oxygen sensor

[Garth]

this is just a little story on the oxygen sensor, that way you can understand it a bit better, and mabey stop posting all the time about fuel related issues

The oxygen sensor's job is a easy task, all it has to do is measure the amount of oxygen content in the exhaust stream. The way a oxygen sensor works is it will measure the amount of oxygen content in the exhaust by causing a reaction on the oxygen sensor itself. i guess you could call this very similar to the way a thermistate operates for heat.

when the oxygen sensor react's it creates a output voltage ranging from 0.1v upto 0.9v (.1v is high o2, lean fuel/air ratio, where .9 is low oxygen rich fuel/air ratio) The 02 sensor sends this output voltage directly to the ecu/pcm (depending on model of car), this will cause the pcm/ecu to react and change the mixture of fuel/air. the way this happens is the pcm/ecu will mix the ratio by controling the length of time a injector will stay open for, (squirt fuel). The ideal fuel ratio mixture for the v6 is 14.7 parts air to 1 part fuel, this is for ideal normal driving conditions, i.e. not floging the guts out of your commie, it is this mixture your ecu/pcm will attempt to maintain while crusing at a speed above 53kmph

if your oxygen sensor is failing, the ecu/pcm will receive a constant output voltage from the 02 sensor, i.e. .6v so your pcm will alway's keep your fuel mixture at a ratio of 14.7 parts air to 5 parts fuel, as a result. yoru car will run rich, lose performance and chew fuel like there is no 2morrow
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