Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

ok...i took a little cruse down to a near by town because i thought i should check it out before i take my drivers test and on the way there my car officially hit 160,000 miles...and so i check the lights because i know at certian mileages some lights are programmed to pop on and have everything checked out and i noticed my sensor light was on...

is it comming on at 160,000 miles a precautionary thing or a sensor really gone poop on me?

cecil

by definition it's not really a straight indication that the sensor is about to go. How's the car running? If fine, leave it alone and reset the light. If it's a little rough, and/or if you're up for emissions check, you might want to change it especially if you don't know if or when it's ever been replaced.

To reset the light, remove the plastic panel on the outer passenger side kick panel. It's just a couple of Phillips screws. There's a silver box inside with a button. Hit the button and you're done.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Your sensor light came on at 90k? Well that shouldn't be. In fact the sensor light is suppose to be unplugged at 90k. As for the sensor, the O2 sensor will need a periodic check up, usually every 30k miles...but after 90k, you don't really need to worry about check the o2 sensor unless you have performance problems. If you car is running fine, all you need to do is disconnect the light. To do that, there is a harness near the driver side kick panel, you'll have to track the bundle of wires there. The sensor harness should be clearly labeled. All you do is unplug the harness and your ready to go.

S

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

well it came on...i have only had the car a little more than a month...mabe it thinks it just made it past 90,000 but it clearly says 160,000...it knocks some and there are some other funky things...i dont understand unplugging the light though....shouldnt you keep it plugged in if something goes funky?

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Well, it doesn't think its still at 90k. Its set to go off every 30k miles, though it's wierd that its doing it at 160.

S

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

could it have something to do with my voltage problem? i think i read something in the book where when it gets irraqtic like that it causes the sensor light to go on, it could be my O2 sensor too because even though it passed emmissions when i bought it it still has really smelly exhaust...atleast it doesent smell like rotton eggs

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

yeah, your probably fine....though you want to go ahead and disconnect the light anyway. As said before, if your car is running fine, there shouldn't be any prob.

S

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

other than the electrical probs and slight knocking (pop and i have been fiddleing with the timing) its running fine...i mean it has problems that most people have with these like loose connections and air regulator problems but i go through and check the connections and well...i guess i'll just put tape over the light so the person giving me my drivers test doesent freak...

cecil

Huh? What are you guys talking about? The light is tied to the odometer, and it's set to go off every 30k miles. I've never heard that it's supposed to be disconnected or deactivated after 90k -- the sensor is a wear part and it's intended to be replaced periodically. What difference does it make if it's at 90k or 120k or whatever?

The fact that it went off at 160k just means that at some point it was reset 10k miles "off schedule" -- i.e. at 40k or 70k or 100k or something.

Put tape over the light? Disconnect the harness? What? Just reset the light, whether or not you choose to replace the sensor, and move on. It will go off again at 190k.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

ummm....dude, this is covered in the FSM. On my 86 FSM, Page MA-15 it says:

"Exhaust sensor should be checked after every 30,000 miles of operation. After the vehicle has been operatoed for 30,000 miles, exhuast gas sesnor warning lamp will come on to indicate that sensor should be inspected. After inspection, reset warning lamp hold relay so that warning lamp will come on after the next 30,000 miles. If sensor should be checked at 90,000 miles of operation (After the third inspection), disconnect warning lamp harness connector."

According to that you don't need to waste your time reseting the sensor every 30k miles. The sensor just requires inspection for the first 90k miles.

S

cecil

damn... i knew my losing my FSM would come back to haunt me... (HAH!). And sorry... I didn't mean it if I came across wrong.

OK, I defer to the manual, but it still doesn't make any sense to me. If the O2 sensor is still working and if it can cause rough running, why wouldn't I want the light connected? Resetting it takes 5 minutes...

I figure on Niku's car someone kept resetting it instead of disconnecting.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Well, here is the thing, remember, our cars came from the day when idiot lights, digital dash, and drive computers were the coolest things on earth. As you said, this light runs off the odometer, and isn't directly associated with the o2 sensor. So if the light did indeed go off, the o2 sensor could be in perfect working order, it could be bad. I guess then if would be a matter of preference if you want to leave the light on.

S

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

well ok yea idiot lights but still they have most of the gauge's that matter...they dont have OIL temp or WATER temp...(am not sure which temp guage in our cars is what) but they still have most of the gauge's needed with lights for extra idiot proofing...

and of course it doesent have a boost guage but thats for obvious reasons

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Umm all 2nd gens have volt, water, oil, and fuel gauges....dunno why you said they don't. :P Like you said, some of the lights are for idiot proofing the car, some of the lights (like the sensor light) are there to make people think something is wrong so they would get the car serviced, etc...

S

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

i think you read that wrong...i said it doesent have oil or water (has one but not the other type of thing) temp and boost for obvious reasons