Lambda removal & Lambda replacement

[Purple Pixie]

OK, not a good night in FatBlokeRacing Pits............

Went to swap the cat bypass pipe over to the standard downpipe and catalyst to discover that the dreaded fabricators of the bypass pipe had managed to fit it WITHOUT any kind of copper grease and/or fitted it into a non-standard threaded boss... the bottom line is that despite using my 22mm lambda sensor socket (deep socket with a side opening for the cables) and an unreasonable level of manual torque, it won't turn more than 4 turns..... it will need a bit of applied grunt only a session in the bench vice can deliver......

Can't afford to not have a lambda plus cat pipe for the MOT so Will pay a call to Silverlakes for a narrow-band lambda** tomorrow, fit it in the cat downpipe and get a test thursday AM

B*m Ar*e!

**To the best of my knowledge, unlike wide-band lambdas, the narrow bands are much of a muchness, doing little more than "closing" as lambda =1

[Purple Pixie]

Tonights labours soon ended, no MOT tomorrow, no driving tomorrow, do not pass go, do not collect £100

The lambda sensor finally gave up its home in the bypass pipe with a lot of grunting and a 19" stilson.... sans threads: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbullas ... 161093238/

Now I have NEVER removed/fitted the lambda sensor, the only people that have during my ownership of Purple Pixie are the exhaust fabricators in xxxxxxxxxx, if the threads were damaged earlier, I would have expected them to have raised this, thus I am pointing the finger of fate well and truly in their direction.

The generic lambda sensor will be with me on Friday, luckily the old catalytic pipe is un-damaged and it will be needed for the MOT.....

Damn and blast!

[Purple Pixie]

Bazinga!

EBAYING for a Replacement Lambda Sensor

The Ebay lambda sensor passed an MOT test today!

It was without any markings (the original one was a DENSO), had 2 wires (one grey one black), I spliced the cable up to the wires out of the fiddly connector over the gearbox

The website for the supplier shows DENSO as
BLUE to BLACK and WHITE to GREY

And this is what I did, I now need to close up the chocolate block connector with silicon sealant to keep the weather out

As I understand it, it is a ZIRCONIA TYPE, if your sensor has a red wire it is a TITANIA type and not compatible, there is also a PLANAR type, this again is not compatible

In passing, the Bongo failed the MOT.......

(i) loose wiring under the bonnet (The mobile electrician in Worcester who does the work for JAL hadn't bothered to secure the leisure battery wiring properly under the bonnet and it is now an MOT fail)

(ii) no foglight (The mobile electrician in Worcester who does the work for JAL hadn't bothered to secure the live feed spade connector properly - it had pulled off)

(ii) loose wiring under the dashboard (The mobile electrician in Worcester who does the work for JAL hadn't bothered to secure the foglight wiring properly and it is now an MOT fail))

(ii) loose foglight wiring under the van (The mobile electrician in Worcester who does the work for JAL hadn't bothered to secure the live feed cable properly - the live feed for the foglight was simply run under the body of the vehicle through openings in the sub-body and it is now an MOT fail)

SO I used a fair few cable ties and superglued some cable clips underneath.... put the spade terminal on ok but it will pull off again owing to.... can you guess? The mobile electrician in Worcester who does the work for JAL hadn't bothered to leave enough slack in the power feed cable and I don't fancy sorting that today!.

The weekend may well be spent following the loom back to the lights and dropping a live feed down to the foglight through the floor AND fitting the Cat bypass pipe ( the 12mm head exhaust mounting bolt will need drilling out 8.5mm to enable me to secure it properly)

Hey Ho..... remember the new rules on loose wires came in 3-4 weeks ago!

Dr B

[Purple Pixie]

Bought the Lambda Sensor from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Engine-Tuning-Shop

The listing was for a

Universal 2-Wire Lambda Sensor - Brand new lambda/O2/oxygen sensor.

It says:

This zirconia lambda sensor comes complete compression washer, terminal and terminal insulation and requires reuse of the OEM electrical connector. The thread has been pre-greased for ease of fitment.

This sensor will not replace the titania type, which is usually identified by the presence of a red wire.

Zirconia type sensors typically use beige, black, brown, green, grey purple, or white wires. Most sensors (including ours) use the black wire for as a positive, the grey as a negative and the white(s) for the heater control.

