o2 / lambada sensor ??? 1.8 cdx 2001

[lester8436]

hi. did self diagnosis on vectra 2001 cdx 1.8 and one of the faults was o2 sensor .. now am i thinking its right that i will need to change the old one for a new one..or can i simply clean the old one? can u recomend any tools that i may need and the location of the sensor.. i think its in the center of the engine bay ... down from the sparks plugs..looks similar to a spark plug is this right ? thanks for any help
regards lester

[Vaux-Man-G]

Hey lester, IIRC, the Oxygen sensor is on the Cat? If you stand in front of the car and look down between the ending and the rad's, you should see a wire going to somewhere, im certain thats the bad boy!

Is the lambda sensor something different?

[carpet]

You don't state you engine type but on a 2002 1.8 (Z18XL) the first sensor is in the exhaust manifold above the cat and the second is under the car after the cat, yes looks like a spark plug. You may need a special tool the get it out, socket with one side cut away.

[mattv6diesel]

go steady, air flow meter fails causing mixture fault then the o2 sensor voltage code.

[lester8436]

hi thanks for all the help so far I believe the engine is the z18xe perhaps someone can help me out (vectra 2001 cdx 1.8) so am i right in thinking that i will have 2 sensors i plan on changing the one in the engine bay first ( i took a pic hope its the right thing) is this position 1 sensor ?? many thanks lester

[carpet]

Yes that is the little beast and again yes there is another one after the cat under the car. The idea being that they sense the gases before and after the cat. If the gases are not within the set parameters up comes the little orange light shaped like a car on the rh side of the instument panel.

[johnsav]

Is the lambda sensor something different?

no the lambda sensor is often refered to as oxygen sensor or "HEGO" ( heated exhaust gas oxygen ).

in other words it measures the oxygen levels in the exhaust.

[lester8436]

hi guys thanks for the help so far... so i ordered a new sensor and the tool required to take it out/in but theirs not enough room to use it properly so its more like im just using the strength in my hands.. does anyone know if the spark plug remover is the same size as the sensor as if worst comes to worst i cud cut off the top wires and use that?? unless anyone has a simple solution??.. lester

[Ste]

Are you sure it is sensor 1 that you need to change?

The second one is to measure cat performance and the first one is used for fuelling trim for the engine to maintain fuel / air mixture correctly.

[lester8436]

im not sure... i managed to change the sensor 1 but light is still on so next is sensor 2 i guess then if its not that then it needs a new cat ? i