car O2 sensor replacement

[rh71]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Hey I've got a 1991 Honda Accord and I've replaced the oxygen sensor on it. Mine is an SE so I'm not sure if your sensor is in the same place but I'll tell you what was involved when I did mine. The sensor is pretty easy to get to, on my car it's located just after the steel braided expansion pipe on the exhaust pipe. It screws into the top of the pipe and has a wire coming out of the end of it which plugs into a lead running up into the engine compartment. The hard part like everyone sais is getting it out. You can heat it with a torch and then tap it to loosen it. Then once it coools down some spray some WD-40 on it or penetrating oil. I ended up sticking a pipe on the end of my wrench to get enough leverage to bust it loose. The replacement I had for it was a bosch I believe and came with a little splicing kit to connect it to the lead to the engine compartment. You just cut the wires between the old o2 sensor and the honda plug and splice the new one in there. The splicing was a pain in the butt too cause you have to make sure you've got the right wires going to the right places. I think their were four, but once you've got it spliced, then just screw it into your pipe and you're all set. Good luck. PM me if you ahve any questions.

Please check your PM.. thx!

 

[Wduaqnug]

since you in brooklyn a lot


check out small tiny place on ave y and macdoland ave. called mathiew auto parts, it looks crappy place but best prices on parts!


also on macdonald ave their place called Corsa Auto Repair, they charge lowest labor fee and they allow you to bring your own parts

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Wduaqnug
since you in brooklyn a lot


check out small tiny place on ave y and macdoland ave. called mathiew auto parts, it looks crappy place but best prices on parts!


also on macdonald ave their place called Corsa Auto Repair, they charge lowest labor fee and they allow you to bring your own parts

I wish I could trust this car making it 45 minutes to Brooklyn in the first place. 🙂

 

[rh71]

This O2 sensor is under the hood right? Not under the car with the exhaust stuff ? Can't find it! I'm such a noob.

EDIT>> Come to think of it... since it measures air in exhaust, it should be under the car ... somehow fused to the pipe ?

 

[rh71]

Finally got it done.. I couldn't even find it after jacking the car up... bought a Bosch O2 sensor from Autozone and had my local mechanic do it for $35 worth of 30 minutes' labor.

My question is now... all he had to do was plug it in? I know you said to reset the code, but there hasn't been a check engine light on for a long time before this. Basically what I'm asking is... will the O2 sensor simply work after being plugged in because the old one was probably circumvented by the computer after realizing it was failing. Is there any other kind of reset ?

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: nan0bug

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: nan0bug
Shouldnt be too hard. On my car it takes about 20 mins to replace, if that. Get the more expensive one, and a Chilton manual, and you'll be fine.

BTW Oxygen sensors should be changed about every 10-15k miles.

wtf? no.

Actually, I recind my earlier statement. O2 sensors should be changed every 30k-60k miles if you drive a car made before the early 90s. Anything with OBD II, about every 100k miles. Depends on the vehicle though. Replacing it every 15k miles will help with keeping your fuel economy better if you tend to put more miles on your car than the average joe in a year's time.

Replacing a Honda 02 Sensor depending on model costs approximately $175 for just the sensor (OEM). If you do that every 15k miles your gas mileage will be irrelavant.

 

[arcas]

Is there a difference between "o2 sensor" or "oxygen sensor" or most importantly, "heated oxygen sensor" ?

O2 (aka oxygen) sensors work via a chemical reaction that takes place at ~600F. A 'heated oxygen sensor' has an additional pair of wires that power a built-in heater. A non-heated sensor relies on the exhaust to provide the necessary heat. So a heated sensor begins functioning much sooner after start-up than a non-heated sensor. I think most vehicles these days use heated sensors?

 

[rh71]

Makes me wonder what the $59 (OE) Bosch O2 sensor really was then...

Autozone verified it was good for my year/make/model.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: rh71
Makes me wonder what the $59 (OE) Bosch O2 sensor really was then...

Autozone verified it was good for my year/make/model.

99% chance it was a one-wire sensor which is proper for your car. i think honda went to heated o2's in 1992-3.

if you want to reset the code, unhook the negative battery cable for like 10 seconds and that will get it out of its memory.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: rh71
Makes me wonder what the $59 (OE) Bosch O2 sensor really was then...

Autozone verified it was good for my year/make/model.

99% chance it was a one-wire sensor which is proper for your car. i think honda went to heated o2's in 1992-3.

if you want to reset the code, unhook the negative battery cable for like 10 seconds and that will get it out of its memory.

Thanks, but I don't know if the code is still there. There certainly wasn't a check engine light and the dealer was able to find the code. Don't know if they got rid of it after they told me it was there. This was weeks ago. Even if the code were still there in memory, will it try and use the newly installed O2 sensor ? That's all I really care about now... just plug and pray.. err play ?