I have a problem with the O2 sensor I have. It is a wide band and needs to be heated inorder to give accurate readings. I heard that you have to mount this sensor 6-8" away from the the header flange. So here's the problem, if I mount the sensor 6" away from the flange it will only read a/f from one side of the engine and not the other. Would this be fine. Does one side read almost exactly the same as the other? If I mount the sensor where both headers meet up it will be too far from the flange and I'm afraid it will never get out of heat up mode

 

It should get heated up just fine. Everytime Ive been on the dyno the wide band has been put in the collector of my long tube which is a decent distance from the exhaust port.

 

what wide band did you buy and is it the one that has the digital AF readings Im looking for one to help with the LT1 edit.

 

I bought the Greddy O2 gauge that comes with a wider band sensor. Some people says it is not a tru wide band but I have talked to a well respected dyno tuner and he says every single time somoene comes in with this gauge it is right on with there tru wide band.

Some people have used this on RX7's and can not get them out of heat up mode. And RX7's run hot as hell.

So do you guys think it will be ok to just run off of one side of the engine?

 

Why not put a bung on each collector so you can interchange it from side to side and answer your own question. The LT1 PCM controls each bank independantly.

When I have my car on the dyno, we just pull one of the stock sensors out and put the wide band in there. Doesn't make any difference which side, but I'm running a MoTeC ECU in open loop mode, and it doesn't have individual "bank" control loops like an LT1 PCM.

 

Good advice, as usual.

Rich Krause

 

if its a true(5 wire) wide band, you can put it anywhere. Collector is fine.

As injuneer said, put a bung in the other side so you can swap it.

 

I guess that's what I'm going to have to do. Unless I get 2 gauges but hopefully I will find out both sides are reading pretty much the same

 

I think dual wide-bands would be overkill. As noted in the post above, I run open loop, with the MoTeC ECU. But I still have my stock PCM in the car, using if for idle air control and the speedometer. An I still have the stock narrow band O2 sensors in place, and can read them on my ScanMaster. They are actually quite useful for confirming the "tune" is correct for "normal" driving... at idle and low loads. Nothing like seeing 400-450mV's to confirm its running at 14.7:1 under low loads.

A true wideband sensor has a 500-hour lifespan. Way less than a stock unit, and they will see a shortened service life from exposure to lead. No sure about the "psuedo" wideband that is included in some of these kits.

I am concerned though that eventually the leaded racing fuel is going to take its toll on the stock sensors. But after two years of occasional C16 use, the stock sensors still seem to be surviving. In fact, one of them was looking like it was starting to read "low", but after the last series of dyno pulls, its reading the same as the one that still seemed to be "healthy".

Have you looked at the new TRUE wideband meter, using a 5-wire Bosch sensor, for only $350?

LM-1 Wideband

 

Mine is installed in the collector . a rule I heard is to place it at least 2 pipe diameters downstream of the primarys. install it so the tip is pointed down if you can so water (or whatever) cant run up inside the sensor. The NTK L1H1 sensor is very tollarant of leaded fuel.

DJ

 

Thank was something I ws considering but since I am going to be tuning on a dyno I would not need something like that. I need a gauge just in case I run lean do to some problem I can find out. The LM1 is something I can not use everyday