Custom Made Wideband o2 sensor

[FordFasteRR]

I was wondering if an individual could save a few bux by just purchasing a standard bosch wideband oxygen sensor and then hooking it up to a power source and a standard voltage guage to read the 0-5v measurements...

From what i've seen online, there seems to be only a few companies making wideband sensor "kits" ... they are all over $320.. (320 being the lowest priced kit made by plxdevices.com) and aem has a kit with a nice guage included for $450.. and then we have dynojets wideband commander which retails for well over $500...

I was thinking about just buying a standard bosch wideband sensor ($60) and hooking that up to a volt-meter to get the reading........ The only difference is that the refresh rate of a standard digital volt meter is not as fast as the screens that these kits typically include which is about 10 khz...


What do you guys think?


Here is a diagram of a wideband sensors output vs air/fuel ratio.. and below that is a picture of a standard narrow band o2 sensor like the one currently in my car...

wideband:
http://www.nitrousworld.com/pictures/WidebandOutputGraph.jpg

Stock narrowband:
http://www.nitrousworld.com/pictures/NarrowbandOutputGraph.jpg

[tharptroy]

I dont see why not, just hook it up to a gauge that reads 0-5 volts and you can put your own markings on the gauge. instant wideband kit.

[FordFasteRR]

sweet :)

This idea makes me very happy:

http://clear.msu.edu:16080/dennie/clipart/laugh.gif

I'm as happy as this guy was ...

http://www.nitrousworld.com/pictures/bush_kerry_owned.jpg

[felixr]

ok now in engrish :)

[FordFasteRR]

what do you want to know felixr ?

[azwildfire]

the wide band o2 that the 04 CVVT engines use is stoich at 2.0 v btw

just an FYI

[FordFasteRR]

Thanks ! ..

I just ordered a bosch wide band o2 for like $60 from plxdevices.com

http://plxdevices.com/onlinestore_domestic.htm

I hope it works ! LOL

[Mahonroy]

I also had an idea for that http://www.elantraxd.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3994
I was trying to find where the current o2 sensor plugs are located in the harness so I could tap the wires from there but was never able to figure it out. The only reason why I wanted to do this was so I didn't have to have someone weld in a o2 sensor in my exhaust system...

[FordFasteRR]

as long as you have an 04 it comes with a factory wideband sensor and you can do this :)

[felixr]

what i mean . . . what are you guys talking about? what are the benefits of this? why should i worry about/be interested in this . . explain the concept, the logic etc. thanks guys

plus, is it really gonna make any difference and if so what is it? or is it just gonna be like .0000000000000000001 hp or torque or some other expensive mod that makes barely any significance on our cars lol

[Elantra2.001]

You would have to know exactly what scale that particular o2 sensor uses to correspond to the voltage. It might not be linear, and you have no idea what the start and end points are unless it says it on the box.

[FordFasteRR]

the sensor that I bought corresponds to the image that I posted above.


felixr... this is not a power adding mod. This simply allows me to properly tune my car based on real life air fuel readings that are more precise than the factory narrow band o2 sensor on my 03 xd.


IE.. if you go to the dyno to tune your air fuel ratio ... it can be very expensive, specially if you are constantly making mods to the car that change the air fuel ratio.. in my case, I want a system that allows me to monitor the air fuel ratio at any time, on the highway or on the way to work or at the drag strip...


this wideband sensor will allow me to do that.
:)

[felixr]

hmm, interesting . . .

thanks for the info/repsonse

[FordFasteRR]

felixr = if you look at the images i posted above... the narrow band o2 sensor (stock on my 03 xd) only reads from 14 to 15:1 air fuel ratio.. otherwise it flat-lines and you cant really tell exactly what ratio you have..

so for instance, lets say that I add my alpine blower when it comes in.. and then I decide to upgrade the pulley and I install a set of bigger injectors... then I test out the reading with my (CURRENT) air fuel guage that is hooked to the stock o2 sensor.. it may very well read RICH and be in the green side...


the problem is that just because the guage reads "RICH" doesnt mean that i am safely rich... you see, the difference between 11:1 air fuel ratio and 14:1 air fuel ratio is HUGE... and the stock o2 sensor does not have enough resolution to distinguish between those two values which could mean the difference between a safe air fuel ratio and a blown engine !!!!!!!!!

:)

update: I have the wideband o2 sensor now... I guess i'll try to play with it this weekend :)


http://www.nitrousworld.com/pictures/wideband_p1010073.jpg

http://www.nitrousworld.com/pictures/wideband_p1010074.jpg

[only1db]

good luck ...lets us know....

[OdessitPashka]

how did it work for you ford? Did you weld a bung and isntalled it, put it into a place of stock sensor, or just stuck it up the ***, i mean muffler?

Let us know how it worked for ya :)

[FordFasteRR]

I will try to get it installed this week...

however I'm not in any rush....

What I will do is just wait for my welder to get here.. then i'll swing by the muffler shop and pick up an o2 sensor bung for like $1..

then go back home and drill a hole in my mid-pipe then weld the bung onto it myself.

:)

That'll give me a chance to learn to use my new welder and make that thing start paying for itself !!!

Then i'll just hook up the power wires ... i think it uses one 12v and one 5v + 1 ground wire... I think the 12v is for the heater and the 5v is for the sensor part...

but this wideband has 5 wires.. so i have to find a diagram that shows what the other wires are for and if they need to be hooked up to something...

lol

:)

I've also been doing some reading on wideband sensors... it turns out that there is some trickery invovled in the wiring and I'm trying to figure out how to bypass or trick the 2 extra resistor wires that these sensor come with......

wish me luck !

[OdessitPashka]

good luck with wiring and welding!!! welding a bung is not the easiest task

[Mahonroy]

I think some of the other wires are used which heat up the sensor(power the sensor).

[FordFasteRR]

from what i've read so far... there is some really complicated shizzle involved with making the sensor work..

so.. what I might do is just order the interface device seperately and hook it up to the sensor as if i bought an entire kit...

ohh well. :) LOL

[OdessitPashka]

I know a place where they sell the whole kit, m300, for $313 shipped. You want me to look for it?

[sammy21c]

If you change to wideband, does our ECU still read? I mean input was less than 1v and now it would be like 5v.

[FordFasteRR]

If you change to wideband, does our ECU still read? I mean input was less than 1v and now it would be like 5v.


no. however, most wideband o2 sensor also have a narrowband output so you can hook it to the OEM ecu and just completely eliminate the stock o2 sensor.. .. thats kind of cool because you dont have to go drilling and welding bungs to your exhaust pipe.. :)

[thewilson]

Sorry to bring this thread back up but I am curious about it.
Ford how did this turn out for you? Any luck?


From what i've seen online, there seems to be only a few companies making wideband sensor "kits" ... they are all over $320.. (320 being the lowest priced kit made by plxdevices.com) and aem has a kit with a nice guage included for $450.. and then we have dynojets wideband commander which retails for well over $500...


I found this PLX kit for 295 shipped on ebay
(http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PLX-M-300-Wideband-O2-Controller-w-Sensor-and-Display_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ107063QQihZ020Q QitemZ300042824657QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V)

[only1db]

another thing...my boss was talking about using the existing o2 sensor...he thought that it could be a wideband and we could just tap into it...any thoughts?