Upgrading o2 sensor.
After doing much reading on the anatomy of the o2 sensor I come to realize that upgrading to a later heated o2 should be beneficial especially those running extractors. In a nut shell an o2 produces a voltage via a ceramic/zirconium silicate type of material usually coated in platinum.
The voltage depends of the amount of or should I say lack of o2 gas present. This it what got me thinking, for it to work an o2 sensor must be above 320oC or there about. So when you start and run your car its takes time for the o2 sensor to even start doing anything. later came the heated o2 which includes a built in heating element that heats it above minimum operational temps thus much improving initial operating times and increasing economy/reducing emission at engine warm up times.
Also this increases the distance the o2 sensor can effectively operate away from the engine. This clicked in my head that people using extractors will benefit, also I noted some people were having ECU error codes related to o2 (code 13?) after pacemakers were installed, this will solve the problem, well I hope so.
As I understand there are 2 type of o2 a wide band and narrow band. The wide band was introduced in 1998 in volvo? so disregard any thing about those.
All other narrow band sensors output the same voltage signal verses o2 % so that makes any earlier type of o2 compatible with each other apart from plug and physical thread/size etc... I propose to adapt a VS type 4 wire O2 to work with my VP V6 soon to have pacemakers and T5.
How I will do this is by running the standard signal wire to the standard loom plug then taping into one of the ignition supply wires in the loom (probably dfi ignition? I will look at a schematic) which will provide power to the o2 heating wire.
Like to hear other people thoughts. Greenfoam will know something about the closed loop and how/when it kicks in?
Cheers
The ECU will go into closed loop either after a set time or when it starts recieving a signal. I think you have to run the O2 heater until it starts recieving a signal then you gotta switch it off else it will burn out, I dont know for sure tho. A wide band O2 sensor is just a more accurate sensor, they are generally used by air/fuel meters in the hands of tuners. Its a good idea, I like it and if I heavly mod my exhaust and get O2 sensor errors I'll try your idea.
this is a very interesting concept and i would be interested to know if this could work. aiming to get some extractors when $ comes and also looking for the best fuel economy
If the case of it switching off after a certain time, a simple delay/timing circuit will be no problem. I didn't do a diploma in electronic engineering for nothing. Its really in come handy for understanding and moding cars
I just acquired a mint condition 40Mhz cro from my unclejust need some probes
Exhaust Guru
Are you going to put a heater in the cat as well? That doesn't "light off" until a certain temperature either, around 200 deg C.
What is your reasoning behind this? I'm curious to know why you want to do it.
The reason people are having O2 sensor problems after extractors have been fitted is due to contamination of the sensor by the coating on the new extractors.
I think the heater is always on due to the temperature required for operation, especially so if you need a heated sensor because its located too far down the exhaust.
Easy enough to replace a one or two wire with a four wire sensor, just add the 12V input for the heater and make sure that the heater earth doesn't interfere with the sensor earth.
Thats interesting. Hey vlad, what sorta condition is your oxy sensor in when it was giving out a error code?Originally Posted by Not_An_Abba_Fan
no thats not my problem, other people have reported this. I am still on factory zorst ECU code 12
I found some stuff on google about it. guess I am not the only one with the idea.
http://www.fastbird93.com/Installati...Conversion.htm
Last edited by Vlad01; 14-04-2010 at 07:11 PM.
It just heats up quicker from cold so you can get into closed loop mode sooner. That may be good or bad...
guess I will have to do it and see what happens.
Exhaust Guru
My question still remains, to what benefit? Running in closed loop mode sooner will gain you what exactly?
reduced emission/better fuel economy especially stop start driving. even turning off the engine for few min (1-2 min) the whole o2 heating process has to start again.
I have experimented with a blow torch and found that it takes a fair while to start operating and few second to stop once heat is removed. So this would be a benefit to the just mentioned above.
Exhaust Guru
OK, fair enough, but you are working with 18 year old technology. It would be interesting to see before and after economy figures.
As for emissions, the cat does more than the O2 sensor, heat that too or the exercise is pointless.
cat heats it self by catalyzing a reaction within itself. Actually having less rich fuel prolongs the live and reduces cat temps. So having a heated o2 is also beneficial to the cat .
Hi Vlad01, how did you get on with this change over to the heated O2 sensor ? I have some vs heated ones and am considering trying one out in my VP SS V8. I think it sounds like a good concept as mine also has extractors and I worry that my car is flicking in and out of action due to temps.
Ps sorry to querry such an old thread but I think this could be valuable considering in NZ a litre of fuel is over $2 at the moment and Im only getting 50km per 10L !!! or 50k for $22!!!
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