Treefrog Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 The engine light has come up on the dash. My data reader says that the fault is one of the O2 sensors. My question is, do I need to fix that straight away (no spare cash at the moment!). If I leave it what damage may be caused? A mate said it's only really to do with emmissions so not to worry just yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I'm not sure but I think in some cases it can make the engine run very rich, if it does it will ruin your fuel consumption and be washing excess petrol down the bores as well so will eventually increase engine wear. Some more info on what sort of vehicle it is (age, engine, market spec etc) might help narrow it down a bit. Some engines if they see a fault will default to open-loop fuelling - the 4.0 Thor engine does this, I disconnected my sensors when the vehicle was brand new because at that time you could only get leaded petrol here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vougese39 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 if the lambda sensors are faulty then it will cause failure of the catalytic convertors then it is very expensive. also it could bore wash the engine and require a rebuild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treefrog Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 Some more info on what sort of vehicle it is (age, engine, market spec etc) might help narrow it down a bit. Many thanks for your replies BogMonster, looking at your signature it's actually exactly the same as yours!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally V8 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Does your code reader say which sensor it is ? If its an upstream sensor not switching as said fuel consumption will go right up.If its a downstream sensor (After the Catalyst) then there is little to worry about as its just there to monitor Cat efficiency - it does nothing to the fuel mixture. Another thing to remember is that often sensor faults get logged because the conditions prevent the sensor from working,so replacing it may not change anything.You need to make sure its dead and not just a low reading MAF or airleak etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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