rhonster

I got a universal (front) 02 sensor with no color guide. The center wire is red, other 2 are black and grey. Does the red go to the center wire of the adapter as the power/ecu line and do the other 2 matter or can they mix and match? tks. 97MAX.

watson

iTrader: (3)

Look at your old one...see where they each wire comes into play.

rhonster

It's not that simple. The new U has 3 wires laying flat, the old one was trianguated, equally. On the old one, the black feeds to the centre pin, with 2 whites to the outers. On the new one, Red would be in the center of the sensor, but I am not 100% sure that means it is equivalent to the black on the old one. I think real damage could result with a mistake.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

Why don't you call the manufacturer?

rhonster

The idea here is for DIY work and community support. Labor to change an 02 and use their gizmo to reset the csu is crazy when you can do it yourself. A universal sensor is $17 vs $150 for oem and they generally want an hour + at the stealerships.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

I mean call the manufacturer of the O2 sensor. Ask them which wire is ground, which is heater power, and which is signal.

If I had to take a stab at it i'd say red is heater power, gray is signal and black is ground. You could find the heater by using an ohm meter, look for the lowest resistence between two wires. Should be around 10-30 I would think, definaitely no higher than 100 ohms. I guess to figure out ground you could take the reamining unknown wire and test for voltage between the other two. You should get a positive voltage fluctuating between .1 and .8 volts with the red lead of the meter on the signal wire and the black lead on ground.

Or you could call the manufacturer of the O2 sensor and alleviate all of the guesswork.

rhonster

I contacted the ebay vendor, who sells sensors all the time. He said black to black and the other 2 don't matter. I am wary of that because of the lateral postion vs the normal trianglated. Hopefully he is right. Most times red is hot and black is ground, im nervous. as red is centre on the sensor. I cant tell who makes it, just says 'made in the usa - oxygen sensor - 404. very generic looking.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

If it is so universal, then it would make sense to use universal colors for the insulations. Which would make red power, gray signal, and black ground. Like I said, you could confirm this with a multimeter. It's a good investment If you don't already have one. Sears sells ones made by Fluke, which is the cream of the crop.

watson

iTrader: (3)

I would just try at what you suggested of which wires go to each other, than check your codes, if it doesn't work than black is probably the ground, it's all about trial error.