I tried to search the topic but O2 seems to be too short for the search engine. Its about time for me to replace the stock sensor and I was wondering does an aftermarket one make a difference? where might be the cheapest place to get a stock o2 sensor? thank you

 

You can get a Booch Universal O2 at your local Autozone. It will work, you just need you cut off the stock connector and crimp the new wire.

 

My 2cents, If you do get a universal o2 sensor and cut the connector off of the old one, you shouldn't use butt connectors and just crimp them toghether. You should sauder (sp?) them toghether and cover with heat shrink tubing. Reason being that the butt connectors can change the resistance in the wiring and this can mess up the signals going to the ecu. I have had this happen to me before on another car. o2 didnt read right with butt connectors inline.

 

solder

 

And for your future reference, you can search for short strings such as O2 by putting a wild card character in. ie, to search for O2 you would search for O2*

 

http://www.buyoxygensensors.com/

This one already has the connector on it. some people have had problems with the solder holding a clear connection. The one at this website is $45 and free shipping. I ordered this and it came in two days... they didn't even charge my credit card by the time I got it.

 

They should only be soldered with silver solder (hi temperature) because if you solder with standard solder, there is a chance that it could get hot enough to flow and separate, especially in the area above the turbos where the sensor wire is routed.

Tim

 

Good advice here. Moehler posted the link to the Walker o2 sensor with the oem wiring harness. It's only $45. I think in this case it's better to pay a little more and avoid any wiring issues.

 

guys... there is no universal o2 sensor from where i live, can i just use any o2 sensor?

Guess hw much Mazda is selling them here?? $230 for a freakin o2 sensor...

 

Dude, read the above posts. Moehler posted the link. Order one from there for $45.

 

yeah... i saw that site many times... the problem is i dont have a credit card.

 

I got one from the Advance auto parts. 19 bucks. I did have to splice it in, in order to use the connector. It works fine for me, I have no problems with it.

 

Any electrical solder will work, it doesn't get that hot. If it was in direct contact with the pipe then you might have a problem. Think about it, if the insulation on the wire doesn't melt, why would the solder????

 

I started to rationalize the melting solder until i read wickeds post lol

 

You can always just run with out the O2 sensor connected. Then it's free.

 

Depending on the splice location, it can conduct the heat through the stainless steel wire and melt the solder connection. I know it sometimes seems ideas far fetched, but it has happened to a friend. Some solder has a lower melting point than others. Much of the solder produced lately for electrical semiconductior type soldering and can melt at ranges as low as 244F. Temperatures can easily rise above that in the engine compartment near the turbos. http://www.geocities.com/sdrx7_club/hosetest.pdf
The wire does not melt just as the vacuum hoses don't melt, but both do dry rot and crack as can be seen with the failure of the vacuum hoses and engine wire harnesses.

Silver has a much higher melting point at around 1200F and will definitely not separate due to engine heat.

Tim

 

hehehe... im running very rich at the moment and me car is drinking so much gas now. Its free but actually its more expensive