Ok I'm very aggravated right now so if I sound angry its because I am. I got a check engine light back in march. Turns out its the primary o2 sensor on the exhaust manifold. Dealer says "yeah crazy never seen that problem before so $270 for the sensor, and $150+ to install it and calibrate it" I said plus because I don't exactly remember.

Of course this happened at about 42000 miles maybe 45000. So of course its not covered in the power train warranty. Why would the exhaust be part of the powertrain. I talk to bluecell he says save money and clean it. Well finally early in june I decide to take it to someone "mineke" (spelling?) and they try to take it out and clean it. I emphasize try here because they couldn't take it out. Said it was in there good. And if they keep trying they will round it off or worse break the threads in the manifold. But they tell me to drop the cat and spray some carb cleaner in the manifold on the o2 sensor, and it will have the same effect as taking it out and cleaning it.

I called marcus he confirmed so finally today being the 5th of July I have a full free day and lots of energy so I drive the car to my grandparents put it on ramps and crawl under it to remove the cat. Much easier said than done. There is no room to maneuver a socket in there so it takes for ever. Finally it comes off, so I spray it real good. Put it back on check for leaks no leaks so I take a drive down the road, no check engine light. Keep in mind I took the negative terminal off so the ecu would reset itself. So I park the car I am thoroughly happy at this point. So I drive off down the road later and before I even get to the highway, say about 4 miles or so driving at 40mph BAM CEL. Now I'm thoroughly pissed off.

It was worth a try cleaning it I will admit. But now I'm going to have to change it and I'm probably looking at a minimum $500. That is #@%&ing ridiculous. The car only has 56000 miles on it. Why the @%$# am I changing an O2 sensor on a car that is just beginning to get broken in. At this point I'm so thoroughly frustrated that I never want to buy a honda again much less a fuel injected car. Didn't have this problem with carburetors.

So if you managed to read all that. Now my question. Has anyone else had this problem? I've been told that its common among fits to have a fouled o2 sensor so I'm just wondering how common. I want to sell the car But in order to sell it I'm going to need to fix the CEL. Not to mention I'm not enjoying my 32mpg highway when I was getting 38. And the fact that it sputters and wants to die in 1st. I'm just so frustrated right now.

 

Mine's obviously because of my Turbo setup. Go to autozone, if u got it, and see what code it is now.

 

Alot of views but no replys. So perhaps I am just a bizarre case of bad o2 sensor?

 

carb cleaner to clean o2 sensor?

only thing ive heard to clean it with is white distilled vinegar. take it out, let the part that sits in teh exhaust flow soak in vinegar for about 10 minutes. allow to dry. it shoudl look like brand new.
reinstall.

when you put the o2 sensor back in, use soem anti-seize on teh threads. alos, they do NOT need ot be really tight. hand tight +half a turn with a wrench shoudl be plenty....jsut enough so it doesnt leak.

 

If you cleaned it, reset the ecu and the code came back, its time for a new sensor. My recomendation is to look up the Bosch part number on autozone's website, from there take the part number and do a google shopping search on that number, sort the results by price and buy it cheap. Install it yourself. You took the car to a Meineke and they couldn't get it out, odds are they don't actually know what they're doing.

 

The cheapest I can get the part is 250$ and that is through another resource. Autozone is $270ish

I looked at what they were doing and they were wrenching on the right part. Its just in there good. And without a lift there is no way I can get under and get the leverage on it to get it out.

 

I hate to be the one to say this, but you would have been better off having the dealer fix it. I'm not sure you can 'clean' an O2 sensor - never heard of that before.

 

yeah, perhaps you can't clean one. But it was worth a shot to spend the $3 something on a can of carb cleaner and an hour of wrenching to try to save $500

 

I'm not going to do the legwork to find the part cheaper for you, so if you want to spend extra money go right ahead. But I've done this a few times so I'm not just pulling shit out of my ass here. Take that Bosch part number from autozone and plug it into a google shopping search and sort by price lowest first. You should be able to find that sensor for about $50.

 

I have pulled out both of my 02 sensors with my car on jack stands using a 12" crescent wrench more than once....

 

8th Generation Honda Civic Forum - View Single Post - Give your OEM WBO2 a new lease on life

 

Well I'll be. Using alcohol to speed up drying to boot. I've nursed them along in my 96 Sedan Deville, but never realized you could refurbish them. You defiantly don't want to submerge them.

Time to go home - I learned something today. Oh, that's right, I am home_

 

just to do it? or you had problems too? How many miles do you have on the fit now?

 

https://www.oilfiltersonline.com/pro...7&item_id=2958

so yes you were right it can be found cheaper.

 

I installed a new header and down pipe but messed up on the header install because I am old and the lighting was bad so I had to do it over again right.... Since then I refuse to work on my car unless I have had plenty of sleep.... I only have 32K on the odometer and alternate between driving easy and fast but take it easy on the clutch and drive train.

 

FWIW I had the exact same issue at 44k. It seems like it should be an emissions part and under warranty but I guess not. I have it out right now sitting in vinegar. benardi has it for 188.32
Honda SENSOR, AIR FUEL RATIO - Bernardi Honda Parts and Accessories

 

Thanks icedMocha for the Bernardi link. Was it your upstream sensor that went out?

 

changed mine awhile back. The CEL is gone. But apparently it still has a code. Dunno was it means. I've been too busy to think about it lately