Air To Fuel Gauge Install !?!?!?!

[ByrdMan23]

ok... so i spent an hour tryin to find any help with installing a prosport air to fuel gauge (narrow band). The directions that came with it are a little open and i was wandering if anyone at all could help with this install. I have power and color installed and i have the necessary wire to send the signal already in the engine bay. I JUST NEED TO KNOW A FEW THINGS...

1. where exactly our sensor is.
2. What wire do i tap into for the signal back to the gauge
3. Is there anything else( Ground wire,etc.)

If someone had pictures and step-by-step this would help so much. Thanks for anyones help

 

[Craighjr]

what car do you have? best bet will be to add a dedicated single wire voltage generating sensor for a narrowband.

 

[ByrdMan23]

i have the mazdaspeed 3.. well really i wasnt going to buy anything that didnt come with the gauge. I planned on just running the sensor wire from the gauge and wiring into the original senor wire. I know it wont be a accurate reading all the time but at this point thats not in my concerns... but do you happen to know where our sensor wire is and how many wires it is. All cars either have a 1, 2 ,3 , or 4 wire o2 sensor... thanks for any help

 

[Rotus8]

i have the mazdaspeed 3.. well really i wasnt going to buy anything that didnt come with the gauge. I planned on just running the sensor wire from the gauge and wiring into the original senor wire. I know it wont be a accurate reading all the time but at this point thats not in my concerns... but do you happen to know where our sensor wire is and how many wires it is. All cars either have a 1, 2 ,3 , or 4 wire o2 sensor... thanks for any help

Check here for help:http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123687033
The ECU document shows the sensor wires going into the ECU.

 

[Craighjr]

I agree with Rotus' count of 6 plus the shield wire. The Front O2 sensor would be the one you need but it has 2 connectors and no narrow band output. Good luck making that work.

 

[ByrdMan23]

ok... well crap... im a little confused on what exactly to do.. if anyone has pictures of where they would wire in their sensor wire that woulbe be really tight.... thanks for yalls help so far

 

[Craighjr]

You will have to probe the wires Rotus showed you that are labeled front o2. If one goes from 0 to 1 volt with the car running that would probably be the best thing to make that air fuel gauge go lean to rich. You could probably just tap in at the pcm which is right next to the battery, but no guarantee on that working.

 

[Rotus8]

You will have to probe the wires Rotus showed you that are labeled front o2. If one goes from 0 to 1 volt with the car running that would probably be the best thing to make that air fuel gauge go lean to rich. You could probably just tap in at the pcm which is right next to the battery, but no guarantee on that working.

No. If you are putting in a narrow band gauge, it connects to the rear sensor (the front one is wide band). Your signal wire connects to the white wire on pin 2Q of the ECU. Do it neatly so it can be disconnected easily if the ECU starts complaining. I am not sure your gauge is going to show much useful information, but it's worth a shot.

Good luck.

 

[Craighjr]

No. If you are putting in a narrow band gauge, it connects to the rear sensor (the front one is wide band). Your signal wire connects to the white wire on pin 2Q of the ECU. Do it neatly so it can be disconnected easily if the ECU starts complaining. I am not sure your gauge is going to show much useful information, but it's worth a shot.

Good luck.

But the rear sensor should out put a near steady voltage to show that the cat is working. If that voltage swings lean rich the car assumes the cats don't work.

 

[meha11]

Rotus is right, the front is a wideband which outputs mA. The narrow band gauge requires a voltage signal 0-1v as said earlier. I havent checked the output of the second sensor but i think you could get it to work. I installed an additional sensor ($30) in my down pipe to get mine working, it is only 1 wire and idiot proof, thats your best option (need to get a shop to weld you in a bung).
If you choose to use a mA signal for a narrow band gauge you may get the needle to move but it is worthless and you risk messing up the calibration of your gauge. Maybe someone else can tell you which wire to tap into on the second sensor-i would help but i cant even start my car right now due to missing parts.

