Greetings from Kerrville, TX!
- Thread starter Monello
- Start date
1stGenSMIB
Active Member
I went thru the check engine light/gas cap warning thing on my wife's car. The gas tank systems are so tight these days due to the emissions regulations that a loose cap could mean gas vapors escaping into the atmosphere..I believe that the O2 sensor plays a role in detecting that issue..(i.e. the air/fuel ratio the car is expecting, or the pressure in the return line is not right cuz the cap is loose)..but there are 8 million other sensors plugged into the CPU too. I have an OBD2 code reader, so I reset the light and replaced one bad sensor/piece at a time until the light stopped coming on, and ended up replacing the gas cap and a sensor or two under the hood, but not the O2 sensor. The biggest issues with replacing an O2 sensor is, it might be under the car, you might need a special O2 sensor socket, and because they are in the exhaust stream, they are sometimes welded to the pipe from the heat cycles. 
BTW - thanks for the updates..it is awesome following you across the country.
BTW - thanks for the updates..it is awesome following you across the country.
Thanks for the feedback.I went thru the check engine light/gas cap warning thing on my wife's car. The gas tank systems are so tight these days due to the emissions regulations that a loose cap could mean gas vapors escaping into the atmosphere..I believe that the O2 sensor plays a role in detecting that issue..(i.e. the air/fuel ratio the car is expecting, or the pressure in the return line is not right cuz the cap is loose)..but there are 8 million other sensors plugged into the CPU too. I have an OBD2 code reader, so I reset the light and replaced one bad sensor/piece at a time until the light stopped coming on, and ended up replacing the gas cap and a sensor or two under the hood, but not the O2 sensor. The biggest issues with replacing an O2 sensor is, it might be under the car, you might need a special O2 sensor socket, and because they are in the exhaust stream, they are sometimes welded to the pipe from the heat cycles.
BTW - thanks for the updates..it is awesome following you across the country.