Oxygen Sensor

coxmattycox

coxmattycox

coxmattycox

Associate
Joined
10 May 2007
Posts
308
Hi,

What is the best thing to use to clean an oxygen sensor on a mk5 Fiesta? Is WD-40 or carb cleaner any good?

Also, how easy is it to do this on the above car?

Many thanks
 
"Italian tune-up" - Take it for a long drive and get it good and hot.

There isn't really any way to clean a lambda sensor other than putting it in a furnace to burn off any crud.
 
I've read about people cutting a lemon in half, then jamming it into the lemon overnight. The next day, clean it with carb cleaner and refit it.

Don't use water on it.

Ultimately, replacing it is the best option.

Check some Fiesta forums, they may say where you can get an OEM equivalent. With my car, from Honda it's about £170 I think. Found a site in the US that sells them for £35

www.rockauto.com

Delivery was about 4/5 days!
 
A excuse to take the car for a good blast! Or just go down a motorway doing a constant 3.5-4k revs.

No other way to clean it without buggering it up even more.

If you are wondering this because yours is going faulty, replace it. You can be over fueling the engine with a broken lambda/oxygen sensor that can lead to all kinds of problems. Never mind poo MPGzzzz compared to normal.
 
coxmattycox said:
Ok thanks,

basically a code reader reports it has emission problems and mentions the o2sensor. I hope it's that and not the catalytic converter. Will the cheapest one do http://www.eurocarparts.com/lambda-sensor

I can do basic things such as oil changes, is this something relatively easy to do? Mk5 fiesta.

Many thanks
Click to expand...

Depends if the sensor has welded itself into the exhaust or not, i took mine out of the MX-5 and replaced it with a wideband with not that many issues, be warned you may need a Lambda tool to get the sensor out, i was lucky and had enough room for a spanner.
 
Yes it's easy to do, soaking in penetrating fluid the night before should help or a bootful of brute force if it's in a relatively easy to access area. I have a sensor specific socket but as you'll be replacing it anyway you don't need to worry about the wirig.

You should get the correct sensor for your specific car with the right connector if possible rather than a generic one that you have to wire up (though again as long as it's the right sensor it will make little difference).

Check what other owners have bought, some cheaper o2 sensors don't seem to play ball with certain cars.
 
You can get universal 4 wire ones for £18. Easy job to fit with a crimper and they already have heatshrink on
 
ive seen adverts on ebay for NGK lambdas (NTK logos on the packaging) id imagine they were very good too but the parts catalogue hasnt been as easy to follow

with the bosch universal types there are only about 4-5 variations and their catalogue tells you exactly what you need
 
Right here's a little story of mine.

I had an engine management light on permanently on my peugeot 307 for 9 months, didn't know what it was and didn't really care at the time.

One day i pulled into shell and noticed they had run out of normal unleaded so i filled it up with v-power, whinin 5 minutes that engine management light went out to my great surprise. V-power must have cleaned something.

Believe it or not that's the truth.
 
Interesting about the v power, not sure if my little fiesta would like it though.

A bosch one seems about 50 quid plus the usual 25% discount or so on eurocarparts. Being bosch I presume it would become pre wired
Thanks
 
Make sure you get the right type if you're just buying a generic one. - Generally the zirconia ones are cheaper, but if you need a titania sensor (like my car) they won't work. Also, check the size because they could be either 12mm or 19mm IIRC.
I'd play it safe and buy one that is the correct fitment for the car.

Chemical cleaning won't work on thermal ceramics; unless you've got some HF lying around, there's not much that will touch them.
 
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