I just finished installing hedman long tube headers that are covered with header wrap and a heat coating on my '83
Z-28 with CFI. I havent put the rest of the exhaust on yet, so the headers are just open. I installed the stock o2 sensor that was in the manifold into the header collector, it's the one wire model. I had to cut the wire, and lengthen it to get it to be long enough.

After I was done with the install, I fired it up, and it idles rough, with backfires every minute or so. If I give it gas or put it into gear, it wants to die.

I was told that I might need to get a heated oxygen sensor, where could I get one, and does it matter how many wires it has?

Could putting the spark wires back on the wrong plugs have anything to do with my problem?

If you need anymore info, let me know

 

Install the rest of the system and see. I doubt that the HEGO will help much. The ECM doesn't recognize it till it gets into closed loop. A HEGO has 3 or 4 wires. I would get the 3 wired one. It has a positive, ground and feedback wire. Positive is set to a switched power source to help it heat up and the ground is for the power. The feedback goes back to the ECM like the OEM model.

 

Did you cut the O2 wire or did you cut the wiring harness and extend that? Because if you cut the O2 wire it's garbage. You can only cut and extend wiring harness you can't extend O2 wires heated or not heated.

 

It is possible you mixed up some off the spark plug wires.

 

The o2 sensor works fine with the wire extended. The plug wires were mixed up causeing the backfire.

thanks