So Monday night I had my Check Engine light suddenly come on after I spun the tires some from a stop. I got it checked the next day and Autozone said it was the O2 sensor. I thought maybe it was some bad gas, or I should check that issue first. So I have 89, 100% gaseoline in now, and the light has still been on. I know that I have used up all the 87, with some ethanol crap mixed in it.
So whats next? I need to buy a new sensor I suppose. But should I just get a wideband, spend just a little extra...it has to be welded in though right?...i will be getting it tuned soon and I read its better to have a wideband. I don't know alot about wideband. ..
What should I do?
Thanks
first of all, what was the code? just because somebody at autozone said it was the o2 sensor does not mean the sensor is bad.
87 Firebird
All stock...........lol.
I didn't think of asking what code, Ill try and get the exact code from them tomorrow, before work. They just said it was the O2 sensor.
the o2 sensor is probably the most misdiagnosed problem in the history of the automobile. yes they are a wear item, and yes they can go bad. but there are many other things that can be wrong when a code shows that the o2 is reading something out of the ordinary.
87 Firebird
All stock...........lol.
forgive me if im wrong here.. But dont codes stay active until so many drive cycles without further incident? It may just take some driving time to clear the code.. It could have just tripped on the hard takeoff..
You using 89 instead of 87 is doing more harm than good, read up on it
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
Whats wrong with 89? lol. Ill research that....
The code has dissapeared on its own...I am running 100% gas 93 from shell, idk what the heck happened. But it hapened with 87 gas i got from BP
anybody ever think to grab a real scanner and view the code history and examine the readiness sensors, or the fuel mix, or check to see if theres a burnt wire....
Verocity wrote:Whats wrong with 89? lol. Ill research that....
The code has dissapeared on its own...I am running 100% gas 93 from shell, idk what the heck happened. But it hapened with 87 gas i got from BP
It disappeared because it was a one-time thing.. you have to run something like 5-10
Drive cycles to clear a code without a scanner...
Drive cycle
and running a higher octane then your owners manual suggests is a waste of money and is actually bad for the motor (unless you've added boost or something, then i have no clue).. from what i understand, the only reason to use a higher octane would be if you have a ton of crap caked in the cylinder, which increases compression and causes detonation... so the higher octane would help in that situation as it doesnt ignite as quickly..
I know people who swear that 93 gives them more power.. but i think its all the placebo effect in my opinion.. Run what your manual says..
paul bateman wrote:
and running a higher octane then your owners manual suggests is a waste of money
in
most cases i would agree with you.
Quote:
and is actually bad for the motor
show your work. a higher octane fuel will not damage your engine in any way. at least not something you can get from any local fuel pump.
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my thinking was if the motor is designed to run 87, running 93 wont burn as it should.. which over time is not good for a stock motor, like anything else... not saying its going to actually do anything drastic or severe.. My bad if thats flawed, but its what i've been taught.. lol
and yeah i did say they were circumstances where the higher octane is beneficial.. i gave the one example i know, i wouldnt doubt there being more but thats the extent of my knowledge..
then you've been taught wrong. octane rating has nothing to do with how completely a fuel burns. its merely a measure of how resistant to pre-ignition a fuel is.
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in the interest in actually knowing what im talking about.. lol... so it will burn completely regardless, it just stops pre-ignition (or helps to)?
I can understand the need for that in a high compression engine, but then what purpose at all would that serve in a jbody with like 9.5:1?
The reason most go to higher Octane with boost is because ot resists knock more. Same can be said n/a. If you have mods, or are tuning to get more power (even with 9:5:1) higher octane can assist allowing more timing without knock.
My 01 Z24 when it was n/a with 9:7:1 compression ran better on 93 octane. Then when I started tuning saw it allowed a little more timing because of little to no knock over lower octane. This was on the same timing tables.
FU Tuning
