What's the life span of an oxygen sensor?
- Thread starter Ken4
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Yes, let it be.
It could last forever or fail tomorrow.
It could last forever or fail tomorrow.
I agree-wait. Unless you suscribe to the 'ol "fix it til it breaks theory"
Patman
Staff member
One out of the two on my car was failing quickly a few months ago, so I changed both of them. The car is a 1995 Firebird and it had about 70k on it at that time.
I seem to recall my mom's 94 Probe GT had it's oxygen sensor fail around 1999 and it too had around 70k on it I believe.
I don't know how long o2 sensors last and I doubt any OEM will give us their time to failure analysis. But my experience indicates a good long life span. Saturn bought new July 1996 125k original o2 sensor and still going. Ford F-150 bought new December 97 140k original o2 sensor and still going. Drove an 85 Tempo 180k in 7 years still had the original o2 sensor when the crusher got it.
Often you will notice a bad O2 sensor long before the check engine light activates. Bad O2 sensors can cause all sorts of driveabilty problems. Power loss, hesitation, poor mileage, etc...
Jason
Jason
I suggest you read your vehicle owners/service manual and follow the O2 sensor change interval suggested there for three good reasons.
1. A slow reacting O2 sensor can cause you to fail an emissions test (especially for NOx), and it puts additional load on the catalytic converter(s) causing it(them) to wear out sooner than normal.
2. O2 sensors are usually coated with anti sieze compound so that they can be more easily removed.
Waiting too long can cause the anti sieze to loose its effectiveness. That can change a 15 minute job into a 6 hour ordeal. If you strip the hex off a stuck sensor taking it out, some cars require removal of the cylinder head, the exhaust manifold, or, the catalytic converter to get at it.
3. Properly functioning O2 sensors reduce vehicle emissions and improve your fuel mileage.
The OEM's don't suggest the O2 sensor change interval without good reason. I would't try to second guess them.
You can find some suggested change interval info here if your service manual is unavailable:
www.oxygensensors.com
I prefer Bosch sensors but to each their own.
Chumley
1. A slow reacting O2 sensor can cause you to fail an emissions test (especially for NOx), and it puts additional load on the catalytic converter(s) causing it(them) to wear out sooner than normal.
2. O2 sensors are usually coated with anti sieze compound so that they can be more easily removed.
Waiting too long can cause the anti sieze to loose its effectiveness. That can change a 15 minute job into a 6 hour ordeal. If you strip the hex off a stuck sensor taking it out, some cars require removal of the cylinder head, the exhaust manifold, or, the catalytic converter to get at it.
3. Properly functioning O2 sensors reduce vehicle emissions and improve your fuel mileage.
The OEM's don't suggest the O2 sensor change interval without good reason. I would't try to second guess them.
You can find some suggested change interval info here if your service manual is unavailable:
www.oxygensensors.com
I prefer Bosch sensors but to each their own.
Chumley
Would this be a correct summary:
(1) If your owner's manual says replace the O2 sensor at a certain number of miles, do it.
(2) If your owner's manual doesn't say to change the 02 sensor...
(A) Leave it in and don't do anything until the check engine light comes on.
(B) Leave it in, but replace it if your gas mileage goes down or the car runs poorly despite a normal tune-up.
(C) Choose to replace at some interval. Note: It's the manufacturer's responsibility to replace a defective 02 sensor until the emissions warranty runs out. I think this is about 80-100K miles these days. The mandatory emissions warranty tends to force the manufacturers to put better 02 sensors in their cars, so life expectancy should be going up all the time.
(1) If your owner's manual says replace the O2 sensor at a certain number of miles, do it.
(2) If your owner's manual doesn't say to change the 02 sensor...
(A) Leave it in and don't do anything until the check engine light comes on.
(B) Leave it in, but replace it if your gas mileage goes down or the car runs poorly despite a normal tune-up.
(C) Choose to replace at some interval. Note: It's the manufacturer's responsibility to replace a defective 02 sensor until the emissions warranty runs out. I think this is about 80-100K miles these days. The mandatory emissions warranty tends to force the manufacturers to put better 02 sensors in their cars, so life expectancy should be going up all the time.
Interesting, I went there to see what's recommended for my car, and they just said at 30-50,000 miles.
Funny thing, they would be happy to sell you a sensor at this site.
Just looked at my owner's manual. The federal government mandates the manufacturer be responsible for all my emissions components, including the 02 sensor, for eight years or eighty thousand miles.
I changed the O2 sensor on my '95 Civic with 115,000 miles or so ... made no difference in the way the engine ran, mileage, exhaust bouqet, etc ...
--- Bror Jace
--- Bror Jace
I have a 96 F150 that checked out with no problems at the dealer. I hooked it up to a private guys scanner (I think it was a Sunstation or something) which actually gave a readout of the O2 voltage output. The O2 sensors were extremely wore out. They still worked within Ford's specified range but took 2 seconds between cycles instead of the proper miliseconds. I changed out the sensors and my mileage jumped about 4 mpg.
O2 sensors can be wore out but not through a CEL.
HL
O2 sensors can be wore out but not through a CEL.
HL
a little somthing to note, take out your o2 sensor and burn the crap out of it with a propane torch.this cleans off the carbon. o2 sensors dont actually go "bad" they just get clogged up with carbon. after a good burning with a torch, most o2 sensors can be made to work good again, and if it doesnt, so what you were gonna replace it anyways. it cant hurt to try rite?
one of the manufactueres for aftermarket o2 setups (for old cars with carborators) actually states this in their instruction manual, i forget who it was though, but they used a generic bosch o2 sensor in their kit. it was edelbrock or somebody....
one of the manufactueres for aftermarket o2 setups (for old cars with carborators) actually states this in their instruction manual, i forget who it was though, but they used a generic bosch o2 sensor in their kit. it was edelbrock or somebody....
A good scan tool is the best way to check by observing the oxygen sensor's read out. I've had sensors show up bad doing that w/o setting any codes.
Patman
Staff member
That's what happened with me. When we checked out how my LT1 was running via the Datamaster software, we could see that one bank was running very lean, as low as .800mv at full throttle.
About 6-8 months later the check engine light came on, and you guessed it, it set the code for a bad o2 sensor (left bank lean I believe was the code) So I just had both sensors replaced, just to be safe, since the car had 70k on it at the time, so they were probably due. The LT1 seems to go through o2 sensors at about this mileage.
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