$79 5 wire O2 sensor - who has bought one?

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by garyhgaryh

You will never need us again LOL!
In fact, I predict you will be the VX guru sometime next year and thumb your nose at us! haha.

Haha, that'll be the day. With this manual, maybe I'll get to the point where I can actually put to use all the advice that has been given. Would be really cool if I did become somewhat knowledgeable tho. Wish me luck! I'll need all the luck I can get.

wow, this manual is 1258 pages. Unreal.

[garyhgaryh]

Originally Posted by 1993CivicVX

my mechanic is very anti-"internet people".... "Are they mechanics?" he says "If they're such great mechanics, why aren't they doing it for a living?"

Because we get paid more than mechanics?!?

Don't talk about the internet in front of him. We're stepping on his toes through you. He has experience and good general knowledge about cars, but I doubt he has specific knowledge of the VX in general. In this case, VX fanatics will know more about the nuances and specifics of the car than most general mechanics.

Gary

[garyhgaryh]

Hey guys,
I found a place locally selling a Bosch 13246 for $199!
Supposedly, this is the same NTK sensor that Honda uses.
I have a coupon I can use so I might be getting this, although
this person had some issues with this sensor:

http://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_103656/tm.htm

Gary

[GasSavers_bobski]

Originally Posted by 1993CivicVX

wow, this manual is 1258 pages. Unreal.

Take a look at page 228 if you haven't found it already.

Originally Posted by garyhgaryh

If the ECU is testing the heater resistance and it's not to spec it will throw a CEL, that's a problem.

Good idea, but the LAF heater circuit is a code 41, not 48.

[garyhgaryh]

Originally Posted by bobski

Take a look at page 228 if you haven't found it already.


Good idea, but the LAF heater circuit is a code 41, not 48.

I just happened to be searching on L1H1 sensor and I happen to click back onto this thread and noticed post #2 of this long thread.

Check out what Jadiasman said about his error (code 41). Jacinto's error code is 48. Not consistent...

From jadiasman:
The sensor that ebay store is selling looks just like the one I bought from autozone.com in 2005. If you notice the sensor has a blue wire which to my knowledge only came on the L2H2 sensor. For my 92 VX at least, the L2H2 sensor did not function properly (code 41 - sensor heater).

editing: noticed jadiasman bought his from autozone (Jacinto's from Ebay).. ignore this post.

[garyhgaryh]

Ok guys, after doing hours of research on this, I can tell you one thing. If you want to get a real L1H1 sensor you can only go to Honda for that. The reason why the L1H1s are so expensive is because only Honda can sell em. They are made by NTK for Honda. At one point in time, there was grey market L1H1. Honda or Horriba had an issues with that and took it up with NTK so the grey market supply of L1H1 were cut off. At the time you can get real L1H1 sensors for $99 or so. They have all gone up since then and are about $400 now. If you noticed on ebay, all the civic vx sensors are listed as 5-wire or l1h1 equivalent. Also, they list these sensors as working with VX and the insight, but the two sensors have different part #'s from Honda. Go figger. So.. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do right now.... Take the plunge and shell out about $400 (best price for a real one from SL Honda is about $370). I'd say this Ca to 49-State VX conversion will only save me about $120/year in gas so it'll take about 4 years to recoup the cost. I already bought the ECU so I think I'll just sit tight until someone gives me their used L1H1 sensor or sell me one for cheap....

Gary

Ps. to read more about this: http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=481895

[Danronian]

Wow. THat is a very informative article that is in that previous post!

Sad for us VX owners looking for a cheap sensor though...

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by garyhgaryh

Because we get paid more than mechanics?!?

Don't talk about the internet in front of him. We're stepping on his toes through you. He has experience and good general knowledge about cars, but I doubt he has specific knowledge of the VX in general. In this case, VX fanatics will know more about the nuances and specifics of the car than most general mechanics.

