Whoever owned my car before me did something to the exhaust and the sensor underneath the car (near the cat) is gone. What effect does this have? I still have the one comming out of my exhaust manifold.

 

thats your 02 sensor i believe ( im some what new in this) but it could decrease your gas mileage i think and lead to other problems, my friend had an 02 sensor go bad in his s-10 and it wouldnt run for crap.

 

Is it on the oppisite side? If so it is the o2 sensor for that bank, so it mit give you trouble.

 

That is, in fact, the O2 sensor, and depending on how it broadcasts signal (high oxygen=high voltage, or high oxygen=low voltage, it will either cause an extreme lean or extreme rich condition because the computer will think it's getting a certain amount of oxygen, when it's really not. The other possibility is that it's going into dilligaff mode (does it look like I give a flying....) and will just dump a certain amount of fuel into the car at all times. If it's before the cat, it's a front 02 sensor, if it's after, rear. Replace it ASAP, the car won't run right without it.

 

are you sure its the O2 sensor? Last i checked it was located on the drivers side exhaust manifold. Unless his has 2, or its in a different place than on mine. It isnt anymore since i have headers, but thats where it WAS at. But i do know that some cars, not necessaraly camaros, have more than just the one. Not saying your wrong flufy, just questioning, as i am here to learn as well as give the knowledge i know to people in need.

 

No offence taken, I'm still learning myself, but this is one thing I do know fairly well. Since the year of the car wasn't specified, I can't say for sure, but most vehicles produced after 1990, to my knowledge. possibly sooner than that, have two sensors, or sometimes even three or four (being one for each manifold or downpipe, and one per midpipe. The multiple sensors per bank are used to determine if the cat is doing it's job right, as the O2 content of the exhaust should be altered by the reaction in the converter. Also, I'm pretty certain there wouldn't be any other sensors on the exhaust on a car this old.

 

You should have only one O2 sensor with ! wire. That is assuming your are refering to the 88 Camaro in your signature. Posibly a pipe was replaced with one with a sensor hole.

 

That's another possibility I hadn't thought of, thanks for pointing that one out. Do you know when they switched to dual O2 sensors in F-Bodies, because it's possible it came along at the end of the model year, say in July or August of whichever year it was, and it's possible that the previous owner was told they only needed one. It's a longshot, but I don't see it being too far fetched. Cadilac brakes come to mind for things like that. ::shudder::

 

I dont think there is more than one until OBDII. Then there is 3 and 4.

 

Ok, good enough for me. I know my 95 Cavalier has two, but that may be less common than I'd previously expected. Seems a bit strange that there would be a midpipe that would have an O2 sensor hole for that car, when no O2 sensor goes there, unless the 4th gen uses the same midpipe, maybe? I've never owned a 4th gen, and I've only ever had one come into the shop I workedt, and that was just for tires, so I didnt get much chance to look at the exhaust. If that's the case, you'd probably just want to get someone to weld something over the hole and seal it up.