splicing o2 sensor wiring..good or bad?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 847
Likes: 9
From: Beaumont Tx
We have a winner!!!
And the prize goes to "Chucky 7"!!!
Thanks Charlie, your idea worked like a charm with about 2" left over. I just sliced into the main harnesses on both sides pulling the sensors just under the dash. Put the sensors on and dropped them down, screwed them in and Voila!
Thanks to all you guys for the input. Different opinions is why we are the most powerful nation.
Thanks Charlie, your idea worked like a charm with about 2" left over. I just sliced into the main harnesses on both sides pulling the sensors just under the dash. Put the sensors on and dropped them down, screwed them in and Voila!
Thanks to all you guys for the input. Different opinions is why we are the most powerful nation.
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
From: Sarasota Florida
O2 Sensors
Robert Bosch (the company that invented oxygens sensors) has and continues to offer "universal" one and three wire oxygens sensors as O.E replacements. The connector is a simple crimp connection and shrink tubing. I can't tell you how many we have installed over the years. Just take the internal crimp shell out of a butt connector, slip shrink tubing over the wire, crimp it, shrink it, and your good to go
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,167
Likes: 11
From: Powell TN
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
Think of it like this. You're standing at the bottom of a lake with a diving helmet on, with a tube going to the surface so that you can breathe. Then, someone puts their hand over your tube. You'll quit working.
Robert Bosch (the company that invented oxygens sensors) has and continues to offer "universal" one and three wire oxygens sensors as O.E replacements. The connector is a simple crimp connection and shrink tubing. I can't tell you how many we have installed over the years. Just take the internal crimp shell out of a butt connector, slip shrink tubing over the wire, crimp it, shrink it, and your good to go
And the prize goes to "Chucky 7"!!!
Thanks Charlie, your idea worked like a charm with about 2" left over. I just sliced into the main harnesses on both sides pulling the sensors just under the dash. Put the sensors on and dropped them down, screwed them in and Voila!
Thanks to all you guys for the input. Different opinions is why we are the most powerful nation.
Thanks Charlie, your idea worked like a charm with about 2" left over. I just sliced into the main harnesses on both sides pulling the sensors just under the dash. Put the sensors on and dropped them down, screwed them in and Voila!
Thanks to all you guys for the input. Different opinions is why we are the most powerful nation.
Last edited by 'VETTE PHASE; Oct 9, 2008 at 10:34 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,596
Likes: 19
From: Portland Oregon
Read it again (the part in red). The sensor has to have access to outside air to operate properly. It gets this access using the area between the sheath and the wire itself. If you use the connector shown, it will seal off the wire at the splice, closing off the "vent" to outside air, rendering the sensor useless.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 23
Likes: 3
From: Loveland CO
Caspers has every extension for every application available using OEM sealed connectors, and in many different lengths.
DO NOT cut your sensor wires. As stated before, the most critical point is that the sensor feed wire needs reference oxygen to function properly...oxygen feeds thru the wire jacket. The wires to the internals of the sensor are made of stainless steel, not copper, not steel.
If you attempt to solder any of the signal wires, you will clog the air path with the flux from the solder, resulting in failure of the sensor. And, since the sensor puts out millivolts, the connection is critical. Using OEM connectors reduces the possibility of voltage loss and maintains the correct function of the sensor.
Using butt splices is not a good idea as the connection becomes unsealed afterwards, causing potential connection loss.
DO NOT cut your sensor wires. As stated before, the most critical point is that the sensor feed wire needs reference oxygen to function properly...oxygen feeds thru the wire jacket. The wires to the internals of the sensor are made of stainless steel, not copper, not steel.
If you attempt to solder any of the signal wires, you will clog the air path with the flux from the solder, resulting in failure of the sensor. And, since the sensor puts out millivolts, the connection is critical. Using OEM connectors reduces the possibility of voltage loss and maintains the correct function of the sensor.
Using butt splices is not a good idea as the connection becomes unsealed afterwards, causing potential connection loss.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 6,149
Likes: 11
From: Greater Detroit Metro MI, when I'm not travelling.
You're kidding, right?
This is exactly the type of connector that you DO NOT want to use. You don't want to fill the joint and protect it from air. An O2 sensor must vent to outside air to use for sampling. If not, it will not work. This is probably what happened to SoldSyclone's buddy.
