FAQ: O2 (Oxygen) Sensor Information

I've heard nothing but crap about Bosch O2 sensors... And I don't understand why, either, because they've been making the bloody things for years!

yap. ive put so many miles on her with the bosch and she not running as well as i would have liked. now i know why. still,oem is not cheap!

DENSO FTW...

E85 safe too

denso or acdelco when/if mine goes bad.
get them from rockauto and be done with it. i'm still on my OEM sensor at 153k miles, as are many other members with even more miles.

damn! just went online and checked out the gmdirect pric for the oem oxy sensor...$62 man i got ripped! but i had to have it then and there. sometimes ya win..sometimes you pay

Riv has 2 sensors - which one did you replace?

Albertj

The 95 has one.

Karma wrote:

The 95 has one.

...oh. sorry.

Albertj

and thank god for that! one is enough

Too bad you got HOSED!!!!!!!!

what the hell, a hose here.. a hose there..and the world keeps turning...even the hosed have opportunities to return the favor...patience is my middle name....

Karma wrote:

The 95 has one.

Just a general FWI... The 2nd sensor in the OBD II cars doesn't affect the engine, it is only to monitor the cat health. So if you don't live in a SMOG state, you can ignore that code or plug a dummy HO2S simulator into the circuit for the 2nd sensor.
(Those of you who have yanked your cats probably already know about this... )

haha! yup

Whether you yank the CAT or not, you don't normally have a problem with the #2 HO2S.
But as you say, you can eliminate the problem with a simulator, even if your using an High Flow Cat that is giving you downstream problems.

It's come up over and over again, that for some reason Bosch O2 sensors just do not work properly in the 3800s. Nobody seems to be able to identify exactly why, but they don't. The online GM dealers are the way to go for O2 sensors.

I ordered a Delphi from ZZP along with the high flow cat and other stuff back before I put the headers on.
Anyway, just thought I was doing the right thing by replacing the O2 sensor on a car that had almost 100K while I was doing the exhaust change over.
The new O2 tripped a light shortly after install and was able to watch it on a graphing scanner and saw that it was lazy out of the box.
Re-installed the original sensor and all was good and still is.
Returned the Delphi unit and he shipped me a new Denso unit that I haven't bothered to install.
Guess I should of opted for the money back.!!!

The Denso will probably work - no doubt it was tested by ZZP - and they have a good reputation from what I've read.

Hey guys,I have a few things I need to replace (codes were thrown).I need a new MAF,and a new #1 O2 sensor.Anybody know how the quality is where these parts are concerned when using the Napa house brands??The guy said he has NO problems with any of his parts including these.The MAF is a remanufactured unit.The price was very nice$147 bucks for the MAF.I don't want to drop the ball and will order the AC Delco part if you think the Napa Maf is garbage.They only have Bosch O2 sensors,so I will order the Delco unit I suppose.

madrivage wrote:

The guy said he has NO problems with any of his parts including these.

I would not worry about NAPA parts. The ones you list are not their 'economy' parts (and they do not carry that many 'economy' parts anyway). Bosch O2 sensors are fine although I like Denso and NTKs a little better if the same price.

Albertj

That's a good point. I don't know who manufactures the O2 sensors for NAPA, but I have read all over the place
that the Bosch sensors for our cars suck donkey dong...

Eldo wrote:

That's a good point. I don't know who manufactures the O2 sensors for NAPA, but I have read all over the place
that the Bosch sensors for our cars suck donkey dong...

I think the key is to keep the sensor (shell) and electrical connectors scrupulously clean on install and secure the wires and connector as they were stock (don't leave them dangling and banging around).

If you have time consider getting a Delphi sensor via rockauto.com or another mail order discount source.

Albertj

I had a Delphi arrive bad out of the box and exchanged it for a Denso and all worked good.

But, you can get any part bad out of the box. Just one of those things. I'm not condemning Delphi as that was my first choice and when I went back for a replacement, all they had was Denso, so I took it.

It said on the Denso box: Assembled in USA from foriegn components.
Now, that's a complete 180 from what I'm used to seeing.
Normally, these days it is assembled somewhere else, like Mexico, using USA parts.

Since when did our labor costs drop enough to be assembled here.
Unless it was assembled on the border of Mexico, in the US, in a non- union shop for the same cheap labor wages.

I think the Delphi was made in Israel. ?

BTW, I got the Denso unit locally from an Auto parts store and saved the shipping fee's from Rock Auto.

i ran a bosch for awhile and i can say that it sux ass. it will get you home but a ac-delco while more expensive,IME,works so much better with the stock GM system.

robotennis61 wrote:

i ran a bosch for awhile and i can say that it sux ass. it will get you home but a ac-delco while more expensive,IME,works so much better with the stock GM system.

I agree, my experience with the Bosch in a GM is they react too slow and cause problems.