O2 and Oxygen Sensors
The Primary job of the Oxygen sensor is to monitor the air-fuel ratio and tell the car or truck computer to adjust the amount of fuel to the fuel Injectors. If the light on your dash has indicated that you need to replace your Oxygen Sensor, you may need to find a emission specialist to check out your vehicle to tell you which Oxygen Sensor needs to be replaced. Todays cars and trucks have anywhere from one to four O2 Sensors on the vehicle so it may be difficult to tell which Oxygen Sensor has failed!
O2 Sensors are a critical part of your car or trucks emission system. What a oxygen sensor does, like its name suggests, is measure the amount of oxygen left in the exhaust after combustion process. By measuring the amount of oxygen in the exhaust, the oxygen sensor can tell if your engine is running lean or rich and tell the computer to make changes accordingly. The oxygen sensor is one reason why vehicles are so much more fuel-efficient today than they were earlier. By very accurately monitoring the air fuel ratio, an oxygen sensor can increase gas mileage when cruising. Now oxygen sensors are used to measure catalytic converter efficiency as well.
If your catalytic converter is operating below a specified threshold the oxygen sensor will detect this and trigger a Check engine light. After so may miles a oxygen sensor can get fouled up and give inaccurate readings causing a loss of power and gas mileage. For replacement oxygen sensors, we have OEM, Genuine, Bosch, Denso and others at low prices. Oxygen sensor replacement can range from easy to very difficult depending on where it is located.
A special socket with a slit in the side for the oxygen sensor wire may be needed for removal and installation. Once your Oxygen Sensor has failed you can and will do harm to your Catalytic Converter if you do not change your oxygen sensor immediately. The typical cost for an O2 Sensor is $50-$300 dollars, at Drivewire we sell the same Oxygen Sensor you would buy at your new car dealer for half the price.
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