HOW AN OXYGEN SENSOR WORKS
The O2 sensor works like a miniature generator and produces its own voltage when it gets hot. Inside the vented cover on the end of the sensor that screws into the exhaust manifold is a zirconium ceramic bulb. The bulb is coated on the outside with a porous layer of platinum. Inside the bulb are two strips of platinum that serve as electrodes or contacts.
The outside of the bulb is exposed to the hot gases in the exhaust while the inside of the bulb is vented internally through the sensor body to the outside atmosphere. Older style oxygen sensors actually have a small hole in the body shell so air can enter the sensor, but newer style O2 sensors "breathe" through their wire connectors and have no vent hole. It is hard to believe, but the tiny amount of space between the insulation and wire provides enough room for air to seep into the sensor (for this reason, grease should never be used on O2 sensor connectors because it can block the flow of air). Venting the sensor through the wires rather than with a hole in the body reduces the risk of dirt or water contamination that could foul the sensor from the inside and cause it to fail.
The difference in oxygen levels between the exhaust and outside air within the sensor causes voltage to flow through the ceramic bulb. The greater the difference, the higher the voltage reading.
An oxygen sensor will typically generate up to about 0.9 volts when the fuel mixture is rich and there is little unburned oxygen in the exhaust. When the mixture is lean, the sensor output voltage will drop down to about 0.2 volts or less. When the air/fuel mixture is balanced or at the equilibrium point of about 14.7 to 1, the sensor will read around .45 volts.
HOW AN OXYGEN SENSOR WORKS
The O2 sensor works like a miniature generator and produces its own voltage when it gets hot. Inside the vented cover on the end of the sensor that screws into the exhaust manifold is a zirconium ceramic bulb. The bulb is coated on the outside with a porous layer of platinum. Inside the bulb are two strips of platinum that serve as electrodes or contacts.
The outside of the bulb is exposed to the hot gases in the exhaust while the inside of the bulb is vented internally through the sensor body to the outside atmosphere. Older style oxygen sensors actually have a small hole in the body shell so air can enter the sensor, but newer style O2 sensors "breathe" through their wire connectors and have no vent hole. It is hard to believe, but the tiny amount of space between the insulation and wire provides enough room for air to seep into the sensor (for this reason, grease should never be used on O2 sensor connectors because it can block the flow of air). Venting the sensor through the wires rather than with a hole in the body reduces the risk of dirt or water contamination that could foul the sensor from the inside and cause it to fail.
The difference in oxygen levels between the exhaust and outside air within the sensor causes voltage to flow through the ceramic bulb. The greater the difference, the higher the voltage reading.
An oxygen sensor will typically generate up to about 0.9 volts when the fuel mixture is rich and there is little unburned oxygen in the exhaust. When the mixture is lean, the sensor output voltage will drop down to about 0.2 volts or less. When the air/fuel mixture is balanced or at the equilibrium point of about 14.7 to 1, the sensor will read around .45 volts.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,167
Likes: 11
From: Powell TN
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
Nope.......copied straight from Boschs' website.
Post #25
Post #27
Post #25
Post #27
DO NOT cut your sensor wires. As stated before, the most critical point is that the sensor feed wire needs reference oxygen to function properly...oxygen feeds thru the wire jacket. The wires to the internals of the sensor are made of stainless steel, not copper, not steel.
If you attempt to solder any of the signal wires, you will clog the air path with the flux from the solder, resulting in failure of the sensor.
If you attempt to solder any of the signal wires, you will clog the air path with the flux from the solder, resulting in failure of the sensor.
Last edited by 'VETTE PHASE; Oct 10, 2008 at 06:31 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,198
Likes: 73
From: palm harbor Florida
And the prize goes to "Chucky 7"!!!
Thanks Charlie, your idea worked like a charm with about 2" left over. I just sliced into the main harnesses on both sides pulling the sensors just under the dash. Put the sensors on and dropped them down, screwed them in and Voila!
Thanks to all you guys for the input. Different opinions is why we are the most powerful nation.
Thanks Charlie, your idea worked like a charm with about 2" left over. I just sliced into the main harnesses on both sides pulling the sensors just under the dash. Put the sensors on and dropped them down, screwed them in and Voila!
Thanks to all you guys for the input. Different opinions is why we are the most powerful nation.
Charlie
