Hey Guys and Girls

I got my problem fixed of the car running so lean, all it ended up being was a few o rings and a gasket. Anyways because of this the oxygen sensor is now burnt out, so i gotta get a new one, how far can i drive the car without an oxygen sensor??? i know how much it costs for a new one, just wanna know how far I can drive without one in, and what effects will this have. Dave has told me i will be ok, and it will slightly affect idle and fuel economy apart from that, not much else. Is there nay other issues???

Thanx for all you assitance lately.

Mike

Dave is spot on, more so the fuel economy though. :P

Make sure you get a new one ASAP :)

How much is a new one - pretty sure mines rooted as well

Get a 4 wire universal, costs about $50 from fleabay and wire up. Nothing wrong with them.

The ones from engine senors and systems (iirc) on fleabay have magna wire colours anyways.

only problem with non specific sensors is that they may give slightly different readings than the standard one.

as for driving without one, you can permanantly drive without it if you don't mind wasting fuel. i did a bit of a test with a wideband o2 sensor to see what difference the stock sensor made (was also checking to see if the stock sensor was still working). the test car was the missus SSS pulsar. with the o2 sensor plugged in it would run mid 14 afr's at light load and under load it would be around 12.5, depending on rpm (at 7000rpm it was down to low 11s). with the o2 sensor unplugged the afr was around 12.5 all the time. basically it was the same as driving around with your foot down all the time. the factory o2 sensors only alter the mapping under light load (closed loop). once you get under it a bit it goes into open loop, so it just goes off the factory mapping.

Philcomm can get them for you.
I think Anthony supplied an NGK???? for me for $120-50is delivered? (prices vague ... was a while ago).

You'll find a how to in teh tech talk section too for replacing it.

Use the preacher man special tool (1 m of string) to help you pull the wiring loom in and out ;-)

only problem with non specific sensors is that they may give slightly different readings than the standard one.

as for driving without one, you can permanantly drive without it if you don't mind wasting fuel. i did a bit of a test with a wideband o2 sensor to see what difference the stock sensor made (was also checking to see if the stock sensor was still working). the test car was the missus SSS pulsar. with the o2 sensor plugged in it would run mid 14 afr's at light load and under load it would be around 12.5, depending on rpm (at 7000rpm it was down to low 11s). with the o2 sensor unplugged the afr was around 12.5 all the time. basically it was the same as driving around with your foot down all the time. the factory o2 sensors only alter the mapping under light load (closed loop). once you get under it a bit it goes into open loop, so it just goes off the factory mapping.

Thats good to here, i can save a bit of money now, then get this fixed.

Thanx for your help and advice

Mike

Have fun getting the bastard out though.

Some come out in 5 seconds, otherwise set aside alot of time and a punching bag.....

before you try to undo it. Get yourself some rust breaker/ penetrant like Molytec Liquid Spanner, or Wurth Rost Off Plus, then let it soak for 5-10 minutes, then try to undo it. Should save you a lot of hassle.

basically all it willl do is slightly screw up your fuel/air mixture because the motor cant sense how much oxegen its putting in.

basically all it willl do is slightly screw up your fuel/air mixture because the motor cant sense how much oxegen its putting in.

Got the first 1/2 correct there mate.

The oxygen sensor measures exhaust gases and the ecu uses this data to adjust fuel/air ratios, your possibly thinking of the maf sensor.

Hey Guys and Girls

I got my problem fixed of the car running so lean, all it ended up being was a few o rings and a gasket. Anyways because of this the oxygen sensor is now burnt out,
Mike
Lenda
Out of interest, how did you determine that the O rings and a gasket caused the oxygen sensor to burn out?
Cheers

Lenda
Out of interest, how did you determine that the O rings and a gasket caused the oxygen sensor to burn out?
Cheers

Damaged o-rings + gasket caused vacuum leak -> lean mixture. Lean mixture for too long caused overheating of the exhaust, burning out the lambda.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=KC5195&CATID=25&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=347

Thats for a narrowband sensor.. and will tell you SFA. Basically all you'll know is roughly whether the output is rich or lean. But you wont know by how much.

Damaged o-rings + gasket caused vacuum leak -> lean mixture. Lean mixture for too long caused overheating of the exhaust, burning out the lambda.
thanks but other than the average fuel performance how do you know
that the Oxygen sensor is gone?
Cheers

which way do i turn (anti- or clockwise) to remove the o2 sensor bolt.

