the wreckers for a couple of bucks each.


You wont see any difference apart from the writing on it. The only different O2 sensor is a Muiltiband one, and it's used on Euro 3 cars, there expensive.

You wont see any difference apart from the writing on it. The only different O2 sensor is a Muiltiband one, and it's used on Euro 3 cars, there expensive.

Theyre actually quite different in physical characteristics...

Yeah you can get single wire non heated, what the 4cyl has, multi wire heated, what the 6cyl has and then the top dog one a wideband oxy sensor like what you're referring to which can read afr's a lot more accurately, mainly used in aftermarket ecu setups for tuning/running on LPG.

Yeah you can get single wire non heated, what the 4cyl has, multi wire heated, what the 6cyl has and then the top dog one a wideband oxy sensor like what you're referring to which can read afr's a lot more accurately, mainly used in aftermarket ecu setups for tuning/running on LPG.

And that info is relevant how? lol

(dont mean to have a poke at ya either dood...;) )

hahaha, yep probably irrelevant but you never know, someone may find it interesting lol

did the new sensor fix it?

hey all, a lil problem has presented itself. my economy has dropped ALOT and my engine light comes on when idling however turns off when i touch the throttle. im thinking O2 sensor? help me out
cheers

perhaps ur plumbing pipe cai not getting on well with the engine.

Yeah it could actually be the mass air flow sensor(MAS) or air temp sensor, if that wasn't working correctly then that would cause poor economy and rough idle. I know that when they aren't working the ecu will replace their values with base ones, making the car run funny. They would also throw the check light so that'd be a good idea to start.

I really don't think it's your oxy sensor that's causing the main problem, mainly because it wouldn't cause the rough idle or throw the check light and the fuel usage wouldn't change massively.

thanx guys. i replaced the maf a fwe weeks ago and it runs alot better, smoother idle and better response so im pretty sure it aint that. i can get a o2 sensor for 60 bux which ill get probly next week. im just getting the sensor unit and a bit of cable which i assume you somehow connect to the existing cable from the previous sensor. whats this checklight thing?

O2 sensor works on a warm engine at idle and on cruise.

This can cuase the symptom, all you need for a diagnostic is to run the car, do not turn it off, run a LED test light over the diagnostic plug and read the lights.

My site does have the light codes and the pins to use in the second gen, personally I have made a plug with an LED in it that just plugs straight in.

Problem solved! got a new O2 Sensor today, $50 from ebay hehe. works a treat, no more engine check light and better economy already!