oxygen sensors

[Guest]

Carsten had an LC-1 and they are rubbish - not sure what he's got in there now. Get a PLX unit if you want an aftermarket wideband sensor, otherwise there's a few of us trying to work out if there's an cheaper aftermarket narrowband (works like factory) alternative available, as the O² sensor is $260 even from Mitsubishi Japan.

This is the biggest problem with forums people read one post and automatically its true ... LC-1's are not rubbish at all !!!!!
You just have to google and ask around about how many millions of people use these. I have had one on my car for ages and they are brilliant. Its the same with any huge mass marketed product, there will of course be some that may have a problem.
Heaps cheaper than the stock O2 sensor and does wideband and u can monitor them on ur laptop with a serial cable. If u are serious about altering timing and fuel u "need" to go wideband.

 

[SiliconAngel]

I don't disagree that wideband is necessary once you want to tune past stock, but please don't insult me by assuming that I came to that conclusion from reading a single post, Paul. I read very widely, as I know you and many others do. I don't doubt that LC-1's are a well designed product, my concern is with their quality because lots of people HAVE been having problems with them, certainly in the past eight months or so. Maybe 9 out of 10 are fine? I PERSONALLY don't want to risk those kinds of odds on my car. I post this information so people can make INFORMED decisions. Its up to them if they use an LC-1 after finding out they've had quality issues.

 

[Guest]

You said they were rubbish ... so don't insult the world when a) u have no idea what ur talking about, b) u have never owned one
The LC-1 is sold all around the world in MASS proportions, its a mod that wont hit the forums for getting any power or doing anything out of the ordinary so your only going to see bad posts about them. I know heaps and heaps of people that use them. They are kitted up with the Haltech's ...
Your decision comes from internet reading which we all know is a bit of a joke at the best of times. They have to be calibrated correctly to avoid any hassles.
Please Stop posting opinions on products that u have no experience with, and no reading posts is not experience.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Such hostility

You said this is the reason you hate forums, but its exactly why I LIKE them - people are allowed to express their opinions and those with different experiences and opinions can share them, so eventually (hopefully) people can form their own conclusions from the information available. I really don't see the problem with that - generally the only time you end up with a problem is when people start taking things personally and it becomes a pointless flame war... Which is where moderators come in I guess *shrugs*

You're right though - I don't have any personal experience with LC-1's and I never said I did. I probably should have qualified my original dismissive statement about them, but hey that's life, we all make mistakes, I don't see why I should be an exception.

 

[Guest]

Its very anoying for people to use forums and do a search on a product and find posts from people that have no experience in them saying they are rubbish. Keiran has kindly explained his opinion which is great, make sure u earth it correctly. They might be fiddley to install and calibrate, but they are a great product. U are always going to have people against any product. People opinions are fantastic and like u said, what forums are all about. But the problem with forums is people commenting on stuff they have no experience with.
I sound like I have shares in the product now... lol
I'm just trying to stop people giving false advice.
Maybe u should come look at my airfuels before and after the LC-1 was fitted and see my extra fuel consuption

 

[scientist]

I've used innovate widebands... Installed one, and tried to tune a customers car with one. So far i'm 0/2 with them. Neither have been able to give me a stable reading. The one we installed recently died (Stopped powering on) after 2 months of trying to get it to even give a decent reading. It kept asking to calibrate everytime the car was turned on.

Innovate suggested a firmware upgrade, it worked for 2 days then reverted back to doing the same thing.

On the other car....we basically have to free air calibrate it every day.



On my car? i plan on using Zietronix, I've been recommending it to my customers. I haven't used it myself, but based on the local cars here running widebands, theirs have so far had a 5 out of 5 score. with the innovate doing a 4 out of 15 (4 out of the 15 installed are actually working).


As for the ford muscle article...i take it with a grain of salt since its an innovate sponsored test. and they used innovate's software to log all the widebands.


Zietronix has built in RPM pickup, It can log BOOST and EGT as well as user defined inputs. They also have the OBDII touchscreen system to log even more data.

