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Can i remove O2 sensor?

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reece13

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Just got a set of long tube headers for my 89 K5. Has a TBI 350. Just wondering if I can remove the 1-wire o2 sensor without messing with performance of the engine? This is my first time putting on headers on a fuel injected chevy.
 
Yes and no. If you can re-install it as close to the original distance from the heads, the do so. If not, you need to buy a 3-wire heated O2 sensor and install it.

The O2 sensor is required for TBI, and its proper operation depends on being hot enough to work. Too far away = too cold = all sorts of issues.
 
The headers don't have a bung for the sensor? If you bought it truck specific, it should have one.
 
fyi good custom exhaust shops have replacement o2 bungs for a few bucks . drill the hole and weld it in place.
 
Yes there is a bung already there, I just wasn't sure if I HAD to use an O2 sensor. Guess I should just leave it in. What kind of issues would it have if to far away?
 
your in hotter country section . if up north in cold winters would see it more a problem .

but basicly single wire o2 needs exaust heat to fire off and work . if to far down stream it wount reach temp . makes the computer stay in cold mode = old school carb leaving the choke on all the time.

upgrade to 3 wire is 2-3 times better . faster warm ups and also better readings . also your OLD sensor is just that old and done a lot in its life time .

real simple to do 3 wire upgrade. lots of write ups on how its done .
 
PS, your engine will run like crap and you'll have a check engine light on at all times if you don't have an O2 sensor. It is by far and large THE most critical sensor of the entire fuel injection system.
 
ktmoutfront said:
Screw it into the bung. Run the truck. If it runs like crap, upgrade to the heated one.
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Why not do it right the first time? :doah:

I say this only because I am assuming the headers the PO bought are like mine - the O2 bung is much further from the headers, so it never got hot enough. The result was really bad MPG and a cloud of gas fumes at idle.

Seriously, why do it twice?
 
Meh, I drove over 1000 miles pulling a loaded trailer, then several more months around town without mine hooked up, why? Because the wire burnt through on the redneck temporary exhaust while moving to Indiana from Phoenix.

Yes, the check engine light was on and most likely it used a bit more gas, but normal driving it did just fine.

Yes, still better to have it hooked, but absolute vital is a bit of a stretch.

Do what you can to get it working, mine is in some headers, nonheated, it acts up all the time, well, back when it was still running. :-P
 
Jessie James said:
Why not do it right the first time? :doah:
Click to expand...

You don't know what right is until you try the unheated.

I ran an unheated O2 for 10 years, in my long tube header collector..probably 3 feet from stock. I watched it many times while datalogging or scanning, and just like some factory tunes, the ONLY time it dropped out of closed loop was at idle. ANY manipulation of the throttle immediately produced enough heat to get the system to go closed loop again.

And open loop doesn't really matter if the tune is correct, although normally one would prefer closed loop. When you start it up, it runs in open loop no matter what O2 sensor you use.

And just to add some teeth to my statement, there is zero difference in mileage between the two.
 
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