When trying to find the location of an oxygen sensor on your car, you should know that there is more than just one of them. Each side of your engine has two oxygen sensors, located somewhere along the exhaust system, depending on their names. They are called sensor 1 and sensor 2. This does not mean that there are always 4 oxygen sensors on a car, as there can be anywhere from one to four of these. That is why it is most important to know which sensor you are trying to locate before going in to change it.
Bank 1 or Bank 2
Each side of your engine, or row of cylinders, is considered a bank. A four cylinder only has one row of cylinders, so all sensors on that engine would be bank 1 sensors. If your engine is a V-6 or V-8 then you will also have separate banks. Bank 1 is the side of your engine that has the #1 cylinder. On GM and Chrysler products, the Bank 1 side is towards the front of front wheel drive cars, or on the driver’s side of rear wheel drives. Ford “V” style engine blocks are the opposite, and have the first cylinder on the passenger side on rear wheel drive vehicles, and firewall side on front wheel drive ones. If you are still confused, a quick check of which side of your engine contains the number one cylinder can be found by simply searching for a firing order diagram for your car.
Sensor 1 or Sensor 2
Each cylinder bank gets information from 2 oxygen sensors. This is why the names of sensor 1 and sensor 2 also have to be specified when trying to locate the oxygen sensor. Modern cars with four cylinder engines have 2 oxygen sensors. One of them (sensor one, or “S1”) will either be located in the exhaust manifold or in the exhaust pipe, just below the manifold but still very close to the engine. The job of sensor 1 is to monitor the efficiency of the engine. Sensor 2 is farther to the back of the car, either located in the catalytic converter, or in the exhaust pipe just behind it. There is a Sensor 2 (or “S2”), for each catalytic converter. The job of sensor 2 is to monitor the efficiency of the catalytic converter. So it can be a safe to assume that if you are having problems with sensor 2, then there might be a problem with the catalytic converter. The main problems that come up with Sensor 1 usually involve the heater circuit, which only lasts about 100,000 miles.
Tips and Tricks for Oxygen Sensors in your car.
The exhaust manifold is bolted to the side of the engine and has a big pipe running under the car bolted to it. You can usually reach these sensors from the top of the engine, but if you have to go through the bottom, be prepared to remove a protective cover under there, in order to get to the sensor. Getting the sensor off is usually fairly easy with the correct oxygen sensor tool which looks like a socket with a big groove cut out of it, or a 13/16 wrench which will not spread and slip on the sensor (if you use the boxed end). The socket design actually has a tendency to spread which ruins the tool and only makes the sensor harder to remove when you finally give up and put a wrench on it. Also, since sensor 1 is always the closest one to the engine be prepared to have to use some lube on it to get it out. It is not uncommon to have to turn a little then spray wd-40 on it, just so you can turn it a little more. When putting it back in, be sure to use some of the copper based anti-seize compound on the threads, so it is not as difficult to remove next year.
Now you know how to locate the oxygen sensor on any car, and can tell the difference between B1S2 or B2S1 in the descriptions. You should be able to get to the right sensor without any problems. If you need to know how to test it, then you can read this article about how to test an oxygen sensor. Stay safe, and good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment