o2 sensor heater circuit q's
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
From: Cincinnati OH
o2 sensor heater circuit q's
Hey all,
I am in the midst of wiring my early lt1 for heated o2 sensors and have a couple of questions:
1) What is the current draw of the sensor heater circuit? I would like to know this so I can decide what keyed circuit I can safely tap into.
2) Related to (actually answered by) question 1, what gauge wire? The sensor and connector wires appear to be 16 gauge :confused: . I will also run an inline fuse of the appropriate value.
If it makes a difference, the sensors that I am using are Bosch 13190, based on the excellent how-to in the tech section :) .
Thanks for your help,
I am in the midst of wiring my early lt1 for heated o2 sensors and have a couple of questions:
1) What is the current draw of the sensor heater circuit? I would like to know this so I can decide what keyed circuit I can safely tap into.
2) Related to (actually answered by) question 1, what gauge wire? The sensor and connector wires appear to be 16 gauge :confused: . I will also run an inline fuse of the appropriate value.
If it makes a difference, the sensors that I am using are Bosch 13190, based on the excellent how-to in the tech section :) .
Thanks for your help,
Racer
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 411
Likes: 0
From: Palm City FL
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Vince Ivanc)
Vince,
I tapped into the fan relay. On my L98, it was under the brake master cyl on the fenderwell.
The first time I hooked it up, I accidently hooked it to a non keyed hot wire (the sensor stayed hot even with car off). It took two days to kill the battery. :crazy:
I tapped into the fan relay. On my L98, it was under the brake master cyl on the fenderwell.
The first time I hooked it up, I accidently hooked it to a non keyed hot wire (the sensor stayed hot even with car off). It took two days to kill the battery. :crazy:
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,636
Likes: 3
From: Lafayette IN
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Vince Ivanc)
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 14,165
Likes: 9
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Vince Ivanc)
I wired mine using a relay and essentially pulled power straight from the battery. There is no sense in over stressing an existing circuit. As for the current draw, I've got 2 heated sensors, and I EVENTUALLY blew a 3 amp fuse. I think I've got a 5 in there now.
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 12,772
Likes: 17
From: Indianapolis IN
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Nathan Plemons)
I wired mine using a relay and essentially pulled power straight from the battery. There is no sense in over stressing an existing circuit. As for the current draw, I've got 2 heated sensors, and I EVENTUALLY blew a 3 amp fuse. I think I've got a 5 in there now.
Pro
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 741
Likes: 0
From: Eagle IDAHO
Cruise-In I Veteran
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (ld85)
When I moved my sensor all the way back to the intersection of my Hooker Y-pipe I used a four wire trailer harness with the flat plugs from an autoparts store. The wire gauge is very sufficient, and the connectors are pretty weatherproof. Of course it required that I solder one of the pigtails to the four wire O2 sensor. The relay used to power the heating element of the sensor also came from the parts store. I used heat shrink tubing to make everything tight and well sealed.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
From: Cincinnati OH
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (NHVett)
Got it, thanks everyone. Looks like about 3 amps total. If I use a relay, what's a good place to tap into direct battery power?
Ron, good luck at the track, I would go today but my car is on jack stands again with wires hanging all over :cry . Supposed to be a nice day too. I'll go next week for sure if it's not raining. :cheers:
Ron, good luck at the track, I would go today but my car is on jack stands again with wires hanging all over :cry . Supposed to be a nice day too. I'll go next week for sure if it's not raining. :cheers:
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Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
From: Cincinnati OH
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (ld85)
What kind of relay do you get?
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,636
Likes: 3
From: Lafayette IN
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Vince Ivanc)
Don't use solder on the O2 sensor wires. Use butt splices.
Search the archives if you have any questions as to why. There's a bit of discussion on it.
Search the archives if you have any questions as to why. There's a bit of discussion on it.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
From: Cincinnati OH
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (HighHopes85)
:cuss :jester
Thanks for the tip, I'll stop by the parts store (yet again) on the way back from work. I was going to solder them, but I can imagine the heat could damage the sensors or something, didn't think about that.
[Edit]Searched the archives...."reference air paths" through the wires? Holy crap, this is weird.[/Edit]
[Modified by Vince Ivanc, 4:07 PM 3/21/2003]
Thanks for the tip, I'll stop by the parts store (yet again) on the way back from work. I was going to solder them, but I can imagine the heat could damage the sensors or something, didn't think about that.
[Edit]Searched the archives...."reference air paths" through the wires? Holy crap, this is weird.[/Edit]
[Modified by Vince Ivanc, 4:07 PM 3/21/2003]
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,636
Likes: 3
From: Lafayette IN
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Vince Ivanc)
the archives...."reference air paths" through the wires? Holy crap, this is weird.[/Edit]
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
From: Cincinnati OH
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (HighHopes85)
Actually it is indeed fact! I looked in my service manual and it talks about the reference air being obtained through the actual sensor wires. This was in the LT5 section, the LT1 section does not mention it, so it may be sensor specific. I will use crimp connections just to be safe. Weird stuff.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
From: Cincinnati OH
Re: o2 sensor heater circuit q's (Vince Ivanc)
In case anyone is interested...
After I finished, I hooked up my ammeter to see what current these things are pulling. When I first turned the key, the two sensors pulled 5.5 amps (combined), which quicky fell to under 3 amps after a few seconds, at which point my attention span expired. I used the radio shack automotive relay mentioned previously and ran a dedicated circuit from the distribution post behind the battery, using 16 ga wire with a 10A inline fuse. Works great. Thanks for all the tips. :cheers:
After I finished, I hooked up my ammeter to see what current these things are pulling. When I first turned the key, the two sensors pulled 5.5 amps (combined), which quicky fell to under 3 amps after a few seconds, at which point my attention span expired. I used the radio shack automotive relay mentioned previously and ran a dedicated circuit from the distribution post behind the battery, using 16 ga wire with a 10A inline fuse. Works great. Thanks for all the tips. :cheers:
