Checked the Ecu today, and pulled a code 33 and no other codes.

The car has been getting pretty bad gas mileage lately, which is the main reason i tried pulling codes. Also at low rpm's the car is stumbling and hesitating a lot "bogging down", but feels silky smooth and normal above 2k rpm. I thought it would have pulled a 6X, injector, but only a 33 was given. I tried pulling plug wires to see on idle if any cylinder was misfiring, but made no difference on any cyl.
So, does anyone know where I can get a cheaper 02 sensor and are all model 02 sensors swappable?

1993 GXE
Autotragic

 

if it says 33, it means 33. deadm o2 sensor will make the car run really rich all the time, which can cause stumbling.

first check to make sure none of the wires to the sensor are broken. i "wasted" $90 on a sensor when it turned out to be a broken wire. you may need to use a multimeter with extra long leads to test the continuity of the signal wire back to the ECU connector.

if none are broken then go ahead and cough up the dough for a new sensor. it'll pay for itself in no time. i went from 15mpg to 23mpg when i fixed my wiring (ie, went from NO sensor to brand new working sensor). your results wouldn't be as good (going from a worn out but working sensor to a new sensor) but even so you'd probably get a 4-5mpg improvement.

 

Holy ***** yea i'm getting about 15mpg right now haha and it is hurting. Dude, now that I wrote it out I just realized that when I got my new flex section welded in one of the 02 sensor wires(raided ground wire) i think was all broken and corroded, it might just be that it's that wire. I completely forgot about that! thanks for the quick reply. I'll go fix/check that wire situation before anything else.

 

eh, i dunno if the braided wire is specifically for the o2. if a broken wire is to blame it's probably one of the 3 going to the sensor plug itself.

 

ok, i'll check the whole thing and the clip connection, incase that is corroded etc. is there any use in cleaning the sensor itself?

 

eh, that i don't know. it might be sensitive to cleaning agents.

 

yea, i just wiped it off, no cleaning agents, just a rag. it was really really sooty. that normal? went for a drive around the lock, gassed up, came home and checked the codes again, got a 55, but i don't know if the drive was long enough for it to store one.
thanks for all the help caped.

the car is still stumbling whenever engine speeds are between 1500-2000rpm

 

did you clear the codes on purpose? you might need to drive a little bit longer for a code to show up. as far as i knew he outside of the sensor is just a shell, you would need to be more concerned about the stuff on the inside that you can't see.

 

I don't believe i know how to "clear the codes" after reading the codes i just took the keys out and drove it.

I know that injectors can be a right PITA to get codes to actually show up. but ive ohmed in all mine and they are in spec still. So maybe time for a new airfilter/plug wires/disty/vacc line?

 

well they stay stored for 50 starts. so the only way to clear them is for the problem to go away and start the car 50 times, or to unhook the battery, or to manually clear them.

 

no, i didn't clear them then. The wires are undamaged and the connector clip looks fine too, so it looks like i'll cough up the dough for the new one. Courtesy parts has them for 129$, Other places online have them as cheap as around 60-70$ is there anything to look out for as far as getting a crappy reman that'll just die, or a brand out there that just plain sucks etc. that i should avoid? also, are all 3rd gen o2 sensors swappable or do i need to find one specifically for a 93 gxe?

 

get a bosch one from autozone...... since bosch is the OE manuf. for the part you'd get from the dealer anyways. and i think all 90-94 VG are the same. some have said that the 89 had a 4 wires

 

Thanks, went to Lordco and got one for 100$, they had one in stock which was lucky. It was a NTK. The old o2 sensor was NTK also.? still have to take it for a drive but it's lookin good.

 

Damn. Amazon has a bosch for $52 and free shipping. Wish I woulda caught you sooner.