Oxygen Sensors VS V6

[Harvs82]

G'day guys,

I've just got a few queries about the oxygen sensors on the VS V6. My car is ten years old, and has covered 166,000kms, and to my knowledge, the sensors are original. The car doesn't blow any smoke at all, hot or cold, and doesn't have any problems starting when hot. I'm just wondering if the sensors are ok, or are they on the way out... I only ask as I don't often get more than 400 to 430kms from a tank each week, at times it can be as bad as 370kms. I run on premium unleaded all the time. Out on the open road the car is fine fuel wise, its just in peak hour driving, which is pretty much all I do, it seems to struggle a bit.

Your comments please....

 

[VLishes]

I drive to city 5 times a week and I only get 370~ out of a tank, in my manual VL I use to get 460 on ULP >>=\

 

[commod8]

heavy traffic will cause you to use a lot more fuel. i've heard of others who get about the same kms from the tank as you Harvs82 in peak hour, so to me, what you're getting seems ok. it also depends on how u drive, if ur taking off hard for example, but like i said, those figures seem ok. is there a heaps of traffic, where you're just crawling along at times? coz the heavier the traffic, the more stop-go driving, the worse your economy will be.

anyway, i hope this helps:
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/showthread.php?t=25688&highlight=fuel+consumption
how often do you service the car? coz when the car's in the right shape, it's will use less fuel. again, it depends on how bad the traffic is, how you drive, etc, and like i said, those figures seem ok

 

[Harvs82]

heavy traffic will cause you to use a lot more fuel. i've heard of others who get about the same kms from the tank as you Harvs82 in peak hour, so to me, what you're getting seems ok. it also depends on how u drive, if ur taking off hard for example, but like i said, those figures seem ok. is there a heaps of traffic, where you're just crawling along at times? coz the heavier the traffic, the more stop-go driving, the worse your economy will be.

anyway, i hope this helps:
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/showthread.php?t=25688&highlight=fuel+consumption
how often do you service the car? coz when the car's in the right shape, it's will use less fuel. again, it depends on how bad the traffic is, how you drive, etc, and like i said, those figures seem ok

I drive in pretty heavy traffic. The trip computer average speed is anywhere from 25 km/h to about 33 km/h, not usually much faster than that. Car is serviced every 5000kms, just put a new air and fuel filter, plugs, leads & coils in at 160,000kms. Economy isn't too bad when I do a lot of continuous driving, probably getting into the low 12s per 100kms, but in general its up around 13 to 14, and at one stage recently 15.5/100kms. The trip computer predicted a total of 330kms for a whole tank!!!

 

[Scooter79]

Also one persons view of pretty heavy traffic can be different from anothers. Peak hour in Adelaide has nothing on Sydney's peak hour traffic (I can't wait to get out of Sydney!) 370 - 420k's in peak hour traffic is your average. 420k's is actually quite good.

 

[commod8]

Peak hour in Adelaide has nothing on Sydney's peak hour traffic

thats true. but Harvs82 i think ur economy is alright. have u read that thread i posted up? if u did, did it help at all?

 

[kopper69]

Check your error codes as a faulty sensor will set error codes in your error log. If your getting reasonable kms and reasonable acceleration chances are they are fine.

Check this out for a bit of info on calculating fuel usage:

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/showthread.php?t=25688

Slightly less kms could just be a dirty throttle body (which you can clean for alot less than an oxy sensor).

 

[Harvs82]

thats true. but Harvs82 i think ur economy is alright. have u read that thread i posted up? if u did, did it help at all?

Yeah, I have read through there... I'll make a post shortly on my figures. I've actually kept a log of everything for the past 60,000kms, so I'll post some of that info up.