Please help with cobalt wideband a.f. gauge

[Silver Bullitt]

Anyone installed one of these gauges I got mine installed and when I start my car it reads 14.7 which is the norm at idle or normal driving from what I'm told but it does not move when I'm at wot it just stays between 14.6 and 14.8 but on the dyno it drops down to 11.4 at wot any suggestions on how to get this thing working right

 

[Hawgman]

Where is your sensor, and in what clock position on the pipe?

 

[G.T]

when I'm at wot it just stays between 14.6 and 14.8 but on the dyno it drops down to 11.4 at wot

i'm confused...
so WOT on the street reads ~14.7:1
and WOT on the dyno reads 11.4:1 with the same sensor/gauge?

 

[Silver Bullitt]

my installer just took out one of my stock sensor and put the wideband sensor in its place

 

[Silver Bullitt]

i'm confused...
so WOT on the street reads ~14.7:1
and WOT on the dyno reads 11.4:1 with the same sensor/gauge?

no my gauge reads the same but when its on the dyno and they have a wideband hooked up it reads11.4 but mine stays the same

 

[Hawgman]

my installer just took out one of my stock sensor and put the wideband sensor in its place

Which one? And in front or behind the cat?

 

[Herknav]

no my gauge reads the same but when its on the dyno and they have a wideband hooked up it reads11.4 but mine stays the same

Are they putting the sensor up the tailpipe, or is there a bung welded into the exhaust for it?

Is your sensor between the engine and the cats?


I think your cats are doing thier job...

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Which one? And in front or behind the cat?

left side behind the cat i believe

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Are they putting the sensor up the tailpipe, or is there a bung welded into the exhaust for it?

Is your sensor between the engine and the cats?


I think your cats are doing thier job...

should my sensor be before the cats

 

[tmcolegr]

These are the instructions for mounting the sensor for my IMS wideband:


On CATALYTIC CONVERTER equipped vehicles:

Install the oxygen sensor’s bung upstream from the catalytic converter (a bung and plug is

included in the LC-1 kit). Any decent muffler or exhaust shop can do this for you. The wideband oxygen sensor is then installed into the bung to take a reading. (Insert the plug into the bung when not in use). The bung must be installed in the exhaust pipe at the side or on

top, NOT on the bottom of the exhaust pipe. Best position is between 10:00 and 2:00 position.​

 

[GIG4FUN]

should my sensor be before the cats

When I put in my AEM it was specific with where to put it in the directions. Did you receive any installation guide with yours? Maybe you could look online in their support section.

 

[Hawgman]

should my sensor be before the cats

Yes. After the cats does nothing except tell you that the cats are working.

 

[Darth Stang]

my installer just took out one of my stock sensor and put the wideband sensor in its place

Get a new installer, that guy's an f'ing idiot...

The car kind of needs both O2 sensors to work right...

You need to have a bung wleded in before the cat at the 2 o'clock position I think to avoid water dripping on the line.

-Darth

 

[MikeVistaBlue06]

my installer just took out one of my stock sensor and put the wideband sensor in its place

For this car to operate properly, it needs the two front and the two back oxygen sensors in place. Now you can turn the back ones off in a tune if you like, but the two up front are absolutely necessary for the computer to fine tune A/F.

That said, the sensor for your wideband should go right beside or close to your front oxygen sensors that are BEFORE the catalytic converter.

So you need to have a hole drilled in your headers/exhaust manifold, have the bung welded in place, and then install the sensor for the wideband A/F.

I hate to say it, but your mechanic ain't got a clue as to what he is doing with respect to this particular job.

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[tom281]

So if someone is running an offroad pipe (no cats) and has the rear sensors turned off, you could use one of the rear factory locations for a wide band sensor right?

 

[racevert]

TOM281,
Please read the facts already provided in previous posts. You can not put the sensor that far back. It needs to be as close to the cylinder head as possible. The factory sesnors are in the drivers side manifold and passenger head pipe right below the manifold. So you can't use the passenger side head pipe because the OEM sensor is there. You cant use the rear O2 sensor locations - even if the tune has the rear O2s turned off because it is too far back.
If you have stock manifolds it needs to go on the drivers side head pipe below the manifold. You need to put a bung there between 10 & 2 and mount the sensor there. The reason is it has to be heated instantly when initialized and can only be heated correctly when close to the cylinder head.
If you have headers you need to have it put in the collector of the headers. Placement of the O2 sensor is critical to getting an accurate A/F reading.

 

[don_w]

So if someone is running an offroad pipe (no cats) and has the rear sensors turned off, you could use one of the rear factory locations for a wide band sensor right?

That's where mine is, and it works fine.

 

[don_w]

You can not put the sensor that far back. It needs to be as close to the cylinder head as possible.

If you have headers you need to have it put in the collector of the headers. Placement of the O2 sensor is critical to getting an accurate A/F reading.

I don't think it's as critical as you're saying. Hell, there are many tuners who use tailpipe sniffers for O2 readings, and those are a looooong way from the heads. My wideband gage sensor is only about 15" - 18" behind the front O2 sensor, and it's fine there.

 

[tom281]

TOM281,
Please read the facts already provided in previous posts..... You cant use the rear O2 sensor locations - even if the tune has the rear O2s turned off because it is too far back......The reason is it has to be heated instantly when initialized and can only be heated correctly when close to the cylinder head.

With all due respect, I have read the posts- can I ask you why would a sensor that is used for feeding a guage, not the computer, need to be heated instantly? And why would the air/fuel be different from the manifold area to the midpipe area when there are no cats?? Not sure I follow your logic......

That's where mine is, and it works fine.

Thought so, thanks Don.