I was taking my heat shield off and I messed up my o2 sensor.

Basically the first few threads are mangled up and I can't screw the thing back in. I actually have to take it in for service tomorrow, but it might be cheaper to just get one online. All of my car knowledge tells me that it'll just throw a code, but it's my DD, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

NO NO NO!!

That could cause your engine to go kaput.

I don't know why exactly, but I know its not good.

Somebody with extensive car knowledge back me up!

 

its not safe to ride with the o2 sensor off trust me i did the same thing with an 02 kia....not a very fun thing to do..

let me just say engine goes haywired!

 

no

 

and you're positive that it just wasn't the kianess of the engine?

 

kias just suck in general...but lets just say this was a fun car to mess with....trust me parts wouldnt hard to find..just gotta ship from korea to get them :-D

 

i drove my corolla for a week without an o2 sensor hooked up (it died and needed to be replaced and i was waiting for parts, so i just unhooked it)

it ran fine, the engine wasn't as peppy. when it didn't have the o2 sensor (the first one, in the header), the computer would guess at the air/fuel mixture.
after i replaced the sensor, i ran up 30k miles over the next few years without any problem, then sold the car.
i really wouldn't recommend it though

 

i ran my acura legend without o2 sensors for 3 yrs and it actually ran faster but it like wasted alot of gas and the fumes went thru the vents. so thats not so good the senors keep malfunctioning everytime i get it fixed after a few hrs so i gave up on it and got a tc lol

 

$157 for a new sensor, dont pay more then that!
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...05&catalogid=1

I stripped the threads on my Spipe sensor, I dremel'd the threads back on and it worked like a charm. :D

 

Go ahead. It will be in open loop the entire time and you will get crappy gas mileage. You will get a CEL. It will be about the same as when you start your car first thing in the morning right before the engine reaches 170-180 degrees and kicks in to closed loop.

JOe

 

Well. Since the topic has come up - how does one test to see if the O2 sensor is working or not?

Mine was cross threaded in the stock manifold so we heated the crap out of it and wrenched it out. We still managed to get it secured into the downpipe, though. I am a little concerned about how well it's working, just because of the crappy gas mileage I'm getting. Of course it could easily be the ECU still learning how much fuel to give the engine with the new turbo kit... I have a CEL but I thought that was inherit in the ZPI stage 0 kit.

 

You can use a VOM and backprobe the connector on the o2 sensor and watch the sweep. It should sweep from ~.3vdc to ~.7vdc. It is going to be pretty quick.

JOe

 

The primary sensor on the tC's is a wideband sensor and not a normal narrowband 02 sensor. It determines how much fuel to give the car at ALL times and not just during closed loop. Im sure it has a default map if its not working, but i DEFINATLY would NOT advise driving without it.

 

Oh crap. My bad. That changes a lot. Belay my last.

JOe

 

I ordered a proscan - so that will help determine if there is something wrong or not. Thing looks pretty kick-butt.

http://www.myscantool.com/

Much cheaper than a wideband gauge, too.