o2 sensor

[sblkcamaro70]

i was wondering what the difference between an universal o2 sensor versus oem as far as performance and fuel milelage.

[FrodoGT]

Well I have bought both, not OEM but the one meant for my car, and the only difference was that one came with a plug already attached, that plugged right to my car, and the other just had a wire coming out of it with a crimp on it.

[sblkcamaro70]

but what about as far as fuel economy any effects on switching from oem to universal?

[TheSilentChamber]

Virtually all o2 sensors are the same. Although all newer ones are heated, they are still the same style. The differnce in the oem and a universal is just the plug like said. This goes for probably better than 95% of cars on the road, there are a very few that use a differnt type of o2 that I cannot think of the name of at the moment, but yours is not one of these so it doesnt really matter all that much.

edit: the other style is called a Titania o2 sensor.

[FrodoGT]

There ya go, its not really the o2 that will change your gas mileage..it just gives a certain voltage for a given amount of emissions, they will all produce the same numbers..its your ECU that looks at those numbers and changes the mixture accordingly. In fact, if you take a multimeter and connect it to the lead from the O2 and a body ground, you can read the voltage that it puts out while the car is running, I believe as it gets richer the voltage will go up, or maybe its the other way around..anyway.

/give cookie

[sblkcamaro70]

so why would some one spend twice the money on a oem versus a universal if they are the same thing besides the wire plug in part?

[FrodoGT]

Because anything from a dealership is priced out the ass!

[TheSilentChamber]

Because alot of people dont want to splice wires.

[FrodoGT]

Yes, lazy asses want to just plug it in.

[sblkcamaro70]

autozone wanted $40 for a oem and $20 for a universal. i guess i just cant believe the only reason is cause of the wiring and the price has nothing to with the actual performance of the sensor.

[TheSilentChamber]

You have to look at the cost to the manufacuturer there. The only differnce you see is a plastic connector, they see setup time, tooling cost, small batch production runs, all that adds up cost very fast. Theres probably 1000 differnt connectors that all the car companies have used over the years, and setting up their maching and man power to duplicate those is where the cost comes in. The sensor is the exact same.