On Wed, 13 Aug 1997, Erik Rhodes wrote: > > I just had a smog check done on my '78 bus and the smog check > guy said the oxygen sensor was bad, thus misinforming the computer and > making the CO output too high. Is this right? Putting in a new one > hasn't affected engine running or anything, just what does this sensor > do? The O2 sensor is a little battery. The "potential" difference that drives it is the difference between the O2 in the exhaust and the ambient O2. A "rich" mixture drives the voltage toward the maximum of its output (around .9 - .95 volts) while a "lean" mixture drops the voltage down toward zero. The computer reads the voltage output and adjusts fuel delivery accordingly. Did you pass smog with a new O2 sensor? If so, you were probably running rich (and the faulty O2 sensor couldn't tell the computer about it) which, if not too extreme, tends to imporve driveability. So you might not notice significant differences in the seat of your pants, but the exhaust analyzer gives you a "pass" instead of a "fail." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Young young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU Lafayette, CA 94549 '81 Vanagon ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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