Honda Oxygen Sensor
Honda has always been lauded for the first-rate quality and the superb performance
of the engines they manufacture. Honda engines do not only generate generous amounts
of power, they do so with the least amount of harmful exhaust emissions. Honda
engines, however, can only do so much in the area of power generation and exhaust
reduction with the mixture of fuel and air being delivered to it. Only with the
proper mixture of fuel and air can a Honda engine possibly convert all of this
mixture into mechanical energy and thus reduce the amount of harmful byproducts
of the combustion process.
The good thing about Honda is that their ingenuity in engine design has been
carried as well in the design of all the other systems and components related
to the engine. The Honda fuel injection system, for example, is cleverly engineered
to continuously adjust the amount of fuel injected to the engine cylinder heads
so that the proper air-to-fuel ratio would be achieved. And helping out the fuel
injection system in this function is the Honda oxygen sensor.
An oxygen sensor is a small electronic sensor inserted into the exhaust system
of a gasoline powered vehicle, either in the exhaust manifold downpipe before
the catalytic converter or in between the catalytic converter and the exhaust
manifold. The primary function of the O2 sensor is to measure the amount of oxygen
remaining in the exhaust gases. This data (the volume of oxygen in the exhaust)
would then be relayed to the engine management ECU computer, which would then
adjust the air/fuel mixture for the best possible results.
When a Honda vehicle is new and its oxygen sensor is still functioning well,
you can expect it to showcase an impressive performance in terms of mileage, fuel
economy and emission control. The Honda oxygen sensor, however, is not designed
to function properly forever. The high temperature of the exhaust system and the
contamination it gets from normal combustion and oil ash can greatly reduce its
efficiency. Once this happen, you can expect the fuel injection to perform poorly
and various components to get damaged, including the catalytic converter. It is,
therefore, imperative that you take good care of your Honda’s oxygen sensor and
replace it before these things happen.