 

[Guest]

Very interesting info Edmund - Thanks!

 

[SiliconAngel]

As Kieran said, thanks for posting that up Ed

I'm just trying to stop people giving false advice.

Got no problem there, but there's a big difference between 'false advice' and sharing the experiences of others. Just because I haven't personally had an LC1 in my car doesn't mean I neither know nothing about them nor am I allowed to discuss them publicly. That's ludicrous.

Maybe u should come look at my airfuels before and after the LC-1 was fitted and see my extra fuel consuption

Paul I'm truly thrilled your LC-1 fixed your fuelling problem (and no there's absolutely no sarcasm there at all - your fuel consumption figures were heartbreaking before). But that's your experience, and as great as it is and as happy as you are with your unit, that doesn't mean every LC-1 will perform the same, nor that anyone who hasn't had one in their car isn't allowed to say anything against them.

If someone was badmouthing ANY company for utterly no reason I'd be the first to step in and have a few words, but the fact is LC-1's are definitely not without problems. IMO we'd ALL be better off if they could fix their quality control issues, but until we start hearing reports that their quality issues have been addressed and every sample performs identically then sorry it's not a product I'm going to be recommending (and yes I'll continue to advise people of the apparent issues).

 

[Hipsi]

damn guys I'm flat on my back for a few days and look what happens...Gladiators-----READY, Challengers-----READY!

 

[Rasi]

3...... 2...... 1..... whistle

 

[Guest]

My LM1 started playing up at the weekend causing the car to run lean at idle or when cruising. Apply a bit of throttle and the afr's were fine. Decided to reload the firmware but when it carried out the verification it crashed and now is dead. Apparently if it dosen't reset from this it has to go back to innovate to be repaired. It's outwith the guarantee so I'm not sure if it will be repaired .Depends how much I have to pay for postage to the US and back and if they will charge for the repair. Not too happy as I am still adjusting the SAFC2. The article is very interesting so may sell the lm1 when/if repaired for the Zeitronix

 

[godzilla]

Cmoney posted the original email asking how to clean his O2 sensor, i too would like to know as i want this to be the first spot to look at increasing my fuel efficiency

 

[godzilla]

Morning all, i want to make like a true back yard mechanic today and go root around under da hood
It being the first time i have had to go over the car and just look at it. I want to know if it is possible without the use of a hoist and alot of missing skin off the knuckles to take the O2 sensor out. I want that to be the first place i look at trying to lean back my fuel consumption. Can anyone walk me through how it is done?

 

[bradc]

you don't actually need to be under the hood

The O2 sensor is in the exhaust just before the Catalytic converter and after the two pipes from the turbos join.

 

[godzilla]

Ta Brad, i will have a little look see.

 

[bradc]

The easiest way to find it is to run your hand along the top of the exhaust just in front of the cat until you find the cable and bung coming up from the sensor. Might be best to do it when the car is cold.

 

[SiliconAngel]

LOL no kidding

If you want to get it out Trev, first take the side panel off your passenger side centre console (just under and to the right of the glove box). Coming through the floor is a maroonish coloured rubber grommet with a cable coming out of it. Disconnect the plug and push that through the floor.

Then get under the car, make sure it's sitting on axle stands and you'll find the O2 sensor and disconnected wire hanging out of it just rear of the wheels attached to the top of the exhaust (where Brad described it).

 

[godzilla]

It was all to hard! Firstly i only had a regular jack, but that was ok i got the car up enough but then i got under the car and went to undo the sensor but it is 20mm and my open ended spanner set goes up to 19
So it is a job for another day. I am hunting around on ebay and am looking at SAFCII, have other members found these units to be effective in increasing fuel efficiency?

 

[SiliconAngel]

Once its tuned properly, yep it's a great idea

 

[godzilla]

What are they worth new, or what would you pay for a second hand unit Trev? also can you fit them yourself or would it be a job for someone like Chiptorque?