Oxygen sensor musings

So i have a pile of dodge neon oxygen sensors. 

I have a gm powered miata with a bad oxygen sensor. 

Are four wire, narrow band heated oxygen sensors the same minus the plug? Like, cut the plug off and add correct ones? 

Im just wondering if the bag of odd ones is useful in other applications. 

Mostly yes, but they often use stainless wire so soldering is probably not an option. It'll be crimping all the way. For a good crimp i dont think that really matters. Even widebands aren't that precise when it comes down to it. Go for it! 

I would guess that most of the difference between (4-wire) narrowbands has to do with the heater coil and how some cars will be picky enough to pick up on that and post codes or have weird issues (some of the weirdest issues I have ever personally seen were down to an o2 heater being 'good' but not 'correct enough', go figure).  In your application i think it will be good enough. 

There actually is a very slight difference in the siganal for the various manufacturers.  

The heater issue really isn't so much who made them, it's what kind of heater- up to somewhere near 2000, all heaters were just on all of the time- after 2000, as cold start emissions became super important, the heater power went up a lot, which required some control over it so that you didn't burn it out.   The use those would be for the cleaner versions of a particular model.

The opposite issue can be true, too- but I don't see that being a problem for your project.

One suggestions I would have- before cutting the wires, see if the pins are the same- if they are, you can use a small screw to take them out of the connectors, and just put them back in.  I would not say this is likely, but it's worth a look.

Cool. Thanks yall! Means i have plenty of sensors to swap in and test. 

Is there any chance of being able to bench test the sensors easily?

I've had some success with a natural gas torch....

About 10-15 years ago discount parts stores used to sell a generic O2 sensor with crimp connectors for the infrequently requested/non-stock applications. 

I'm sure the new stuff is more sophisticated, but it used to be just a 0-1v lambda and added heater and or grounds.

Worth a shot!

daytonaer said:

About 10-15 years ago discount parts stores used to sell a generic O2 sensor with crimp connectors for the infrequently requested/non-stock applications. 

 

I'm sure the new stuff is more sophisticated, but it used to be just a 0-1v lambda and added heater and or grounds.

 

Worth a shot!

That's actually what I remembered that gave me the idea! But its been a LONG time sine i saw them....

I'm convinced that universal O2s are factory seconds.  I've never seen one that worked.

Not sure about newer ones, but O2 sensors would get their outside air sample through the wires, so if you soldered the wires you would keep the sensor from working.  Always use butt connectors on an O2 sensor.