Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 05:37:26 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Another question about O2 sensors..
In-Reply-To: <CAB2Rwfg1Je1MfYDeHenmyxcfom3Qrg-9mJcTbPNjS03UhuW1rA@mail.gmail.com>
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That "reference ground' is one of the things (there are others, of course)
that I am unclear on.
My original heated plug, the one I just replaced with the single wire
Bosch splice-in sensor, that original one had 4 wires from the ECU to a
flat inline plug. Two were the heating wires, one was a black ground which
I 'capped off' and one was the signal wire, which I crimped with the
provided connector to the output of the single wire Bosch O2 sensor.
The original heated sensor, it had a matching flat plug to connect to the
one from the ECU, but one of the plug connection slots was blank,, and
instead, the fourth wire from the O2 sensor went around the plug with a
loop ring connector and was grounded at the engine on a valve cover bolt.
I am unclear about what happened to the ground wire from the ECU at that
plug, originally..
The plug from the O2 sensor was arranged with a gap between the signal
wire (purple from the ecu) and the other 3 wires...like this _ _ _ _ .
I was told the single wire O2 sensor gets it's ground from the exhaust
system. So as of now, I've simply left the ground wire, the one
returning to the ECU inside the shielded sheath,, the one that was formerly
connected (?) to the O2 sensor but is not required there any longer, I left
that wire un attached to anything.
So now I am wondering if that one (the black wire inside the shielded
sheath that returns into the ECU) is required to go to ground somewhere in
order to actually supply the signal from the new single wire sensor? I
guess I could connect thtat ground wire somewhere and TRY it, but I am
leery of messing up the ECU or the O2 sender with stray electrons in "bad"
paths...
Can anyone advise here?
On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you know what the plugs looked like before when the original O2 was
> failing, this would help, but cleaning the plugs, running engine, then
> checking plug colour, might suffice. You could also check the O2
> output with a voltmeter then check continuity and quality of
> continuity (move wires around to look for intermittent breaks) in the
> O2 wire(s) to/from the ECU connector. There is likely also a
> "reference" ground wire between the block and ECU.
>
> Neil.
>
> On 7/29/14, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > .... and I have driven the van about without the O2
> > sensor...it runs just fine, but I think I am getting poor fuel economy
> and
> > there is a sooty deposit on the bumper by the exhaust tip...Anyhow, my
> new
> > Bosch single wire sensor came from Van Cafe and I just installed that,
> > started the van and ran it till it was fully warm....without any
> stumbling
> > or missing...There is no cat in this van, by the way...But here is the
> odd
> > thing...I can't really tell any difference in the way it runs....It ran
> > 'perfect' without the sensor hooked up and it now runs perfect again with
> > the new one installed...But I would like to know if I now have fixed the
> > whole problem or if I actually still have a problem between the O2 sensor
> > and the ECU......and now maybe the wires aren't really connected and the
> > sensor is still in op...
> >
> > so my new question is: Is there a Backyard Mechanic way to tell if the
> O2
> > sensor is now functioning as it should be?
>
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: tubaneil.blogspot.ca
>
> '88 Westy http://tinyurl.com/c8rlw6p
>
> '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco" http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>
> Vanagon VAG *Gas* inline-VR Engine Swap Group:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/d7gd5ej
>
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