Did a search and learned things, but not quite any answers...
Bought the proper Denso Oxygen sensors for my 95 Z28 T56 I purchased 2 months ago and didnt know the age of the O2s, but now I know firsthand what the noise about installation is about for the passenger side front!
Thankfully, the drivers side front sensor was a breeze, so I installed a new Denso O2 there and dielectrical greased the connector, which fit perfectly.
I was not able to install the passenger side front O2 because my better tools and jackstands were loaned out and I drove her up a ramp, tried to remove the old O2 without u-joints and extensions but with the correct socket and muscle, but failed and left the old one in.

Now the Z has one new front and one old front oxygen sensor until I can get the car higher and use better tools and/or remove the y-piping. Started the Z this morning fine and drove to work.
The car now misses on more than half throttle in the higher gears, or at full throttle anytime between 2000-3500 rpm. The car ran fine before I installed the new sensor on the driverside.

Besides the disappointment in a poorer running car that I thought I was improving, until I get the other new front sensor in on the passenger side I wonder what caused the miss that feels like bad plug wires in my experience (the plug wires are recent, but again this problem started immediately after the new O2 went in... and ran fine until this morning).

Does the PCM have to 'learn' a new oxygen sensor for awhile after installation?
Does a Pcm/ign system get confused by a mix of working and non-working O2 sensors?
I know occasionaly a bad O2 sensor can be bad; should I swap in the other new one?
I carefully routed the new sensor's wiring and ziptied it; can an O2 harness touching a plug wire cause trouble?

Thanks yet again for any takes and help. Short-term until I can replace the pass side O2, will recheck plug wires and such to make sure I didnt damage them or make them touch other leads...

 

have you been able to get it scanned for codes? is strange that a new 02 sensor would have that effect. it may be that you got a bad new sensor so sence you have the other i would switch in the unused sensor and see if anything changes. 02 sensors are very sensitive to voltage or ground, the sensor wire should never be grounded or put to voltage. there is only one wire for the sensor, the others are for the heater and it does not matter with the sensor heater wires they can be hooked up either way. just dont want a ground or hot wire to touch the one. cant remember the colors anymore. if i remember right the sensor wire is the odd color.

 

Tks.
Indeed, I will try the other new sensor when I get tools.
Dont own a scanner or cable for OBDII rect so that wont happen soon as $$$ is tight. At least the problem showed up after a single change...

I just keep wondering; if a new O2 along with an inop old one could cause PCM or other drivability problems? At least the car gets me to work...


It just occured to me that I hadnt checked the fuses. While trying to get the pass side O2 out, the wrench touch something and made sparks, so I disconned the battery but...

 

At lunch I went out and checked all the fuses in the engine bay box and behind the dash panel at the drivers door.
No fuses are blown.

Is there ANOTHER fuse box I am overlooking? I saw a PCM fuse, BUT I do not see any fuse named ENGINE SENSOR.

 

95 z???

I thought there were only qty 2 total O2's

they are a piece of cake to replace on long tube headers

anyway, a bad O2 sensor will mess with the computer and the car will run rich/lean/rich/lean

also, your car is an OBD1 computer, not OBD2 despite the OBD2 connector

 

Yup, OBDI w/ an OBDII connector... tks.
WISH I had headers! The passenger side O2 sensor is the toughest extraction Ive ever seen...

Again, yesterday I touched a starter lead with my wrench on the pass O2 and made sparks; wonder if I fried the old O2 there? Wont forget to disconn the battery again very soon...

None of my wires are touching anything, and the new O2 for the driver side went in fine. Hope I dont ruin it by driving with the old O2 on the pass side still in there...
tks

 

Take the starter out( you didnt mention if you did or not), I have mine out since I'm doing my pan gasket and some other things and the o2 as well as the plug is easier to get to with it out. Now that I know I can get the starter out past the crossover pipe and in only 5 minutes, I'll be doing that from now on. Always make it a habit of disconnecting the battery when replacing anything involved with wiring or electrical just in case.

 

Tks 07!
Starter removal is a great idea! With a background in Brit and Italian vehicles, why didnt I think of that?!? Not to mention unhooking the battery...

Denso has a great track record in O2s, incl F-bodies, so I thought I'd go with an old standby. If the new Denso is the problem, ACDelco will replace it.

I put dielectric grease on the connector to the pigtail! I reckon I should unhook and clean with contact cleaner?

I used the copper anti-seize that came with the O2, and not much. Is it worth removing the O2 and looking at the bulb, or will the gases have blown off any contaminates? Is contact cleaner safe for O2 bulbs if soiled?

My son has many socket extensions and u-joints, and I will get his help on the passenger side; he was able to get bellhousing bolts out of his Camaro without dropping the motor, so his young, flexible, strong arms should help me extract that sensor!

 

nope dont spray anything on the 02 sensors. best way to clean them is with heat, acetylene torch worked for me. dont want them so hot the wire melts and only heat the end thats inside the exhaust.

 

Thanks.
Tokeland. I love it...