 

[Craighjr]

Rotus is right, the front is a wideband which outputs mA. The narrow band gauge requires a voltage signal 0-1v as said earlier. I havent checked the output of the second sensor but i think you could get it to work. I installed an additional sensor ($30) in my down pipe to get mine working, it is only 1 wire and idiot proof, thats your best option (need to get a shop to weld you in a bung).
If you choose to use a mA signal for a narrow band gauge you may get the needle to move but it is worthless and you risk messing up the calibration of your gauge. Maybe someone else can tell you which wire to tap into on the second sensor-i would help but i cant even start my car right now due to missing parts.

The second sensor is behind the cat I don't think you will get much of an air fuel reading from that sensor.

 

[crashkelly]

dude dont waste your time installing a narrow band...all you are going to do is ruin the o2 sensor wiring. It is much much much more beneficial to just spring the few extra bucks for a wideband.

A narrow band will tell you absolutely no information other than this...if it is on there is electricity going through it. That is it...other than that it just bounces back and forth while you drive. It is a lightshow.

A wideband will tell you the exact a/f ratio which is what you want...Plus a wideband is EASIER to install than a crappy narrow band! You just plug the o2 sensor into a bung, wire it to the fuse panel, and ground it.

EDIT: i put a narrow band on my msp when i didnt know any better and it was a waste. all it did was ruin a perfectly good o2 sensor wire.

 

[crashkelly]

But the rear sensor should out put a near steady voltage to show that the cat is working. If that voltage swings lean rich the car assumes the cats don't work.

why would you need a sensor to tell you your cats dont work though? If your cats are clogged you WILL know it, you will get a check engine light, and the car will run/sound crappy.

Narrow-band gauges are the biggest rip-off in gauge history. They provide NO useful information other than telling you the o2 sensor is getting power.

You get nothing else out of it except the feeling that you wasted money when you could have spent time buying a wideband that will give you awesome info and is WAAAAy easier to install than a narrowband.

 

[Craighjr]

why would you need a sensor to tell you your cats dont work though? If your cats are clogged you WILL know it, you will get a check engine light, and the car will run/sound crappy.

Narrow-band gauges are the biggest rip-off in gauge history. They provide NO useful information other than telling you the o2 sensor is getting power.

You get nothing else out of it except the feeling that you wasted money when you could have spent time buying a wideband that will give you awesome info and is WAAAAy easier to install than a narrowband.

A cat can lose its effency and not work with out clogging. That will be what sets a P0420 or P0430 on a car that does have a cat. And yeah the check engine light is because the car uses both sensors to tell it something is wrong.

 

[crashkelly]

A cat can loses its effency and not work with out clogging. That will be what sets a P0420 or P0430 on a car that does have a cat. And yeah the check engine light is because the car uses both sensors to tell it something is wrong.

it's easier to run no-cats...that way they never get clogged!

 

[ByrdMan23]

ok so as of now i have a narrow band gauge.... are you saying i can buy a seperate sensor to make mine work as wideband? if so where would i get something like that....

 

[Rotus8]

ok so as of now i have a narrow band gauge.... are you saying i can buy a seperate sensor to make mine work as wideband? if so where would i get something like that....

No, the sensor and gauge have to match, so if you want to go wide band, you need the whole package.

 

[ByrdMan23]

ok well for now tahts out of the question.. i mean i knew when i bought it it wouldnt have a good reading... i just figured i would be able to hook it up easily without having any problems or risks of ruining anything

 

[ssinstaller]

ok so as of now i have a narrow band gauge.... are you saying i can buy a seperate sensor to make mine work as wideband? if so where would i get something like that....

You can buy the innovate LC-1 wideband controller. It has analog outputs that you can scale to 0V-1V and use with your guage. It wont be as accurate as using a real WB gauge that gives you digital values, but at least you'll be getting some useable information..