Your car, truck, utility vehicle, or van’s oxygen sensor – also called the O2 sensor – keeps track of the amount of oxygen found in your automobile’s exhaust. The sensor is located in the front of the tailpipe, and it sends the oxygen data to the engine control module. If there is too much or too little oxygen in the exhaust, the engine control module will make adjustments to the air and fuel in the combustion chamber. Clark’s Car Care advises that the following signs indicate your oxygen sensor is bad.
Acceleration Lag
If the engine control module increases the air in the combustion chamber because it received incorrect data from the O2 sensor, your acceleration may lag when you try to pick up speed. This is because there’s more air than fuel in the engine.
Black Exhaust
The opposite is obviously more fuel than air, and if this happens, you’ll end up with black exhaust smoke blowing out of your tailpipe. This is because the engine is burning away the excess fuel that the engine control module has put in the combustion chamber due to the faulty O2 sensor.
Check Engine Warning
If your O2 sensor sent an error code to the engine control module, it will turn on the check engine light to alert you of a problem. The oxygen sensor does not have a dashboard warning light of its own, so the module turns on the check engine light.
Engine Performance Issues
Depending on whether there is too little or too much fuel in your engine, you may notice performance issues such as stuttering or surging, respectively. When an engine is fuel-starved, it will sputter and struggle to run. If it has too much fuel, it will act like a bucking bronco.
Excess Carbon Emissions
If the malfunctioning oxygen sensor has convinced the engine control module that the engine needs more fuel when it actually doesn’t, you will have excess carbon emissions in your vehicle’s exhaust and your vehicle will fail any emissions test that it takes.
Fuel Economy Loss
Another sign that the O2 sensor is going bad is a loss in your vehicle’s fuel economy. This can happen because the engine is burning excess fuel, or it can happen because the engine is struggling to run. The latter causes the engine to blow through fuel faster.
Rotten Egg Smell
Finally, if the oxygen sensor has caused a rich fuel mixture, this will clog your catalytic converter. A clogged catalytic converter malfunctions and releases sulfur. Sulfur smells like rotten eggs, so you may smell rotten eggs coming from your engine and exhaust.
Bring your vehicle to Clark’s Car Care in Naperville, IL, so we can test your oxygen sensor.