Hi everyone! '92 VX CA model-a bad thing?

[Ms.V.X.]

Hello! My '92 VX just got here last week, and I replaced the bald tires and steam cleaned the interior so far. Needs a few other things before starting to commute seriously in it (mirror & windshield glass issues). But it is rust-free and otherwise in decent shape.

It is white with blue interior, and is a California model, which is not so good for FE, as I understand from reading here on the forum. Looks like I would have to replace the ECU and get a 5 wire O2 senser to get the lean burn. Was it a bad idea to invest in a CA car? (at least it doesn't have rust issues, having lived its entire life in the golden state!)

[SCoupe]

A rust free working California VX a bad idea? No, of course not. Are you suffering from buyers remorse?

Do you realize how easy it is to make the change to a 49 state car? Buy the federal ecu and swap it in. The 1992 CA VX are wired for and were shipped with five wire o2 sensor in place, have you looked at yours? You very well may have one in place as it is spec'd for your 1992 VX, even in CA. You won't have a working shift indicator light, that's about it.

If you need a 5-wire o2 sensor, here is the best known source, I ordered one two years and 30000 miles ago and it is fine. $119 shipped, a true bargain these days.http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Aut...t=5&scat=20363


The margin of difference between the CA VX and the Fed VX fuel economy has narrowed as the engine has aged. The number of members regularily getting 50+ mpg out of VX is probably less than it used to be. I can get 45-47 mpg driving 60mph freeway. High 30's in-city stop and go in my 2 owner CA VX converted to fed ecu, 248,000 miles

Congratulations on your purchase, you found a gem!

[cems70]

I bought a new 1995 CA VX in November 1995 and drove it 225,000 miles before selling it in February 2006. Some day I'll calculate the lifetime fuel economy from my fillup log that I kept for every tank of gas in the car's lifetime. But if I had to guess, I'd say it probably averaged 53 mpg without any dropoff at any time except for a few weeks when I was trying to find LRR replacement tires for the original factory tires that wore out around 42,000 miles. Given the issues with the Federal VX that I see posted by members here, I'm glad mine was a CA model.

[Ms.V.X.]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement about the CA VX! I did probably pay a bit too much for it, plus having to get it shipped here from California...but no real buyers remorse so far. The dealer I got it from said he replaced the O2 sensor, so I am pretty sure he spent $30 on a four wire replacement, rather than $200 on a five wire, but haven't looked underneath it yet to verify.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by Ms.V.X.

Hello! My '92 VX just got here last week, and I replaced the bald tires and steam cleaned the interior so far. Needs a few other things before starting to commute seriously in it (mirror & windshield glass issues). But it is rust-free and otherwise in decent shape.

It is white with blue interior, and is a California model, which is not so good for FE, as I understand from reading here on the forum. Looks like I would have to replace the ECU and get a 5 wire O2 senser to get the lean burn. Was it a bad idea to invest in a CA car? (at least it doesn't have rust issues, having lived its entire life in the golden state!)

92 VXs come with wideband (5 wire) o2 sensors whether they're california or federal.. All you have to do is swap the ECU and you'll have a federal car. 93-95 VXs are the ones where you have to get a new ECU, o2 sensor and wiring harness/sockets for the o2 sensor.

Originally Posted by Ms.V.X.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement about the CA VX! I did probably pay a bit too much for it, plus having to get it shipped here from California...but no real buyers remorse so far. The dealer I got it from said he replaced the O2 sensor, so I am pretty sure he spent $30 on a four wire replacement, rather than $200 on a five wire, but haven't looked underneath it yet to verify.

If you don't have any check engine codes and your car is running fine/the check engine light actually works, then the dealer very likely replaced it with a wideband o2 sensor depending on which sensor they replaced. The dealership said they replaced the o2 sensor, but didn't specify which one I suppose. A narrow band o2 sensor is always used after the catalytic converter and those are cheap to replace but the primary o2 sensor on these cars can only be replaced with a wide band since the plugs are different.