VX o2 Sensor- Which one?

[M_barr]

Originally Posted by Fuel Miser

If you refer to the $289.99 (before shipping)
NTK-NGK 24300 OEM Honda Civic O2 Oxygen Sensor
Brand New OEM Style Oxygen Sensor
OEM Honda Part #: 36531-P07-003,36531-P2M-A01
Does Not Fit Vehicles w/California Emissions
you'll want to pay attention to the final line of it's description. Check whether your "new" VX is indeed a California model. Because of stricter emmision requirements they had a different ECU, one that did not require, or benefit from, a 5 wire O2 sensor. I have heard that some inaugural year 1992 Cali cars did indeed come with a 5 wire sensor. Looks as if this was just because the parts were on hand and Honda was scrambling to get the cars to market. Have a look at the part number on your ECU (black box under the dash on the right. You should find a series of numbers, a dash, and then either -P07-L00 or -P07-L01 on Cali models. If you find either -P07-A00 or -P07-A01, you've got a federal (or 49 state) Civic. The Cali car enjoys no benefit from the pricey 5 wire, you'll do fine with the cheapo 4 wire unit.

Best wishes, keep us posted.

I checked the ECU as you suggested. It is a cali ECU with the L00 at the end. However the car does come with a 5 wire wideband.

So if i plug in a cheap 4 wire 02 sensor it will just be plug n play with the exisisting wiring harness?

I was looking at the autopartsdirecttoyou.com version of the 5-wire for 119.00. I saw a few people that got it and said it worked. My concern is that CEL light. With it on I cant pass smog and register the car. The light comes off and on.... but is on 99% of the time lol. It only shuts off when the car is cold but turn on after about 45 seconds.

I am going to do the multimeter test on the o2 sensor that I saw posted here to make sure it's that o2 sensor. But with 232k miles i'm pretty sure that is the issue.

Thanks for your response Fuel Miser I appreciate it

[Fuel Miser]

Originally Posted by M_barr

I checked the ECU as you suggested. It is a cali ECU with the L00 at the end. However the car does come with a 5 wire wideband.

So if i plug in a cheap 4 wire 02 sensor it will just be plug n play with the exisisting wiring harness?

I was looking at the autopartsdirecttoyou.com version of the 5-wire for 119.00.

This one(?):

1992-2000 Honda Civic Upstream O2 Oxygen Sensor
Lifetime Warranty!!
Brand New OEM Style Oxygen Sensor
Does Not Fit Vehicles w/California Emissions
OEM Honda Part #: 36531-P07-003,36531-P2M-A01
Fits 1992 Honda Civic VX 1.5L Only!!
Fits 1993-1995 Honda Civic VX 1.5L Upstream
Fits 1996-1997 Honda Civic HX 1.6L Upstream(Manual Transmission) Only!!
Fits 1998 Honda Civic HX 1.6L Upstream (Manual Transmission) Only!!
Fits 1999-2000 Honda Civic HX,LX,DX 1.6L Upstream w/Manual Transmission
5-Wire(May have 7 Pins) OE Plug & Play Design!!

Well, you see the issue there, I'm sure. If ever there has been a car part that has caused greater confusion, not to mention outright fraud, I'm not aware. This sensor would probably work just fine in your Civic but you'd be spending more than you need to. Oddly enough it most certainly NOT "work" in the car they're promoting it for. I put work in "___ " because it's a relative term. If one's only concern is avoiding a CEL it may do the trick. If one wants proper functioning of Honda's lean burn system one will need to be more selective.

[M_barr]

Originally Posted by Fuel Miser

This one(?):

1992-2000 Honda Civic Upstream O2 Oxygen Sensor
Lifetime Warranty!!
Brand New OEM Style Oxygen Sensor
Does Not Fit Vehicles w/California Emissions
OEM Honda Part #: 36531-P07-003,36531-P2M-A01
Fits 1992 Honda Civic VX 1.5L Only!!
Fits 1993-1995 Honda Civic VX 1.5L Upstream
Fits 1996-1997 Honda Civic HX 1.6L Upstream(Manual Transmission) Only!!
Fits 1998 Honda Civic HX 1.6L Upstream (Manual Transmission) Only!!
Fits 1999-2000 Honda Civic HX,LX,DX 1.6L Upstream w/Manual Transmission
5-Wire(May have 7 Pins) OE Plug & Play Design!!

Well, you see the issue there, I'm sure. If ever there has been a car part that has caused greater confusion, not to mention outright fraud, I'm not aware. This sensor would probably work just fine in your Civic but you'd be spending more than you need to. Oddly enough it most certainly NOT "work" in the car they're promoting it for. I put work in "___ " because it's a relative term. If one's only concern is avoiding a CEL it may do the trick. If one wants proper functioning of Honda's lean burn system one will need to be more selective.

Thanks for your input Fuel Miser. Yea if i'm going to pony up the extra doe I would want to get the lean burn running right. I would still need to grab a hold of a FED ECU as well.

Right now I just want the car to run like the CAL VX is supposed to run. Once i get the mechanical side the car running to my standards I will research more about the 5 wire. Sounds like ponying up for the NGK is the only real option. Just odd that the prices vary sooo much. oxygensensor.net has them for 190... substantially cheaper then other places.

