I put long tubes on my truck a few months ago and one of my front 02 sensors went bad. I looked through a bunch of threads where people were buying them for $40-50 so i think no big deal. Me being in Canada i phoned Parts Source and Canadian Tire and they tell me $247 and $274 each Then i phoned the dealership and they told me $239 for one.

Now at parts source they told me that i could buy some universals and they are $125 each.. Would these work the same?

Also i read about some people switching the fronts with the rears? And since i'm not using the rear ones at all can i do this? Or does it not work?

 

How do you know they're bad. Did you watch the PID on a scan tool or labscope? Are the input voltages to the sensor connector correct? Have you checked this with a DVOM? Don't be a parts swapper. Verify first before you swap especially at those prices. Bosch sells universal kits. They're about $60 here where socialism hasn't taken hold yet even though Obama is trying to change that. Those prices are way out of range. You need to see switching at least every 100mSec from about 300mVdc to 700mVdc and back again. The waveform looks like a sine wave on a labscope or a good scan tool.

 

Take them out and rub them a little with a damp cloth to clean them and put them back in. Worked for me when one of mine was acting up.

 

Justin is doing my tune and he said i either have a huge exhaust leak by the driver side o2 or a bad o2 sensor. Now when i put my long tubes on i coated everything with exhaust sealant and used band clamps so i dont have any leaks.

 

Codes being thrown are P0131 and P1133

 

So i put one of the rears in instead and it seems to be running good. It was a direct swap on my truck. The plugs and everything matched up and the sensors looked identical. I'll see if the codes return.

 

AFAIK they are exactly the same sensors.

 

Saved me 250 bucks

 

Insufficient switching code, a common problem from having long tubes as the O2's are not getting up to their correct operating temperature. Moving the O2's farther away from the cylinder heads and the exhaust temps run cooler because of the LT's.

Not everybody runs into this problem when they install longtubes but it does and can happen and their is a chance that it may keep happening.

If it keeps happening you might want to maybe try some vette rear O2's as they have a better heater in them, this has solved the problem you are having for some people.

Just a heads up for you. You may be in the clear now but dont be surprised to see those same codes again. Bottom line is narrowband O2 sensors do not like longtubes and modded cars/trucks, have seen it quite a bit doing tunes.