John Hower <jehower@comcast.net> wrote:
[...]
: Second question: What are the thoughts of the group on replacing O2
: sensors. AFAIK, my truck has the original. I was trained and worked
: as a mechanic and was certified as a Chrysler Master Mechanic, but
: that was in the early 1970s. There are more than a few changes that
: I'm not too familiar with!
I believe the conventional wisdom is to replace the late
model, heated style oxygen sensors between 60,000-100,000 miles.
There are a couple of schools of thought on this:
A - If it ain't broke, don't fix it. These folks don't see
much point in replacing a part that may be perfectly
functional. They would recommend replacing the oxygen
sensor only if you suspect it to be malfunctioning, which
can be detected by a decrease in gas mileage, stumbling,
running too rich or lean, flagging of a trouble code, etc.
Oxygen sensors aren't cheap, so why spend the money if
you don't have to?
B - Preventative maintenance. These folks would consider
replacing the oxygen sensor to be a regular maintenance
type item, like changing the oil. If the oxygen sensor
were to malfunction in a way that caused the engine to
run too rich, this could damage the catalytic converter
and end up costing you more money than you saved by not
purchasing the oxygen sensor. A slow degrading of the
sensor could also be costing you money in reduced gas
mileage, which might not be as obvious as the reduction
in mileage brought about by a sudden failure of the sensor.
Myself, I think I'm probaby mostly in camp A, but camp B
does have some valid points.
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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