Hey, so I got these faults this morning. (See below). The car appears to be driving fine.

Bank 1 sensor 1 is rear of engine near firewall, top sensor (upstream), correct?

Additionally, why the hell is this sensor so expensive compared to the downstream ones? lol....

If anyone has replaced this sensor with anything other than Denso, I would appreciate any input on other brands... Or, persuade me to buy OEM.

Thanks!

 

You could test the wiring going to the sensor, but most likely it's dead.

Get different than Denso and you most likely will be doing it twice, so at least use anti-seize so it's easier second time around. If you get Bosh then you will be getting Denso sooner that you think.

Oh and aren't Denso for like ~$100 from rockauto? I usually get them from autozone for ~$150 but never ordered one for TL so maybe they are more expensive.

 

I mean, maybe I'm just being a cheapskate....I remember the last time I replaced an o2 sensor it was a downstream one on an '06 RL and I got a Denso brand one off Amazon for $30 flat. I guess I might just have to bite the bullet on this one.

 

You poor bastard!

 

Maybe you could loan me some spare change?

 

Upstream are wideband sensors, downstream are narrowband. That accounts for the price difference.

Get some Denso's from Rock Auto.

 

don't do it.. especially don't get Bosch ones

 

You probably need to replace all 4 Oxygen sensors at this age. Paul, our star master mechanic here in Nawth Jerzy says to only use the Denso's or NTK's from rockauto. The NTK's are OEM and come with all the plastic anchors like the originals for the routing the wire. Replacing mine at 315K miles made a huge difference in performance!
.
.

 

You know, I was thinking the same thing. Upstream ones should be easy, probably need to look for some tutorials on the downstream ones.

I also just completed a $20k home repair/improvement so I am penny pinching hardcore right now, it pains me that these sensors are (relatively?) expensive.... hey, if the name of the brand is ULTRA-POWER, it has to be high quality, right?

But seriously. Looks like I'm just going to suck it up and get 4 DENSOs. I am fearful that the sensors on my car are the original ones, now sitting at 230k. But my fuel economy has never dropped below 24mpg, I guess until this CEL.

 

At this point mileage, I would do all 4 sensors. Beside look on the plus side that you will see improvement on MPG.

 

For sure, and assuming I actually get better mileage (even if it's only 2-4mpg), the repair, arguably, will pay for itself eventually.

 

Between Denso and NTK, just pick the cheaper of the 2 for the upstream and downstream. MPG increase will be slight, but the biggest difference will be in performance. Now at 323K, I can still do 0-60 in under 6 seconds, can successfully race a new TLX !
.
.