O2 sensors on 60k+ miles cars
09-24-2013, 11:16 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
O2 sensors on 60k+ miles cars
Hi,
how many of you had to replace before cat o2 sensors on high milage cars?
I suspect mine started to acting up, just had right side one pre-cat to throw CEL saying it was stuck rich but after clearing it up it re-initialized and seems to work normal after I drove car at higher rpms and warmed it up well.
I looked up online and it seems that typically such 5 wire pre-cat sensors should live for 60k-80k miles at least. not sure if it was just a glitch or if it is worth to spend $170 for each and replace them both. suggestions?
how many of you had to replace before cat o2 sensors on high milage cars?
I suspect mine started to acting up, just had right side one pre-cat to throw CEL saying it was stuck rich but after clearing it up it re-initialized and seems to work normal after I drove car at higher rpms and warmed it up well.
I looked up online and it seems that typically such 5 wire pre-cat sensors should live for 60k-80k miles at least. not sure if it was just a glitch or if it is worth to spend $170 for each and replace them both. suggestions?
09-24-2013, 12:26 PM
#2
Race Director
Hi,
how many of you had to replace before cat o2 sensors on high milage cars?
I suspect mine started to acting up, just had right side one pre-cat to throw CEL saying it was stuck rich but after clearing it up it re-initialized and seems to work normal after I drove car at higher rpms and warmed it up well.
I looked up online and it seems that typically such 5 wire pre-cat sensors should live for 60k-80k miles at least. not sure if it was just a glitch or if it is worth to spend $170 for each and replace them both. suggestions?
how many of you had to replace before cat o2 sensors on high milage cars?
I suspect mine started to acting up, just had right side one pre-cat to throw CEL saying it was stuck rich but after clearing it up it re-initialized and seems to work normal after I drove car at higher rpms and warmed it up well.
I looked up online and it seems that typically such 5 wire pre-cat sensors should live for 60k-80k miles at least. not sure if it was just a glitch or if it is worth to spend $170 for each and replace them both. suggestions?
Up to you. You can continue to drive the car and see if the CEL comes back with the same error code. A "glitch" is unlikely as it takes more than a momentary bad reading to flag a sensor bad. Sensor tests which the DME runs all the time have time component as well.
As long as the engine doesn't start running poorly or acting up -- which I do not expect it will but just saying -- I do not think there will be any harm.
Without knowing the error code I can't say for sure but some errors arise at different RPM and load levels. So the CEL comes on and the DTC is cleared. Then the driver drives the car and because the CEL/DTC doesn't come back he thinks it was a "glitch".
The real reason is because the car wasn't driven as it was before or driven enough the DME never got time to identify the sensor problem.
In one case with a bad O2 sensor it would take around 30 miles of driving and turning off the engine would "cure" the sensor. What I ended up doing was finally noting when the error was about to occur and viewing the sensor data in real time using an Actron scan tool and noting the obviously bad sensor voltage readings concurrent with the CEL.
It just curiosity on my part. The sensor was bad and I could have just replaced it along with the other side and been done with it. Oh, the mileage was around 80K miles.
09-24-2013, 07:23 PM
#3
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
I had battery disconnected yesterday as I replaced sport seat to winter one with heated back and then drove my daughter to school so car was going on low rpms and then did sit at idle when CEL came. I then erased it and drove it more 'active' at 2.5-4k rpms and then sensor came up OK.
well, I think you are right, it is not a good sign. I will wait if CEL will come again then will replace them. pre-cat sensors are $170 apiece, so, to replace them both plus that other post cat one will be about of a $500 fun.
I just replaced bad post cat sensor on bank one a month ago , this one with CEL today was a pre-cat on bank 2. does it matter you think to replace both pre-cat sensors for them to match across banks or it does not matter? I have a feeling they all are due to be swapped out most likely.
well, I think you are right, it is not a good sign. I will wait if CEL will come again then will replace them. pre-cat sensors are $170 apiece, so, to replace them both plus that other post cat one will be about of a $500 fun.
I just replaced bad post cat sensor on bank one a month ago , this one with CEL today was a pre-cat on bank 2. does it matter you think to replace both pre-cat sensors for them to match across banks or it does not matter? I have a feeling they all are due to be swapped out most likely.
09-25-2013, 12:33 PM
#5
Race Director
Unless a sensor fails very early on when replacing one sensor due to old age or because of some other failure I like to replace both sides. This works to keep both banks in sync regarding fueling as one new sensor and one old sensor may result in some difference in fueling between the banks.
Maybe it is being a bit **** on my part. But the sensors are not that expensive and in my experience do not require replacement that often so an extra $170 or whatever is not that big of a bump in the overall cost of owning the car.
Maybe it is being a bit **** on my part. But the sensors are not that expensive and in my experience do not require replacement that often so an extra $170 or whatever is not that big of a bump in the overall cost of owning the car.
