HI ALL,

I WAS TOLE THAT O2 SENSORS THAT HAD 3 OF 4 WIRES HAVE A BUILT IN HEATER THAT ALLOWS THE SENSOR TO DELIVER INFORMATION WITHIN A MINUTE. I HAVE THE 1992 V6 3.1L CAMARO THAT HAS THE ONE WIRE O2 SENSOR THAT RELIES ON THE HEAT OF THE EXHAUST TO WARM IT UP BEFORE IT DELIVERED ACCURATE SIGNAL, DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW LONG THAT IS?

 

First, please dont type in all caps, its rude.

The one-wire O2 sensor works fine with stock manifolds. The 3-wire heated one is for headers when you move the sensor further away from the heads.

 

The 3 wire O2 sensor is also when you have mods done to the car. The heater helps keep it clean and allow you not to have to change it as often. For you application your 1 wire O2 sensor is fine.

 

instead of making a new thread i wanted to add to the question. I have 305 TPI with hedman headers and y-pipe. The O2 sensor is placed on passenger side right after the header and before the y-pipe. Does that mean that it only gets half of the info and that is why i can always smell the car running rich? Also would i need the heated one placed after the y-pipe for it to work correctly? I occasionally get check engine light come up while cruising around 60 mph.

 

The single wire O2 sensor does not reach it's operating temperature until 600 degrees.

 

Its not based on time but rather on temperature. The 02 sensor needs to reach around 600 degrees F' before its accurate, several things factor into how long that takes, such as air/fuel ratio, and ambient temperature. If its 10 degree's outside then obviously it will take longer than it would at 90 degree's. Also if the car is left idling after startup it may take awhile to reach temperature. At idle the heat produced is very minimal. Thats why if you leave you car idling alot it may often revert back into open loop mode even when the engine is up to temp.


No, the sensor should still give an accurate signal. Many stock setups use 1 O2 sensor on just one manifold before the y-pipe and they work fine. The main consideration when determining 02 sensor position is heat, you really want it to be as close to the cylinders as possible. If you move the sensor down to the y-pipe then you should really consider using a heated 02 due to the lower exhaust temps at that point. However a heated 02 can be used at any point relatively close to the engine. The best place is still on the manifolds or headers, but you can use it on the y-pipe without problems. Your concern of a rich mixture may be correct if the sensor is bad or weak, or not reaching operating temperature. Open loop will cuase a rich condition. The 1 wire 02 sensors are so cheap, that I'd say go ahead and replace it and see if it helps.If you had access to a scan tool that would be perfect to figure your issue out. Keep in mind that at WOT your car probably will smell rich due to the fact that the ecm usually switchs back into open loop during WOT.

 

Thanks for the info
it smells rich when just idling. Just siting in traffic or after 20 minute drive when parked i can smell it running rich. I wanted to get into burning chips and data logging but with lq9 swap that i am planing i don't want to waste money on the equipment. I guess i will just wait few more month and just get lq9.
also last time i checked it was $50 for O2 sensor, which is not all that cheap(at least for me)

 

If its that rich, you might have a failed injector. You need an ohm meter and measure the resistance of the injectors when the engine is hot. (and off)
They should all be around 14-16 ohms. If any are less than 12 ohms, that's a bad one.

Yes the computer only reads the O2 sensor that is on the driver's side. The computer fires all the injectors at once, so having O2 sensors on each side wont work.