[stephanie]

last night my check engine light came on but luckily i was near an advanced auto parts so i stopped in so they could give me a print out of what it is. they checked it and told me it was an oxygen sensor.. about 100 bucks for a new one. they were pretty busy so i didn't really get to ask any questions..

... is it safe to drive the car?
... would a bad oxygen sensor make my RPM's jump, even if i was driving down a flat, straight road, not taking my foot off the gas? this happened the other day a couple of times but it didn't do it any more after that.

and i had another question but I can't remember right now...

 

[FemGearHead]

A bad 02 sensor can cause the car to run rich.

You can try buyoxygensensors.com and see if the prices are cheaper. *edit* It appears they don't sell them for our cars.

I would replace the 02 sensor asap.

 

[stephanie]

I just got my car in with my mechanic at 1 this afternoon so I don't have to worry about doing any damage to it.

 

[dg2006]

Consider yourself lucky at 100 bucks. My Cadillac has 4 oxygen sensors and they run about 360 bucks each, I hate that damn car!

 

[mica3speedy]

wouldn't this be something covered under warranty :dunno: ? I had an o2 sensor go out on my previous car; the dealership blamed it on my cai, but ended up replacing it under warranty anyway.

 

[stephanie]

I just verified it and yes it's covered under warranty. for some reason i thought my warranty was up. the dealer told me that they have never had to replace an o2 sensor on a 3 yet.

 

[stephanie]

the light went off on Wednesday but came back on last night so I am taking my car to the dealer on Monday. Any chance it will crap out and die this weekend because of a bad 02 sensor? I've never had to replace one before so I have no idea...

 

[NYKNIGHT]

[quote author=stephanie link=topic=65970.msg1131342#msg1131342 date=1167857829]
I just verified it and yes it's covered under warranty. for some reason i thought my warranty was up. the dealer told me that they have never had to replace an o2 sensor on a 3 yet.
[/quote]

There's a first for everything. Unfortunately that is you

 

[71spitfire]

My dealer told me almost every time I took my car in that mine was the only one they had seen with that problem. I think the service managers have a recording of that installed when they go to training school! LOL

 

[wrathchild613]

hmmm...looks like i'm boned.

finally installed the vibrant header the other day, and the primary o2 sensor has frickin' merged with the metal threads on the stock manifold...

we tried everything to get it off...
we even stuck it in a vice and threw a PVC pipe on the wrench for extra leverage and torque.
...in the end, the bolt on the o2 sensor is stripped. and i can't really replace that using the whole warranty thing, on account of the fact that i took it all out of my car.
they'd do more than just not replace it for free...they might threaten total warranty void because of my CEL and the o2 sensor.... SHIT!

 

[azazel1024]

[quote author=wrathchild613 link=topic=65970.msg1495764#msg1495764 date=1182151630]
hmmm...looks like i'm boned.

finally installed the vibrant header the other day, and the primary o2 sensor has frickin' merged with the metal threads on the stock manifold...

we tried everything to get it off...
we even stuck it in a vice and threw a PVC pipe on the wrench for extra leverage and torque.
...in the end, the bolt on the o2 sensor is stripped. and i can't really replace that using the whole warranty thing, on account of the fact that i took it all out of my car.
they'd do more than just not replace it for free...they might threaten total warranty void because of my CEL and the o2 sensor.... SHIT!
[/quote]

Ummmmm, wouldn't it have been easier to put the O2 sensor in the vise (instead of the manifold) and attempt to twist it off like that? Or was there no room to get the vise onto it?
-Matt

 

[Hexedit]

I know what he means about the threads fusing to the manifold, that happened to me after I was dumb enough to put some anti seize on the threads. Bad idea.

Anyways to Stephanie, no your car will not die without an o2 sensor, worse comes to worse it will just run a bit funny or revert to open loop. Your gas mileage may go down, thats about it. No worries.

 

[wrathchild613]

agh! i'm retarded.

it's not the o2 sensor that's bad...
it's my air fuel ratio sensor...which is even worse. found out today that mazda wants $350 for a replacement one. although it is covered in the warranty, i put on the header so that just ruined my chances with playing that card

online it's like $200...better, but still... i really don't want to spend that much money on a frickin' AFR sensor...
...my only hope...is to go to mazda 3 heaven...THE JUNKYARD. (such a sad place...) haha.

 

[Hexedit]

[quote author=wrathchild613 link=topic=65970.msg1498299#msg1498299 date=1182221949]
agh! i'm retarded.

it's not the o2 sensor that's bad...
it's my air fuel ratio sensor...which is even worse. found out today that mazda wants $350 for a replacement one. although it is covered in the warranty, i put on the header so that just ruined my chances with playing that card

online it's like $200...better, but still... i really don't want to spend that much money on a frickin' AFR sensor...
...my only hope...is to go to mazda 3 heaven...THE JUNKYARD. (such a sad place...) haha.
[/quote]


hahahahaha that was classic.

Your so called "afr" sensor, is in fact an o2 sensor. SURPRISE! Hahaha the o2 sensor measures the burned hydrocarbons in the exhaust in relation to the amount of air flowing past it and in return tells you what your AFR is. We have narrowband sensors so all it can tell you is whether you are rich or lean, but not give an accurate reading of the AFR

 

[azazel1024]

Umm, yeah that is an O2 sensor (I have never actually heard anyone call them AFR sensors before).

And that is whicked expensive. The replacement on my old saturn, which was a narrowband sensor as well was like $40 for a bosch O2 sensor. $350 sounds like way to much, maybe ball park if it was a wideband sensor, but I don't rightly know of many vehicles that come with WBO2 sensors from the factory (it sounds like the cali emissions Mz3 might have a WBO2 sensor, but not sure).

When it comes down to it electrically and materials wise a narrowband sensor just isn't all that complex.
-Matt

 

[Hexedit]

I highly doubt any 3 has a wideband and yea I can pick up a new bosch wideband for 50 bucks. 350 does sound like overkill....

 

[wrathchild613]

that was dealership price.

here's what i'm talking about.
http://replacement.autopartswarehouse.com/parts/autopartswarehouse/wizard.jsp?year=2006&make=MA&model=3--001&category=All&part=Air%20Fuel%20Ratio%20Sensor&dp=true

 

[Hexedit]

yes that is indeed a narrowband o2 sensor. Don't know why they call it an AFR sensor. As to why it is so expensive I have no idea.

 

[wrathchild613]

yeah i know...

and that's the sensor that goes in the o2 position on the header...
looks like i'm stuck with this unless i can find something better...and cheaper. :?

 

[azazel1024]

Well some of it is making money. I imagine not to many people manufacture them for the 3 right now. Also I didn't realize it was a 4 wire sensor, I thought it was a 2 wire. 4 wire sensors are heated type narrow band. It means that the use system power to heat themselves up to operating temperature and to stay at operating temperature (so that they come up to temperature MUCH faster and don't drop out of the operating temp band (which isn't common on non-heated sensors, but it can happen)).

They tend to be more expensive...but not x4 more expensive, like 1.5x more then a normal narrow band.

I guess that is what happens when cars are pretty new, especially if the electrical plug and/or fitting are particularly unique or uncommon sizes they probably just have low demand.
-Matt