air/fuel gauge only reads lean

[Denji]

Okay, yesterday i had my 3 inch downpipe and 3 inch cat installed onto my car. Since about an hour or so after this installation my air/fuel gauge stopped working or basically only reads waaaaaaaaaaay lean. I know air/fuel are pretty much worthless, but it was on the car when i bought it and i like everything to work properly. There has to be some reason this is happening. I had a spare o2 sensor in my garage, i switched it with the old one and still... same thing.. any other ideas guys? I have searched and read that perhaps its not grounded well and that possibly my car is getting used to the new exhaust.. either way its weirding me out, whats your opinion?

 

[Project ES]

Well, from my own hands on experience w/ my own car. My a/f gauge stays in lean until i drive it. It can be warmed up at idle and still say lean but as soon as i start driving down the street it starts working. Maybe you have a different problem but thats my 2 cents.

 

[Lunch_Box]

My opinion is not to worry about it because it is not at all acurate. If you are that concerned get a wideband.

 

[Turbo Talon DL]

You should check the purple wire coming from the gauge, ensuring that it is connected to the proper wire coming from the ecu. Make sure its not shorted as well. My a/f gauge only comes on when i get on it a little, never just during part throttle and between shifts.

 

[Denji]

okay guys, i know its worthless, but its on the car for now so if you dont want to help me fix it please dont post. The car isnt running a check engine light, i checked every connection i can think of.... ground, power wire and sensor wire.. If anyone has expreience with this or information about my problem please post.

 

[Denji]

Well, from my own hands on experience w/ my own car. My a/f gauge stays in lean until i drive it. It can be warmed up at idle and still say lean but as soon as i start driving down the street it starts working. Maybe you have a different problem but thats my 2 cents.

i appreciate the response, however, my air fuel gauge was normal, now it is not, it is always lean.. even after an hour of driving..

 

[Denji]

My opinion is not to worry about it because it is not at all acurate. If you are that concerned get a wideband.

i understand its not accurate.. more concerned about why it was working and how it isnt now.. I dont need it for any kind of real function, it worked, now it doesnt.. why? Perhaps the reason it isnt working is because the o2 sensor is going bad? in which case there is a reason for its failure that may need to be addressed.. its not the functionality of the gauge that makes me want it working.

 

[Denji]

You should check the purple wire coming from the gauge, ensuring that it is connected to the proper wire coming from the ecu. Make sure its not shorted as well. My a/f gauge only comes on when i get on it a little, never just during part throttle and between shifts.

from what i can see the wiring looks good, i have a friend who is better at wiring coming over tonight to look it over. The gauge is not hooked up to ecu, its hooked up to the signal wire going to the o2 sensor... mine never comes on really past 1 bar all the way lean.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Listen we already know the gauge is just a blinky light and doesn't read A/F very well, that's not the point. The gauge is working and smartass comments won't fix it they will only get you banned.

 

[Denji]

okay, its not the o2 sensor i just replaced it with a brand new bosch. I guess that was a waste of cash. If there are any other suggestions or comments about it that are helpful, help a brotha out!

 

[Denji]

PROBLEM SOLVED.

The o2 sensor was originally bad, and made the car run lean.
The spare o2 sensor i put in was bad because i tried to clean it with brake cleaner
The new o2 sensor i didnt think had worked because i had accidentally copied the wiring from the spare one, and they werent the same company so therefore the wires were flipped, upon reading the instructions with the bosch one, i realized that the wires were different.

all of the above scenarios that were not correct, caused the same lean signal

in conclusion, if you are getting a lean reading from your a/f gauge it probably is the o2 sensor.

ps. through all of the different sensors and setups.. not one check engine light came on, so the air/fuel gauge was effective for something! Otherwise i wouldnt have known.

 

[TurkF26]

glad to see you got you problem fixed.

man hearing about "a\f gauge is worthless" is about as common as everyone saying "i have crankwalk" .

but ya, someone correct me if im wrong but the Bosch o2 sensor is the same sensor AEM uses in their wideband?? so pretty much with the bosch o2 you already have that taken care of?

 

[Defiant]

but ya, someone correct me if im wrong but the Bosch o2 sensor is the same sensor AEM uses in their wideband?? so pretty much with the bosch o2 you already have that taken care of?

If it's the same sensor, it's not a true wideband.