'98 Civic HX 5 spd. 49 state O2 sensor

[cems70]

My wife's HX CE light just came on 2 days ago, and I got "61" for the code when I jumped the connector (behing the lower passenger side panel) w/ a paper clip. 61 is the primary O2 sensor. The cheapest price I can find for a direct fit (non-universal) O2 sensor - and it happens to be a genuine Honda part - is $269.10 from:

http://www.partsquick.com/searchresu...en+sensor&at=4

Anyone know of a cheaper alternative? I'm open to an aftermarket one, but not a universal one. However, all the aftermarkets (NTK, Bosch, Walker) are more expensive.

Steve

[Bill in Houston]

Did you try Majestic Honda?

[jadziasman]

Actually you have two of them. One on each side of the catalytic converter attached to your exhaust manifold. Big money for each sensor from Honda unfortunately. Dealer price for both is more than $500.

Make sure that the code is not intermittent before replacing anything. My ECM threw a code 48 in my 92 VX in the beginning of January 07. I cleared the code with the 5A back up fuse in the engine compartment by taking out the fuse for 30 seconds and reinstalling it.

No codes ever since and no issue with performance or mpg either.

[Gary Palmer]

You can get that sensor, with the connector, for about $75-85 at a website called autohausaz.

[cems70]

Bill: Yes I tried Majestic. It's $321 + handling + shipping + sales tax (because Majestic is located in RI...I live in RI)

jadziasman: Per your advice, I cleared the code (had to disconnect the negativ battery cable b/c I couldn't find the back up fuse), restarted the car, and no more CE light. I hope this works like it did for you. By the way, the 61 code is for the primary O2 sensor, which is the one in the front before the catalytic converter...which also happens to be the very expensive one of the two.

Gary: I checked autohausaz.com, and the only matching O2 sensor was a Bosch for $345.

If it throws the code again and a new O2 sensor is needed (Honda part # 36531-P2M-A01), it looks like partsquick.com in my original post is the cheapest unless any others know better.

Thanks for responding.

[kwtorbe]

I have a 97 civic HX. I had the same code when I bought my car. I reset the ECU 3 times in one month to get it to go away. I have about 8,000 miles and 10 months on the car since then and no codes have been set. I recommend reseting your ecu and drivng it until it goes away as long as you get decent gas mileage still.

I found out 2 weeks ago I have a VX O2 sensor (L1H1) vs the HX o2 sensor (L2H2). My car runs fine and I get about 44mpg. I have seen them for $170. You could run that one. It will connect up the same.

Just my opinion....

[Gary Palmer]

Ok, so what I think your saying is that since your wife's car is a 5 speed, it apparently must have a 5 wire sensor. The one's I was looking at were for an Automatic, but I was unaware that the manual transmission was different.

Best of Luck. Maybe resetting the ecu will get it to work for awhile longer. That is a stiff price.

[VetteOwner]

hahaha i dunno why but i find it hilarious that my o2 sensor for my truck is $20 for a bosh one (GO GM ) speaking of i just replaced it a few weeks ago and im seeing either phenomanol mpg or the fuel guage is sticky again. cuz according to it ive gone 270 miles and i still have a 3/4 tank left...

[cems70]

Gary: Correct, my wife's HX has a 5 wire sensor, and it's a different sensor than the automatic.

kwtorbe: I'm surprised the L1H1 and L2H2 O2 sensor connectors are the same, but that's good to know in case I have to replace the sensor.

By the way, my wife's HX averages about 45 - 46 this time of year. Mostly highway 70 mph, except when stuck in bad rush hour traffic. Her car only has 95,000 miles on it, so I was surprised to see it throw the primary O2 sensor code.

[GasSavers_bobski]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

hahaha i dunno why but i find it hilarious that my o2 sensor for my truck is $20 for a bosh one

Your truck's O2 sensor is a typical lambda sensor... It reads either 0 or 1 volts with virtually no middle ground, depending on whether the air/fuel ratio is above or below 14.7:1 (well, it doesn't directly measure air/fuel ratio... it measures oxygen, but you get the idea).
The sensor being discussed here is a wide-band oxygen sensor. It accurately reads air/fuel ratios from something like 8:1 up to... I don't know what... over 25:1.
So you're comparing an on/off switch type sensor with one that spits out a meaningful measurement. I agree, the price difference is rediculous. But that's to be expected when comparing a part that can be found in every fuel injected car on the road (and then some) to a part that can be found in only a handful.