O2 sensors

[Underdog]

hey guys,
I'm pretty sure I need to replace my O2 sensors, and have a question. The universal ones don't have the connectors right? I searched and everyone says to splice them. My problem is that I haven't done really any wiring besides helping a friend install his underglow kit, and I don't understand exactly what is meant by splicing the wires. Do i have to take the wires from the new O2 sensor and attach them to the old plug? Can someone tell me how that's done? Thanks!

[89T]

cut the plugs of the old ones and solder them to the new o2's..don't forget to use heat shrink..

[HondaBoy]

yeah, like 89turbo'ed? said, thats about it for the wiring. now i'm considering doing that with the univeral sensor instead of the more costly specific model one. i wonder how much of a difference i will notice after i do mine? maybe some better gas mileage or something. hey Underdog, what is your car doing that makes you think it needs a new sensor? on your car you should have 2 sensors though, not just one like i have.

[Underdog]

Well, the car lags a lot once the engine heats up to about 3500RPM. From a stop I can give it WOT and it will lag so bad that some old man in a geo metro is accelerating faster than me and is driving normal. I think that's partly to do with having a short ram intake, but I think part of it is the O2 sensor. Also, I'm only getting like 18-19MPG. I used to drive my car pretty hard, and thought that if I let off a little bit and was more easy on it I'd get better gas mileage, but I'm not. I still drive it hard every once in a while, but I don't think it's enough to get such bad gas mileage. And yeah, it has 2 O2 sensors.

[danronian]

Sounds to me like your jumping to one conclusion that could likely not fix your problem. Before replacing the o2 sensors you should think about the possibility of your spark plugs and wires being faulty. My accord had horribly acceleration under any load when it had faulty wires and plugs. On top of that o2 sensors are notorious for breaking and giving you alot more trouble to replace than spark plugs and wires. If your plugs aren't fairly new at least take them out and check the gap and condition of them, and if your wires are old, that could also be the problem. But if these things are fine then if could be your sensors.

[Underdog]

The wires and plugs I replaced a couple months ago. I highly doubt it would be the wires or plugs if they're that new.

[Oldblueaccord]

You can try cleaning the tip of them with a propane torch if you think there bad.

I too would look other places. Mine are original and i have 250k. Car runs great. As long as your motor has been running correctly then they last for ever. If its not been running well, running with a code along time then theres trouble. Thr car runs way rich and soots up everything.EGR,O2 sensor and the catiylic converter can get plugged.


wp

[Underdog]

What else causes lagging to about 3500RPM as soon as the needle on the temperature gauge passes the lowest line on the gauge, as well as causes bad gas mileage? And considering my car has 180,000 miles and I'm pretty sure they've never been replaced, I don't see any reason not to replace them anyways. I thought I read somewhere that they should be replaced every 50,000 miles.

[Oldblueaccord]

What else causes lagging to about 3500RPM as soon as the needle on the temperature gauge passes the lowest line on the gauge, as well as causes bad gas mileage? And considering my car has 180,000 miles and I'm pretty sure they've never been replaced, I don't see any reason not to replace them anyways. I thought I read somewhere that they should be replaced every 50,000 miles.

Loss of power could be anything from low compression to clogged converter to timing belt off a tooth. Its hard to call. I dont think changing the O2 sensors gonna hurt you any just dont think its the holy grail either.

Im not sure what the temp guage has anything to do with the problem. Are you saying your not getting up to temp? The guage should run around half or below half way but more than a 1/4. Otherwise its not warming up and is running rich all the time. Then it need a thermostat put in it.

wp

[Underdog]

The timing isn't off. When I was having some problems with it a few months ago, my neighbor and I checked the timing and it was dead on. It's not that the temperature gauge causes the problem. Once it warms up it's close to about half way. It's just that the lagging doesn't start until the needle moves past the lower line while it's warming up. I do have a short ram intake (replacing ASAP with CAI), which I know sucks in hot air, but if sucking in the hot air is bad, then shouldn't it lag through all RPM's?

[Oldblueaccord]

Ok so that tells me that when cold the car runs well but when it switches over to regular run you have problems.

That could be o2 sensors since I dont think the ECU looks at O2 until the car is up to temp. But that also opens up all the other sensors as well.


I just run a universal K&N fliter cone right off my throttle body mine runs like a champ so rule that out.

Try running some injection cleaner thru the gas. Something good.

Try looking into your throttle body and see how clean it is. Once a year I spray an entire can of carb cleaner into the throttle body and in to the intake just to clean eveything out. There shops that can do it for you but injection services can be more than $80 dollars.

wp

[89T]

i'd also check the map sensor,vacum lines for a possible leak...and spark plug gaps, foweld plugs ect. just looking at the plugs will tell you alot.

visible smoke out of the tailpipe?

if so what color?

white,black or blue....