O2 sensor

[lx450landcruiser]

ok so check engine light came on over christmas break scanned it at autozone guy was dumb said nothing turned light off. came on again 3 days ago i scanned it (myself this time) pulled a O2 sensor so i need new O2 sensors how long can you drive with bad O2 sensors? is it bad for the truck? im in the hole right now since the new keys and was just checking my options.

thanks
mike

 

[whodat]

I drove a tacoma with a bad o2 sensor for 1 year...It was related to the exhaust and didn't affect the performance. It just makes the 'greenies' upset because of possible pollution.

 

[Darwood]

You could potential get worse gas mileage as well, but that's about it.

 

[cruiserdan]

There is one potential result to ponder:

If the sensors are indicating "lean" the mixture will richen and over time the over-rich mixture could potentially damage the cats.


D-

 

[IdahoDoug]

If I were you, I'd toss a can of Techron concentrate in a full tank of Premium Chevron gas and go on a 1 tank freeway trip. Lots of short distance city driving can grundge them up, and a few hours at freeway speeds gets everything nice and hot and can clean it up. When's the last time the truck went through an entire tank of gas at freeway speeds??

DougM

 

[ogsuv]

Wrong or right, I pulled my check engine bulb out 40,000 miles ago, after several mechanics saying 2 new O2's and cats "should" make it stop throwing codes. I probably get 13 miles to the gallon compared to 14, big deal, otherwise I don't notice any idle/driving/reliability problems.

 

[Beowulf]

Scott,

What codes were you getting?

Have you considered that you could be getting codes and not know it? If something were not working correctly and you were running lean in one cylinder you could melt a piston and not know there was a problem. I know that's an extreme example but the diagnostics are there for a reason and the reason is to assist with resolving problems that the ECU detects.

It seems to me that removing the MIL bulb is akin to sticking one's head in the sand.

-B-

 

[toddslater]

Mike some of the lowest cost sensors out there are at www.oxygensensors.com. I just put a new front sensor in from them...took all of maybe 10 extra minutes to cut, crimp, and heat shrink my old plug onto the universal wires. $65.

 

[whodat]

Mike some of the lowest cost sensors out there are at www.oxygensensors.com. I just put a new front sensor in from them...took all of maybe 10 extra minutes to cut, crimp, and heat shrink my old plug onto the universal wires. $65.

I'll bet you can get oem sensors from CDAN for about the same price.

 

[landtoy80]

OEM O2 sensors from Cdan is the bestist and cheapest way to go.
I had no change in preformance and mpg when I changed the O2's on the 80.
I had to replace the O2 on the Previa, it was liking to adding a supercharger to the motor. It made a big diff in preformance.

 

[toddslater]

I'll bet you can get oem sensors from CDAN for about the same price.

If thats true...I'd be all over that....but I swear I've seen cdan quote somewhere in the 120-130 range on here before. oh shiite time to go pick up the kids.....

 

[lx450landcruiser]

new oem sensors from dan are bout $100 each so not quite $65

mike

 

[cruiserdan]

If thats true...I'd be all over that....but I swear I've seen cdan quote somewhere in the 120-130 range on here before. oh shiite time to go pick up the kids.....

That would be Toyota's published list price......

 

[ogsuv]

Yeah, pulling the check engine bulb is not the ideal fix. I will pull codes today, just out of curiosity, but I believe it was 2 separate codes, leading the dealership to believe (2) )2's, and (2) cats would be necessary ($1200 ish) and no guarantees the light stays off.

I guess I could get back in dash to the check engine light, extend the wires and put the bulb under the dash or on a switch, but I couldn't stand driving aroung with that light on.

Or bite the bullet and replace all four, maybe after my birf job.... sigh.....