Effectively kind of. Originally the VP has a 2 wire (unheated) sensor so there was no power source or earth for the heater in the new sensor.
I got a VR loom connection to suit the plug on the new VR O2 sensor and connected the input signal wire and the earth from my wiring loom to the VR plug wires (grey and black respectively from the sensor to purple and black on the loom, I think). I think I also connected an extra earth wire to the earth at this point and ran it to the engine block. So the signal earth is connected to both the ECU and to a solid earth on the block. Connections were done by exposing the wire, twisting, soldering and insulating the connections.
I then exposed the power cable to the injector circuit and ran a power source to the wire for the O2 heater circuit (plenty of power for the job and switched with the ignition) and then earthed that to a separate point on the engine block to complete the heater circuit. The heater wires on the sensor are both white because the polarity of the heater doesn't matter.
In an original installation all 4 connections would go back through the loom and the ECU (I think) but I didn't want to muck around with the inputs to the ECU or run wiring back through the firewall.
You could expose some wiring for the earth connection for the sensor signal near the firewall and run a supplementary earth to the block without too much trouble. To run it from the firewall to the front of the block I just spiralled it a few times around the vacuum lines that run from the throttle body to the charcoal cannister. Wire brush your chosen earth point to get a good, bright connection. Initially you don't need a lug to do this. Just wrap the wiring around the stud and clamp with a washer and nut. I used the earth studs just below the alternator and next to the water pump.
I think it is important for the O2 sensor to have a really reliable, discreet earth that doesn't have other power surges running through it. Maybe it doesn't get this through the earths in the ECU hence the need for the "fix" for VS O2 sensors (cutting the pink wire according to GMH thereby disabling the heater circuit) and for extra earth points if you want to keep the heater operating.
Sorry for the long winded response. I'm not a mechanic and don't really understand electrical circuits very well either and I don't want to mislead or confuse other readers. Because I was doing something non-standard mechanics just said to put a 2 wire sensor back in. But I am stubborn so I kept researching and trying new things until I found something that worked. A scientific friend agreed strongly that surges through a common earth could confuse the tiny voltage readings that the O2 sensor sends out to the ECU. The signal circuit needs the earth to complete the circuit like keeping water flowing continuously through a closed loop circuit so the earth becomes part of the signal path.
If I need to replace the O2 sensor again I will be able to simply plug in a new VR sensor as I now have a VR compatible plug on my loom.
