A failed O2 (Oxygen) sensor Testament obtain a govern contact on your vehicle's engine performance. You might observance an accretion in fuel consumption, which in turns affects exhaust emissions. However before you blame the sensor or mind to the repair shop, drop a infrequent tests to probation the Element's operating process. You can perform a no problem troubleshooting and maintenence procedure with the ease of a voltmeter.
Instructions
1. Ride your automobile for approximately 20 minutes at highway quickness to bring the engine to operating temperature, then stadium the vehicle where you pathway to evaluation the O2 sensor.
2. Stand the front of your vehicle with a floor jack and agency it on two jack stands, whether you must to attainment access to the O2 sensor. Deviating vehicles hold contrastive requirements for testing the sensor. Practice the parking brake and block the rear wheels with two chocks.
3. Bow the engine and let it slothful.
4. Connect the chestnut probe of your 10 megohm digital voltmeter to the expression wire of the O2 sensor complete the sensor's electrical connector. Connect the metre's melanoid probe to a metal Element or bolt on the vehicle's chassis.
5. Fix the metre to the mV conduct voltage scale. Turn on the metre. The reading on the arrayal should fluctuate rapidly between 0.1 and 0.9 volts (100mV and 900 mV).
6. Hunt for an assistant to pull off a vacuum hose, akin the one connected to the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve. The valve is about half the size of a spark plug. Is mounted on or connected to the valve cover with a hose on one side, and connected to the intake manifold with another hose on the other side. The extra air going into the engine should make the sensor output voltage go down to 0.2 or 0.3 volts (200 mV or 300 mV), which indicates a lean air/fuel mixture. Replace the vacuum hose.
7.9. Turn off the engine and lower your vehicle off the safety stands, if you had to raise it. If your oxygen sensor fails to react to the changes in air content, you need to replace it.
Disconnect the air duct from the air intake assembly with a Phillips screwdriver and ask your assistant to block the opening with a shop rag. The air intake assembly connects the throttle body to the front of the vehicle with an air duct and contains the air filter.
You can disconnect the air duct at the throttle body or air filter housing, depending on your vehicle. The oxygen sensor output voltage should rise to about 0.8 or 0.9 volts (800 mV or 900 mV) as the air going into the intake manifold is decreased.
Ask your assistant to open and close the throttle valve by hand. The throttle valve swings at the center of the throttle body when the accelerator pedal is depressed. The oxygen sensor voltage signal should change rapidly, reacting to the sudden change in the air going into the intake manifold.8.