Anticlockwise. If it's hard to get out, run the car for 5 or so minutes, so the exhaust can expand a bit and release the pressure on the sensor.

If you have to run the car for 5 minutes, wear gloves as the exhaust will be hotter than a stolen tamale.

yeah, today i went to the wreckers and pulled a the front peice off the exhaust system, took about an hour, now so far its taken me two, and i've only done the front 2 bolts on the first bank, and i needed to bash them with a 19mm and hammer, so had to take out the fans, drain the radiator then take that out.

When i pulled this other one off at the wreckers i got lazy and just snipped the 02 sensor wire, so b4 i was trying to bash the old one out and nothing.

I've used alot of RP7 aswell, doesnt seem to be doing to much all these blastered bolts are on super dooper tight.

Also i dont have a long socket extension which doesnt help, just using sidchrome spanners and hamer.

WTF? :nuts:

The oxygen sensor is mounted under the car, after the catalytic converter - why are you taking off the whole exhaust?

WTF? :nuts:

The oxygen sensor is mounted under the car, after the catalytic converter - why are you taking off the whole exhaust?

because it is located before the cat convertor :shock:

Oh yeah :nuts: brain freeze :doubt:

But why take off the whole lot - the 02 sensor just unscrews, and you can get a universal (new) one from ebay for $50, or a new genuine, complete with seal for $115.

Oh yeah :nuts: brain freeze :doubt:

But why take off the whole lot - the 02 sensor just unscrews, and you can get a universal (new) one from ebay for $50, or a new genuine, complete with seal for $115.

Its so tight its just not funny, all my stregnth and the use of a hammer and it wont budge, thats even after some RP7.
I have no money atm so $17 from the wreckers for a replacement front section sounds gd, plus there is nothing wrong with o2 sensor in my car (cars done 138xxx).
Have just aquired a 1/2" drive extension and decent ratchet which should make it easier getting the piping off.
Just have to get this freakin o2 sensor off, anyone kno of another lubrcant that would help me???

only problem with non specific sensors is that they may give slightly different readings than the standard one.
No it wont. They are all identical by design. Physically they differ but they are still just a Zirconia based sensor.

Zirconia and Titanium o2 sensors act the same but give different outputs, so make sure its your standard Zirconia type.

The stock ECU uses a narrowband to "trim" injector duty either positive or negative depending on the o2 sensor.

http://www.axux70.dsl.pipex.com/944t/images/O2-SensorVoltageOutput.gif

The o2 sensor outputs a voltage, and at about 720mV it is stoich. The ECU then cycles rich and lean so that the average is bang on stoich. As you can see from the plot, above and below the ideal AFR, the sensor doesn't output much mV different to a large change in AFR, hence making them useless for anything other than when the motor wants to run at stoich.

The process of the ECU using the o2 sensor for trimming is called "closed loop" fuel control, and if you don't have a sensor plugged in or it is faulty, the ECU will run "open loop" fuel control. Open loop just runs a set of mapped values on the ECUs chip, where as closed loop uses the same values but modifys the output according to the o2 sensors input. It does not however store these values like some of the higher end aftermarket ECUs and even some new cars.

The motor runs(or tries to) closed loop at low rpm and low throttle, anything above that and it will use mapped values because the target AFR is outside the narrowband o2 sensors range anyway.

Get the $40 ebay one and wire it in.

Its so tight its just not funny, all my stregnth and the use of a hammer and it wont budge, thats even after some RP7.
I have no money atm so $17 from the wreckers for a replacement front section sounds gd, plus there is nothing wrong with o2 sensor in my car (cars done 138xxx).
Have just aquired a 1/2" drive extension and decent ratchet which should make it easier getting the piping off.
Just have to get this freakin o2 sensor off, anyone kno of another lubrcant that would help me???

Penetrene. Its designed for this purpose.

well i got it off, reason the o2 sensor was so hard to get off was becos it had a deformed thread, it was all mangled up. fantastic now i need to buy a new one anyway....

I am not 100% on this thing you call oxygen sensor. But would it have any benefit to me to change it on my TL even though there is no problems?

Would i be getting more kilometres for each tank?

WTF? :nuts:

The oxygen sensor is mounted under the car, after the catalytic converter - why are you taking off the whole exhaust?


Its actually before the cat, but after the flexpipe....

Damn... didnt read the last page.. HAHA Ignore? :)