O2 sensor trickery?

[jonlisle20]

(I don't know why I can't find anything through the search engine)

I remember seeing a bunch of people who had performed a modification that tricked the ECU into thinking you had a cat. I have the bosal federal exhaust and I want to get the AWR mild steel header. Then I will have no cats and at the very least the check engine light will come on. I'm going to have a muffler shop putin an egr and O2 sensor port and if I'm going through all this trouble I want that damn check engine light off!
So any of you who have done this SUCCESSFULLY, could you please let me know exactly what to do or who to talk to about getting this done. I'm definitely a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to working on cars but I never worked on anything electrical on a vehicle. So please go easy on me if you can help me out. Any info you can give me will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Jon.

 

[promp3]

The best advice I can give you is don't, the mp3 is an obd2 vehicle
OBD2= more sensors and wires than darth vader. Its not to be messed with, if your o2 sensor throws a certan code your ecu will go in to a "safty mode" and you will lose performance and fuel econimy because your engine will be running very rich. The sensors in your exhaust system moniters exhaust gasses and makes corrections in mixture ect. buy that, with out the cat it will be able to tell that the catilist is not working properly and will basicly say "BAD!" The anthony woodford header is made for racing cars isnt it? which don't use the same system that street cars do not to mention that it is illagal to modifiy the catilists.
but if you can do it go for it!

 

[Skiha]

I had installed the header about 2 month ago, and as you imagine, CEL came off. I just ordered O2 simulator from link below. I am going to install it when it gets here, and see what happens.


http://www.casperselectronics.com/cgi-local/store/commerce.cgi?product=IMPORTS

 

[promp3]

hey now thats a cool piece! Tell us if it works!!!!!

 

[big_ben]

That is such a rip off. I made one for my car for about $2.50. If you want to know how easy it was,.....I have absolutely no knowlege of electronics. That's how easy it was. All you need is a PC board, a resistor, a capacitor, a soldering iron, soldering wire, and about 15 minutes. If you can afford all those, you can do it yourself.

 

[chdesign]

Actually Ben those are a little different than the ones we used they have a timer in them to actually loop the signal works the same but alot more complex and you don't even have to have the other O2 sensor plugged up with that one just creates its own signal with the 12v input.

 

[big_ben]

That would be cool then. If you don't even need the other O2 plugged in, that would be worth it since it's only $49.

 

[chdesign]

or you can do what i did make the simulator we did and then only use that one O2 sensor but splice the wires off before the resistor and splice them into the other O2 harness making it think that the other is there and stillg etting all the correct *at least it thinks so* signals.

 

[jonlisle20]

Oh hell yeah! Now we're talking! That eliminates one thing I'll have to have the muffler shop do.

Hey SKIHA, how do you like the header? (I'm assuming you mean the AWR header) Good gains? Did it bolt up to the stock exhaust without modifications? How's the quality? Sorry for all the questions, but I don't know of anyone else who has it.

Oh and if the simulator works, could you give me a quick explanation of the install? (I'm electronically challenged) This could be a great mod for the How To section if it's written up right.
Please keep us posted! I'm dying for some more horsepower!

 

[mikesmazda155]

Does this fit our cars, there is not a number that you can call to verify?

 

[Skiha]

RE: jonlisle20

I had installed AutoExe's header, air flow, plug codes, and coolant hoses. In terms of header, it works good, especially 2500 rpm and up. The car responds well to the gas pedal, and makes 8hp gain at wheels, according to AutoExe. I will keep you posted whether O2 simulator eliminates check engine sigh. I will be receiving the simulator sometime this week.

 

[jonlisle20]

Excellent. So where did you get the autoexe header from? How much?

 

[Stou]

Big_Ben,
what is the diagram of the O2 cheater you did. I did one a few month ago but it work only for a few days and under certain condition (with the turbo....) the CEL came back.

Skiha,
just let us know if the Casper Electronique do the job. When I asked them a few month ago, they told me that it may work but they are not sure abot that.

 

[Skiha]

Stou,

I will install it on this comming Friday, and will let you know the result.

 

[Skiha]

Stou,

It worked, and eliminated CEL. However, I will allow at least a couple of week to make sure. I can give you a tip when you are selecting the shops to install O2 simulator. First, I took my car to one of import shops, but they could not install it correctly, i.e., CEL came back in 30 minutes. So, I did the research, and found that muscle car shops who deal with camaros, mustangs, and so on, have done a lot of these modifications (removing the catalytic converter). I of course took my car to one of muscle car shops in my town. They performed a great job, and eliminated the orange light. I paid $60 for them. I am so happy that I eliminated the CEL.

 

[Stou]

Let us know in a couples of weeks if it still work. If so, I'll order one!

Thanks

 

[jonlisle20]

Hell Yeah! Keep us posted!

 

[Skiha]

Gentlemen,

O2 simulator has been working just fine, and no CEL so far. I may be wrong but the gas mileage are better since I had installed the simulator (I had CEL on for 2 months). I doubt that CEL on makes leaner gas, mixture but I am not sure since it's a minor change.

 

[Stou]

That's a good new Skiha. I'll order it. It's possible that you got a better gaz mileage since you don't have the CEL on. When it's on, the ECU can change the A/F ratio and this can affect the gaz mileage and performance.

Thank's Skiha!

 

[syn_lube_nut]

Back in my Si days (the 99-00 Si), there were people using test pipes in high output NA motors, who were still using stock ECU's that used a piece of catalytic converter material in the O2 bung to fool the O2. It worked perfectly and as far as I know, still does. Something to think about. Ill try to find the site for y'all.