Oxygen sensors????

[miro1118]

Hi all,

I have a 96 jetta gls 2.0 with 91,000 miles. I have been having a problem as follows:

1)Check engine light always on
2) When raining or wet the car hesitates on acceleration in 2nd gear and the check engine light blinks.

Mechanic hooked it up and said that both o2 were bad and reset the code. He quoted me $400 (+ $30 to install them)for both sensors. He also said that the sensors should not cause hesitation. He also said that that is the only code showing.

My questions:

1) does the problem sound like an o2 sensor?
2) I noticed some different part numbers in my web searches with quotes of (average) $121 for one and $85 for the other. Which are thecorrect parts?
3) Is this a do-it yourself replacement? I am pretty handy but do not have a lot of time (3 young kids at home)

Any help/advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

[jett-n-along]

Hi there,
i saw your ? and i had the same ? for the same car. I just bought a beautiful red 96 with 134000 miles on it. Anyway we took it autozone the day we got it, and it read, random missfire in cyl 2 and o2 sensor 1 and 2. We replaced plugs wires and did oil change this fixed the problem. Took it autozone after this was done and it still read o2 sensors. VERY EXPENSIVE...same prices you got and they are easy to replace with the special tool. The dealer wanted $190 just for labor?????? wrong...
anyway there are 2 sensors in this car(that i know of), one in front of the catalyst and the other in the back. However the car runs great, like theres nothing wrong with it. No knocks or pings. and runs smooth not rough.
So my ? is, do i need them or not????? I would prefer a remote start instead..... jett-n

[miro1118]

From what I understand the o2 sensors will adjust your air/fuel mixture so that the car is always running at optimum efficiency. This conserves fuel and keeps the exhaust gas clean. I have been told that if I did not replace them that I would consume more fuel and damage the cat(in the long run) My check engine light has not come back on since my mechanic reset it two weeks ago. So I am holding out on replacing them. I just hope that the hesitation does not return in the rain.

My question is does anyone think that bad o2 sensors will cause this wet hesitation.

As far as a remote start you should only use this if your car is an automatic. If your clutch switch is working your car will not start without engaging the clutch. If your clutch switch is not working and your car is in gear you will lunge your car and damage any cars,people, or obstacle in the way.

[jett-n-along]

Thanks, its an automatic.
The car seems to be using alot of gas, but it doesnt run rough or do the things that would normally happen if the sensor doesnt work. No hesitation either. We just switched the batteries out so i think the light would have gone out. and it did not.

[boschmann]

The most likely cause of hesitation or missing when wet is the coil, it will arc to ground especially under load. Open the hood when it's runnung fine and spray only the coil with water, It will start missing becarefull not to touch the area - it will give a good shock. The dealer wants alot for it, but if you look around you can find a decent aftermarket part.

[miro1118]

Thanks. I will try that. If it is the coil I will be really mad since I had it changed just last year. I have been having this problem since