Anyways.... I found this http://www.hybridautomotive.com/tech/o2/

I take it that this wiring modification would work? I like that the you leave engine harness alone and just use the old 5 wire cables to do your splicing.

Another quick question... I take it that the 50 dollar DENSO 4-wire o2 sensors that are on sale on rockauto.com for the VX work for this application and will turn off that CEL code?

Thanks Fuel Miser... You are saving my butt big time.

[Fuel Miser]

Originally Posted by M_barr

Right now I just want the car to run like the CAL VX is supposed to run. ... I take it that the 50 dollar DENSO 4-wire o2 sensors that are on sale on rockauto.com for the VX work for this application and will turn off that CEL code?

Did you clean and check your sensor? I've heard of code 48s persisting with "known good" sensors. If, however, your sensor is bad the Denso 4 wire will correct it, $50 is a competitive price.

Originally Posted by M_barr

I found this http://www.hybridautomotive.com/tech/o2/
I take it that this wiring modification would work? I like that the you leave engine harness alone and just use the old 5 wire cables to do your splicing.

Don't know if this would work or not but it doesn't apply to your difficulties regardless. This workaround is to "force" an incorrect sensor to play nice with your ECU. I suppose an uninformed individual might try this to avoid purchasing the high dollar 5 wire for a federal VX thereby disabling lean burn efficiencies.
For the benefit of other members let us know how things work out.

[M_barr]

Originally Posted by Fuel Miser

Did you clean and check your sensor? I've heard of code 48s persisting with "known good" sensors. If, however, your sensor is bad the Denso 4 wire will correct it, $50 is a competitive price.


Don't know if this would work or not but it doesn't apply to your difficulties regardless. This workaround is to "force" an incorrect sensor to play nice with your ECU. I suppose an uninformed individual might try this to avoid purchasing the high dollar 5 wire for a federal VX thereby disabling lean burn efficiencies.
For the benefit of other members let us know how things work out.

Looks like it is the o2 sensor. Fuel Miser do you have any idea on how I am suppose to wire in the 4 wire o2 sensor? My engine harness as the 5 wire connector where the 4 wire will of course have the 4.

[kismetsdad]

5 Wire O2 Sensor for VX:

Another source. www.sixity.com $102. Very professional. They emailed me to make sure my VX was federal and not CA when they saw my CA address. Car runs fine but I haven't check recent milage. The check engine light no longer comes on every drive.

[XyKo]

Just placed an order for the $289.99 oxygen sensor... Car have been running horribly for the entire year and I didn't care until inspection time which is today!

Been getting around 30-38mpg, so let's hopefully my cel disappears and an increase in mpg.

[feret]

Hi,

I just recently purchased a 1992 Civic VX with about 156k miles. Long story short (and why I'm posting on this thread), the CEL was lit when I bought the car which turned out to be code 48 (LAF).

I tried cleaning the sensor by soaking it in Seafoam for about 12 hours but that didn't do anything. However, I was able to find one at a pull-it-yourself junkyard that happened to get a 1994 VX in that day. I'm not sure of the mileage on that car as someone pulled the dashboard cluster.

Well, after physically comparing the sensors, I swapped them. Unfortunately, the CEL is still lit but it's no longer code 48. Upon jumpering, the CEL blinks on for 1 second, off for 3 seconds, ad infinitum. There are no short blinks. I tried clearing the ECU by pulling the backup 7.5A fuse twice to verify. According to the repair manual I have (1st Ed, 9/91), code 1 (if that's what it interprets to) indicates the Oxygen Sensor for D15B8, D15B7 & D16Z1 engines. My engine is etched with D15Z1.

So I took a closer look at the two sensors. Both sensors look exactly the same: 5 colored wires going to the same plug slots. The only difference is my original one had no markings on the sensor itself but the "new" one only says "L1H1" & "Made in Japan."

Before I dished out the fortune required to buy a new one, I wanted to check with those more experienced than I for any other things I could try.

Thanks!

P.S. I noticed in a forum about the O2 sensor socket being a pricey item. I found that my local Harbor Freight had both a deep socket version & a crows foot version for $5/each, the latter of which was on sale for $4. It works like a champ.

[benfrogg]

Okay, so I need to bump this one.
I bought a plug in type 02 from my local auto parts store when I first got the car. It was the cheapest I could find, and it did shut off the check engine light. Fuel economy has been going down recently; some because of winter fuel, some because of colder starts, etc.

I tested the A/B wires supposed to be the heater circuit. No continuity. The sensor is providing data to the ECU, although who knows what data exactly.
I'm guessing either the heater circuit is dead, was DOA, or is on two different wires. The heater could have died because it's the wrong 02 for the car too.

I went to the auto parts store to get some info about the one I bought. Turns out they sold me this:
Standard model SG335

They go for $55-85 on the web.

Anybody have any info on these? I need to know what wires are the actual heater wires. If they are mismatched, I'll try cutting and splicing.

I guess I'm going to have to buy the expensive one at some point. I just want to know what I've got here.
BTW, fuel economy is in the 50's; but I'm fighting hard for that. I've got wheel skirts, a camback, 100#'s or so less weight, travel at 55-60 on the highway, etc. I feel like I'm doing all that is possible and have since the beginning and still not into the good numbers I should be.

Thanks