Gary

This is true, and I agree totally, but he did raise a valid point, which I feel bad bringing to light in front of this forum. No one has actually helped me solve a problem with my car on this forum. I haven't adjusted the screw on my throttle body yet, so maybe that will help, but with other things all the solutions have ended up coming from the mechanics. The sticking idle no one could figure out. The mechanic figured it out. BOTH mechanics came to the conclusion that the culprit was probably the throttle body. No one on this forum thought it was that. Another problem someone tried to help me with was the headlight. I drove home with the headlight not fixed. First thing the mechanic asked me was "did you check the fuse?" I was like, "I dunno" anyway--it was the fuse. Third thing was the VSS. Everyone on here said just replace the VSS sensor. I did do that. My speedo and odometer are still not working. Both mechanics said the cluster needed to be replaced. Even the guy who sold me the car said replace the VSS. Someone on craigslist selling their car that had the same problem as mine "the speedo not working all the time" also said "but it's an easy fix, just get a new VSS" yet, when the correct solution to the problem is a new cluster. A VSS will not fix a speedo that doesn't work some of the time (versus all of the time)

I agree, tho, in regards to VX specifics, you guys definitely know a lot more than both of the two mechanics who have worked on my car combined. I have to continually stress to them that it's a VX. The first mechanic didn't even know what a VX was. I had to repeatedly explain to him that it was a special model. Not a "DX". But... the mechanics have tons of experience from working on soooo many cars! Think about how many cars they have fixed! They fix about 5 cars a day or more. Most people on here have worked on their own cars, so they are going on their experiences of their individual car. But that isn't always going to transfer to everyone with a VX or a Metro or a Saturn. I guess my point is, we shouldn't be belittling the mechanics. Yes, they charge a lot, because they can. I understand they do make mistakes as well, but so far the mechanic I've been seeing has been doing pretty well by me. They do know their stuff by and large. They have an enormous amount of experience.

That said, please don't get me wrong, I value this resource. The spirit and willingness to help each other is really really great. I feel like I'm a part of a little niche community. Obviously many of you have a great deal of knowledge with cars, and there's been a great deal I've learned about my car through this site, which mechanics could have never told me. Besides, there are ways in which mechanics are kinda dumb. For example, it took my mechanic an hour or more to tell me the code was the o2 sensor with all his fancy computers hooked up. Why couldn't he have just used a safety pin? It's not like he was able to give me specific information in the end of the day. "It's the o2 sensor." That's all he could say. Couldn't tell me anything at all the nature of the problem with the o2 sensor. I don't know what he was doing the whole time, but it was a little bit embarrassing. How long did it take me with the help from the people on this forum? 2 minutes? So I don't think I will fire my mechanic just yet TomO, but through the friendly help of everyone here, I will try to use him less and learn to be a little more self sufficient when it comes to fixing my car!

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by bobski

No need. The ECU gets power to maintain it's diagnostic code memory through the hazard fuse. That's why pulling the fuse erases the memory. Unplugging the ECU from the car will have the same effect.


I doubt it.

Switching the ignition off shuts off the CEL, but the error code is stored in the ECU. Aside from the 2 second bulb check, the CEL only comes on when the ECU has diagnosed a problem. If you only get a code 48 from the ECU, every time the CEL comes on, it's because the ECU has re-diagnosed a problem with the LAF sensor.
The official road test conditions for a code 48 is to drive in 3rd gear with the engine speed at a constant 1500 RPM. Give it a try - 3rd gear at 1500 rpm, cycle the ignition off and back on when the CEL comes on... I bet it pops up again within a couple seconds.

I did it Bobski. I drove for a little less than 2 miles at 1500 rpm in third gear. The CEL never came on. From what I've noticed, it only comes on when the engine is cool. If the engine is hot, it won't come on. But the engine only needs to cool a little for it to come on. I'd say somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes of the engine being off it will come on the next time I start the engine. Less than 5 minutes after the engine is hot, I would say that it will not come on again. I have ruled out that it has nothing to do with bump starting, because I turned the engine off coming back from school before the engine was hot, and when I bump started the CEL came on. There is a direct correlation between hot engine and no CEL.

Gary: No dice on getting my old o2 sensor back. I couldn't find it in the dumpster. Mechanic had no intention of taking any responsibility for cutting it for me. I even explained to him that I had taken it to him to do so I wouldn't have to cut the wires. Oh well. I'm stuck with this o2 sensor. My gas mileage doesn't seem to have taken a drastic hit tho. It first hit half tank at 250 miles. That's about typical. I've been driving less efficiently this tank. But we'll see by the end of this tank.

[1993CivicVX]

One more thing, he said I wouldn't be able to solder the wires together. Because you use led to solder and led would interfere with the very sensitive o2 sensor's wires sensing of resistance, which is what he said the wires do.