The car oxygen sensor is directly installed on the exhaust pipe. Generally, ordinary family cars have 2 oxygen sensors, one before and after the three-way catalytic converter. Some high-end models with more cylinders and larger displacement generally have 2 separate exhaust pipes, 2 separate three-way catalytic converters, and 4 oxygen sensors. For most ordinary family cars, there are only 2 oxygen sensors on the exhaust pipe, and they play a big role, especially the front oxygen sensor in front of the three-way catalytic converter, which plays an important role in the good or bad engine working condition.
The front oxygen sensor detects the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas and provides effective information for the car ECU. It is the basis for the ECU to adjust the injection amount. The rear oxygen sensor is generally used to cooperate with the front oxygen sensor to detect the working condition of the three-way catalytic converter. Generally, oxygen sensors are not easy to fail, but they are prone to carbon deposits or poisoning. The poisoning is naturally caused by lead poisoning caused by adding inferior fuel. Even if qualified fuel is added, carbon deposits are difficult to avoid. As long as the engine's mixed gas is not fully burned, a large amount of carbon deposits will be generated. These carbon deposits will be discharged outside the car through the exhaust pipe, but some will adhere to the oxygen sensor, causing carbon deposits on the oxygen sensor. As the accumulation increases, the sensor sensitivity will naturally decrease or fail.
Considering that the engine cannot always maintain a good working condition, such as a cold car environment, the engine mixture ratio is easily imbalanced and the combustion is incomplete, so carbon deposits are inevitable. Fortunately, the carbon deposits on the oxygen sensor are reversible and can be restored by cleaning. If the car has these three fault phenomena at the same time, it probably means that the oxygen sensor needs to be cleaned, but there are also prerequisites.
1. The engine fault light is on
Generally, when the sensor fails, such as the water temperature sensor, air flow meter, oxygen sensor, etc., the engine fault light will be on, which is one of the preliminary bases for judging whether there is a problem with the oxygen sensor.
2. Exhaust pollution emissions are aggravated
This is mainly reflected in the annual inspection, the exhaust gas environmental protection item will fail, because the failure of the front oxygen sensor will cause excessive emissions like the three-way catalytic converter.
3. Unstable engine idle speed
Front oxygen sensor failure, ECU cannot accurately control the injection amount, which can easily cause air-fuel ratio errors, which can be manifested in unstable engine idle speed and shaking.
The problem of oxygen sensor caused by carbon deposits can be solved by cleaning carbon deposits, and it can generally be considered to be cleaned together with the three-way catalytic converter. The cleaning operation is also very simple, and you can choose to use oxalic acid solution or other cleaning agents to clean.
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