any reason not to buy an aftermarket O2 sensor over the factory O2 sensor? tia
Denso universal is pretty darn cheap and, since it is OEM, you can count on it, too. I bought one from Amazon recently and am satisfied. A few years ago I bought an exact fit one from www.automedicsupply.com at a great price, too. (These were for two different Hondas.) Aftermarket O2 sensors do not have a good reputation, from my general reading.
Denso universal is pretty darn cheap and, since it is OEM, you can count on it, too. I bought one from Amazon recently and am satisfied. A few years ago I bought an exact fit one from www.automedicsupply.com at a great price, too. (These were for two different Hondas.) Aftermarket O2 sensors do not have a good reputation, from my general reading.
Typically your options are a universal fit sensor and an OEM replacement. The main difference in my experience is the OEM replacement has the correct plug already attached, and it costs twice as much as the universal fit sensor. The sensor element itself is the same AFAIK. In the case of a 4 wire O2 sensor, the 'universal' fit sensors will usually come out of the box with...4 wires hanging loose. You get to wire it up yourself, which if you are handy with a soldering iron and shrink tubing you can do a professional R&R job in 20-30 minutes time and save yourself some money. Or if time is more important, buy the OEM version, and then you just unscrew the old one, screw in the new and connect the plug. Chris
Typically your options are a universal fit sensor and an OEM replacement. The main difference in my experience is the OEM replacement has the correct plug already attached, and it costs twice as much as the universal fit sensor. The sensor element itself is the same AFAIK. In the case of a 4 wire O2 sensor, the 'universal' fit sensors will usually come out of the box with...4 wires hanging loose. You get to wire it up yourself, which if you are handy with a soldering iron and shrink tubing you can do a professional R&R job in 20-30 minutes time and save yourself some money. Or if time is more important, buy the OEM version, and then you just unscrew the old one, screw in the new and connect the plug. Chris
Don't buy Bosch. Bosch OEM and Bosch aftermarket may be made by different vendors, even for the same application. That's been beaten to death on the Mopar forums over the years, and unless something's changed in the last year or so the failure rates (including bad out of the box) are very high in Bosch aftermarket sensors.
Don't buy Bosch. Bosch OEM and Bosch aftermarket may be made by different vendors, even for the same application. That's been beaten to death on the Mopar forums over the years, and unless something's changed in the last year or so the failure rates (including bad out of the box) are very high in Bosch aftermarket sensors.
Because the ones Bosch sells to the aftermarket are NOT NECESSARILY made in the same plant or to the same design as the ones they sell to auto manufacturers. The Bosch aftermarket replacements, even when labelled as OEM replacments, tend to have a much higher failure rate.
Because the ones Bosch sells to the aftermarket are NOT NECESSARILY made in the same plant or to the same design as the ones they sell to auto manufacturers. The Bosch aftermarket replacements, even when labelled as OEM replacments, tend to have a much higher failure rate.
while i'm on the subject: i'm just winging this repair, so does this sound like not too halfbaked a diagnostic: driving the honda civic during a horrible rainstorm. splash through a giant puddle in the dark. car runs fine. run my errands, go home. car still runs fine. next morning, car sounds like motorboat, like it's missing half the time, but regularly. drive it around a bit; it misses at low rpm, misses at higher throttle; but at just over idle, doesn't miss. doesn't miss while coasting, but i doubt that it's feeding fuel then. occasional bang through the tailpipe, which i figure means fuel is getting through but not igniting. won't go to VTEC mode. i suspect this is limphome mode; on the lean side, too lean to ignite sometimes? because the O2 sensor isn't contributing? bottle of gastank water remover i had around doesn't help, blow-drying ignition wires doesn't help, leaving it in the hot sun for a week doesn't help. definitely spark coming through each ignition wire, using inductive tester. dist. cap looks fine. wires not loose. relevant factoid: this is a B16 engine, which apparently sticks the O2 sensor way down the exhaust pipe under the car just before the cat if the drawing inn the manual is right, unlike the d16s where it's much higher up the manifold. meaning that the O2 sensor on my B16 must have got splashed good. but is that something that would kill an O2 sensor? this can't be the first time it's gotten splashed (fun fact: the check engine light hasn't lit. ) given the reasonable level of investment of time, effort and cash involved in just replacing the sensor, which compares favorably with the level of investment of time, effort, and cash involved in getting it to a real mechanic (and noting that "real mechanics" even good ones haven't been exactly perfect at diagnosing past illnesses), i'm not averse to giving the sensor replacement a shot before giving the mechanic a shot, unless the collective wisdom here insists that it can't possibly be the O2 sensor and it isn't even worth trying.... ??? thankx.
while i'm on the subject: i'm just winging this repair, so does this sound like not too halfbaked a diagnostic: driving the honda civic during a horrible rainstorm. splash through a giant puddle in the dark. car runs fine. run my errands, go home. car still runs fine. next morning, car sounds like motorboat, like it's missing half the time, but regularly. drive it around a bit; it misses at low rpm, misses at higher throttle; but at just over idle, doesn't miss. doesn't miss while coasting, but i doubt that it's feeding fuel then. occasional bang through the tailpipe, which i figure means fuel is getting through but not igniting. won't go to VTEC mode. i suspect this is limphome mode; on the lean side, too lean to ignite sometimes? because the O2 sensor isn't contributing? bottle of gastank water remover i had around doesn't help, blow-drying ignition wires doesn't help, leaving it in the hot sun for a week doesn't help. definitely spark coming through each ignition wire, using inductive tester. dist. cap looks fine. wires not loose. relevant factoid: this is a B16 engine, which apparently sticks the O2 sensor way down the exhaust pipe under the car just before the cat if the drawing inn the manual is right, unlike the d16s where it's much higher up the manifold. meaning that the O2 sensor on my B16 must have got splashed good. but is that something that would kill an O2 sensor? this can't be the first time it's gotten splashed (fun fact: the check engine light hasn't lit. ) given the reasonable level of investment of time, effort and cash involved in just replacing the sensor, which compares favorably with the level of investment of time, effort, and cash involved in getting it to a real mechanic (and noting that "real mechanics" even good ones haven't been exactly perfect at diagnosing past illnesses), i'm not averse to giving the sensor replacement a shot before giving the mechanic a shot, unless the collective wisdom here insists that it can't possibly be the O2 sensor and it isn't even worth trying.... ??? thankx.
I would be surprised if this turned out to be an O2 problem. Sounds more like an ignition problem, especially with the puddle in the picture. Steve B.
I would be surprised if this turned out to be an O2 problem. Sounds more like an ignition problem, especially with the puddle in the picture. Steve B.
