NutterKam

Have any of you guys managed to use a universal 4 wire lambda sensor in place of the Subaru genuine part? If so, how do you know what wire does what on the universal?? Thanks

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

had this problem a few weeks back,ended up using a subaru one in the end

went through 3 universal sensors but none of them worked with the car.
http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadID=112086
have a look here



[Edited by jonny gav - 7/21/2002 8:30:43 PM]

SCOSaltire

how much is the subaru one?

ozzy

Phil,

I've heard around £120 If you're replacing yours be very careful. It's common to strip the thread on the downpipe (I did it on mine). The Dealer said they let it cool down, even using a washer jet to make sure. Then they use tons of lubricant to make sure it doesn't strip when removing.

Stefan



[Edited by ozzy - 7/21/2002 9:00:47 PM]

SCOSaltire

i was thinking more of when i fit the DP i have in the loft

120!
eek

ozzy

Phil,

That's no place to keep a perfectly good DP; get it on your car - de-cat =

Are you still getting the hesitation? Mine's returned after getting a new de-cat DP and spanking new O2 sensor fitted.

Stefan

P.S. Did you get your new MAF from a Scooby Dealer??

NutterKam

Thanks guys. Johnny thanks for the link - I think I'll give the universal a go first (why not? - it's only 17quid!!) Things is though - how on earth would I know if it's working proper? I guess I could tap the wires to a dvm to see what range the sensor is chucking out...

NutterKam

Yeah - I stripped the thread on mine despite tons of wd40! Blimey - the sensor could end up costing almost as much as the downpipe itself!!

ozzy

Yeah, it meant I had to get a de-cat DP sooner than I'd wanted

Anyway, in the end I'm glad I did. Other than monitoring the voltages using a meter, you'd need to get in put onto a select monitor or better still find someone close who has Deltadash.

Stefan

SCOSaltire

still got it ozzy

tho - the car is running better...

i still feel that its something the ecu is picking up and learning... coz it is tamely there after an ecu reset.. but gets stronger as time passes...

NutterKam

OK I've done some more research. Here's a good article which helps identify which type of sensor we can "bodge" onto our cars:

http://www.fuel-parts.co.uk/html/fuelschool/lambdasensors2/central.htm

NutterKam

There appears to be some confusion here. According to Pat the lambda sensors on our cars is zirconia type and not titanium. However, in my research thre three wire (red, white, black) sensor is a titanium type (if Subaru are using the universal colour coding). Zirconium types use the colours white, grey and and black. According to Fuel Parts I (we) have titanium sensors. I'm really scratching my head now. For anyone interested I have uploaded a pdf file containing quite extensive information on lambdas at http://www.subarunutter.com/WFP36.pdf

The universal sensors are zirconium jobs and are much cheaper than the titanium. So the the ultimate question is "what really in on our cars??"

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

zirconium,pi55ed about for ages using titanium ones,on my car(my95)the white wire is the signal but on the(titania)universal the black wire is the signal.

just because hey are 3 wire(black,white,red) sensors doesn't mean they are the same!!!

on the later cars they are also 3 wire but its the black thats the signal on them,they also have 2xwhite wires.

confused??? not as much as i was.

got it sorted in the end though.

NutterKam

Thanks Jonny. Looks like Subaru decided to pi55 everyone about not using conventional wiring colours. Oddly, the zirconium ones are really cheap. I'm gonna put my old one on bench test tonight to confirm. I'm still confused tho....although now have a much better understanding of the whole O2 biz!

NutterKam

Ok people - I managed to replace my lambda for 14 (yes that's 14 - one, four) pounds! Man am I laughing!!!!!!



Haven't done this picture thing before so don't laugh if it dunt work!

I bought a universal job from a local automotive parts shop. No gancy box or instructions - just the sensor with a few crimps in a plastic bag. Surprise was that it had NTK Japan stamped on the side of sensor. Can't be too bad eh?! It was a universal zirconia type 4 wires 2xwhite, grey and black. Black is signal, whites are heater and grey is signal ground. For the record, signal ground is not required.

Anyway, snipped the cables off the old sensor and crimped onto new one. Took the chance to crimp an extra set of wires to feed an AFR gauge and wrapped the cables in heatshrink and then stainless overbraid. Mounted into downpipe with a lick of copper grease on the thread, reconnect and run signal wires into cabin.

Although I must admit that I haven't actually driven the car around much (dash in bits!) I've had it running on the drive and caned it around the block several times to check functionality. Glad to say that everything seems to be within acceptable parameters. I'm assuming that the AFR (20LED) flickers around knight rider style through the rev range under varying loads? Can't say how long this sensor will last but at 14 quid I wont grumble much if it packs up in a few months.

Bob Rawle

Its likely to pack up in a few days ... keep an eye on it as if it fails you will start to run richer on the cruise off boost areas, cheap yes but at what cost to your engine ... use the oem item, its designed for the management and can withstand the high temps its sees from a turbo car, the item you have is only really for use in normally aspirated cars.

cheers

bob

NutterKam

no cost to the engine just cost in fuel consumption. as for how long it'll last we'll see. why would I buy the Scooby part when the proven Bosche part (which is the OEM actually) is less?