O2 sensor fault code cleared with Durametric

[RandallNeighbour]

My CE light came on so I bought a Durametric cable (and once again, thank you to whomever here told me to ask for a "rebuilt" unit because it saved me $100!!!!). It arrived and I took a few minutes to hook it up and see what that darn light is all about.

Turns out to be the O2 sensor ahead of the cat on the left side. I cleared it and it stayed off while idling.

Here's my question: I need to get my car inspected and I'm wondering how long it might stay off. Long enough to get a sticker?

I'd drive it around to see if it stays out, but its out of inspection and the cops around my house are thick and always snagging people for this small infraction!!!!

I'm not really interested in spending money on four new sensors at the moment, since I just spent $230 on a diagnostic cable.

BTW, this might just be the best money I've spent on this car so far.

[steved0x]

What was the code? The pre-cat sensors are used to monitor and set the air/fuel mixture ratio so if they are going belly up your mixture could potentially be off which may cause other problems.

What sort of inspection does Texas do? Once you clear your codes you have to drive a certain number of cycles to set your "readiness" flags, and if your O2 sensor is really bad the light will probably come back on during those same drive cycles.

One of the things that the durametric can check is those readiness codes, do they show as ready? If they do you should be all set to go get your inspection.

Steve

[mikefocke]

Some states use a tail pipe sensor to test, but most now just query the ECU via the OBD2 port and any recent code even one that has been "cleared" will show up. This recent codes capability is deliberately built in to prevent people from resetting 2 minutes before going through the test.

O2 sensors commonly go at 50-75k miles. And the ones nearest the engine go first. You do not need to buy a Porsche labeled part, Bosch makes 'em and any muffler shop can install em. A writeup with part numbers is here.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

My CE light came on so I bought a Durametric cable (and once again, thank you to whomever here told me to ask for a "rebuilt" unit because it saved me $100!!!!). It arrived and I took a few minutes to hook it up and see what that darn light is all about.

Turns out to be the O2 sensor ahead of the cat on the left side. I cleared it and it stayed off while idling.

Here's my question: I need to get my car inspected and I'm wondering how long it might stay off. Long enough to get a sticker?

I'd drive it around to see if it stays out, but its out of inspection and the cops around my house are thick and always snagging people for this small infraction!!!!

I'm not really interested in spending money on four new sensors at the moment, since I just spent $230 on a diagnostic cable.

BTW,

this might just be the best money I've spent on this car so far.

The Durametric can run the same "I/M Readiness" test the state uses. If you just reset a code, the sensor will come up "not ready"; this is a trap the EPA put in the OBD II system to prevent clearing of codes just before going for inspection. For the sensor to become "ready", you need to put the car through a couple of full driving cycles. It will either reset, or recode if the problem is still there.

[randy7601]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

My CE light came on so I bought a Durametric cable (and once again, thank you to whomever here told me to ask for a "rebuilt" unit because it saved me $100!!!!)....

You're welcome.

[Slate 01]

You'll have to drive typically 20 to 30 miles in order for the inspector not to see that you have cleared the code manually.

[RandallNeighbour]

Thank you all for this good info, and Randy, you da man! I'm headed to DFW in late January and I need to meet up with you and buy you a beer or two!

Hopefully, I'll have this all sorted by then and I can drive the Boxster up from Houston.

Mike: I replaced all four about six years ago when the motor had just 90k on it. Now at 114k miles, they should not have gone out! Ugh.

[mikefocke]

24k on a sensor is not usual at all. What is the specific code? It can be a wire or connection loose or just a tired sensor which is the age/mileage one that usually comes up. When you replaced them did you use Bosch or Porsche parts or a generic? It isn't usual to need to replace all of them at once. Just the bad one. Though I'll confess to replacing the other front one about 1k after I had to replace the other front one but that was because I was obsessive.

[RandallNeighbour]

OK folks, I thought I'd come back to this thread and tell you what is going on with this issue.

Apparently, the car had been sitting too long. I cleared the code, drove around a couple of days in traffic and did some spirited driving, came home, ran the durametric software again, and found no codes and no faults of any kind in the system.

I'm taking it in to have it inspected Sat morning