[Purple Pixie]

LAMBDA SENSOR SWAP - TOP TIP(S):

The connector on the top of the gearbox between the lambda sensor and the loom is a bugger to undo if you are lying on your back with your hands in the air... working out which bit pulls out of where had me stumped twice... it will be easier next time, I sprayed the lambda end with gloss white paint (obviously avoiding getting anything in the connector) so I can work out which bit is supposed to separate when pushing/pulling the plastic tab

The connector on the lambda sensor is BIGGER than the slot in the 22mm lambda sensor socket I have, so the chocolate block screw terminals need undoing and reconnecting OR I used a 22mm open spanner (the screw terminal chocolate block will be replaced with handed bullet connectors and a liberal coat of silicone sealant soon)

The threads of the manifold to exhaust studs were given a squirt of molybdenum disulphide grease to make sure they don't seize and I used double nuts to lock them up since nylocks will probably burn out

The Holts exhaust paste seems to have held up so I used that again, BOSAL paste seems to be "the terriers testicles"

Enough for one night ( I tightened the handbrake too!)

[Purple Pixie]

Though capable of passing the MOT, it appears that the after-market Ebay-sourced lambda sensor was caning our fuel economy for some reason, without even doing and sums, refitting the old genuine lambda sensor (after a "ream" from the lambda collar bought as a spare) has improved our fuel economy.... QUESTION: if the lambda was being controlled within the MOT test range, why was the fuel economy so poor using it?????

[mikexgough]

Lambda & water temp sensors have a critical range and if a non standard one is fitted then over fueling can occur. This is a common problem with petrol vehicles - I have come across many where the temp gauge throws a wobbly or a warning light flashes, on connecting up the temp sensor is at fault...new one in and owner instantly finds the fuel consumption improves.
Likewise, some vehicles when their Lambda has a wobbly notice the odd cutting out of the engine, some lambda's are "fine" with no problems noticeable until MOT. The late K11 & 12 Micra's use 2 Lambda sensors.... often number 1 goes yet number 2 doesn't throw up a MIL and a code, yet if Lambda 2 goes... bingo a MIL and code.
In essence, the sensors need to be of the right parameters to match the ECU or "arguments" occur and something has to give.... mainly fuel consumption

[ginger colin]

Hi.. cheers for info... Has anyone had a 2.0 litre downpipe made up (apparently not available) ... Mine is looking tatty.

I think the previous owner had a prob as the lambda holder is surrounded in weld...

[Purple Pixie]

Yup! we had a downpipe made up (from the cast iron exhaust manifold down), can be done cheapest as part of a full stainless system build, though they can be made up as a one off.

Only get a recommendation off of a lister for any work, we got stung with our downpipe...

[GreenBongo]

The zirconia sensors should all have the same characteristics, its possible that you just got a duff one or maybe there was something wrong with the connection, the two-wire sensor earths through the exhaust.

[cheffy34]

The zirconia sensors should all have the same characteristics, its possible that you just got a duff one or maybe there was something wrong with the connection, the two-wire sensor earths through the exhaust.

Ditto with the wiring!

i put a universal one on mine years ago was fine last mot, It depends alot on your MOT station aswell to be honest i have a thing with garages that push there luck and have caught a couple out over the years charging for work that was not needed and actualy taken one to court over it and winning and that was on fudged emmissions to get cash out of me

BEWARE THEY ARE OUT THERE

my fuel economy has never changed in the bongo not even when i put the uni lambda in it, JUST BE CAREFULL WHAT UNIVERSAL LAMBDA YOU BUY, if you buy a critical part like this from some random place in the back of beyond countries of far flung fleebay then you expect to get blood sucked.


Dar

[Purple Pixie]

so basically a 2 wire zirconia is a 2 wire zirconia, is there any hard and fast guidance as to how the colour coding on the after market device matches up with the one on the bongo?

[Simon Jones]

The one I bought came with instructions which if I recall correctly where:

White - negative
Black - positive

At quick glance, this seemed to match the existing colour coding. Not fitted mine yet, but will get round to it some point soon. Dont think there's anything wrong with the original one, but I'm working my way through the vehicle replacing parts that may help to improve performance and economy.

[GreenBongo]

There are a number of web sites that give the colour codes, do you know who the manufacturer was?

try here:

http://www.lambdasensor.com/main/mcolours1.htm

[cheffy34]

so basically a 2 wire zirconia is a 2 wire zirconia, is there any hard and fast guidance as to how the colour coding on the after market device matches up with the one on the bongo?

To be honest it was that long ago i can't remember, search back through my posts on it Simon is right with white neg black pos if i remember, do not quote me but for some reason blue to black rings a bell when i wired mine

Dar