On Saturday, January 12, 2008 at 12:55:08 PM UTC-5, hobbes wrote:

Keywords: Honda Civic LX 1999 D16Y7 Oxygen Sensor P0135 ODBII

Holly smokes! Panic! The Check Engine light is on. First time that
happened, pulled into a petrol station and put in more oil. That did
not solve the problem and made no difference. That was about a year
ago. Since then I have learned to control my panic and be more cool ...
"the name's Bond, James Bond."

First time round, took the car to Honda. After $US 105 light was out
no clue what was wrong. One month later, light on again. Bought an
Actron CP9175 analyzer and have never looked back. The fault turned
out to be a wiring rubbing against a belt. Re-clipped the wire and the
light went out. Two years later when that Check Engine Light came on,
I was neither shaken nor stirred.

Driving home from work and that dam idiot light come .... Arrgghhh Check Engine Light. Ok. Cool. Think James Bond. Get home and connect up the analyzer. The scan tool diagnostic connector is just above your left
leg shin when you are sitting in the driver's seat, it is on the wall
up against the steering wheel overhang. The code that comes up is
P0135 (with a zero not a "O"). This means "Primary heated Oxygen
Sensor heater circuit fault". In the car this is the Oxygen Sensor
uppermost before the catalytic converter. When you open the bonnet (or
hood), it is the sensor uppermost before the catalytic converter.

The Oxygen Sensor is connected to the ECM / PCM with a connector that
sits on top of the engine. To disconnect this connector you need to
pop the plastic clip on top. Then ease out gently the ECM / PCM
connector side out. I found using a screw driver helped to ease it
off. The other side of the connector is connected to the oxygen sensor
and is attached to the engine block via a clip underneath. To detach
this you need to reach under the clip near the front and lift up the
release catch. Then ease this off.

Looking at the connector to the oxygen sensor, with the Attach to
Engine clip on the bottom, check the resistance between the bottom two
pins with an electrical multimeter. It should be between 10 to 40
ohms. In my case I had an open circuit. You also need to check for a
short between either of these pins and the body of the oxygen sensor
i.e. ground / battery negative terminal. If you have a short, then you
need a new oxygen sensor.

OK so it looks like I need a new oxygen sensor. Recliped the connector
and set things back. Note you can drive the car even with the Primary
oxygen sensor disconnected. In this case the PGM / ECM computer will
use a default internal value. Your fuel consumption will be slightly
worse. In my case I actually could not tell the difference.

The oxygen sensor I got hold of was a Bosch BS13007 which I bought
from AutoZone for $US 90. You can get these cheaper on the net at
about $US 75 but I wanted the assurance that if it was not the right
one, I could return it without too much hassle. The OEM one in the
Honda is in fact a Denso Oxygen sensor. I went with Bosch mainly
because it was the one in stock at the AutoZone shop. It comes with a
1-year guarantee. The guy at AutoZone was actually pretty good. Check
to make sure I had the right oxygen sensor and also recommended the
right Oxygen Sensor ratchet tool.

Tools you need are an Oxygen Sensor socket; this is a socket with a
slit in it for the Oxygen Sensor wire. The one you need is the one
with the 1/2 inch drive ratchet hole offset on the side. The ones with
the 1/2 drive ratchet whole on top were too long to maneuver onto the
Oxygen sensor due to the proximity of the radiator hoses. The other
thing I bought was some PB Blaster oil penetrate to help loosen up
bolts and a tube of high-temperature anti seize compound

Back at home time to change the oxygen sensor while the engine was
still warm-ish. There are lots of theories as to if a hot, warm or
cold engine makes this easier. My take on it is you want the engine
warmish, to hot and you fry yourself. And cold makes getting the
sensor out of the exhaust manifold a bitch.

I first disconnected the battery to make sure I did not short out any electronics and to make sure the car would not start on me. I then I disconnected the Oxygen sensor wire socked. Now take off the two bolts
on the exhaust heat shield and remove that. You may need gloves to do
this because it is sort of hot. Leather garden gloves work well. My
bolts were sort of rusty. And the 12mm wrench socket stuck to the
bolts a bit. A small drop of WD-40 or PB Blaster made this problem go
away. Take off the heat shield and carefully maneuver it past the
Oxygen sensor and the radiator hoses. It is tight but it will come
out. Thread the Oxygen sensor wire past through the heat shield and
place the heat shield to one side. You can now see the Oxygen Sensor.

Spray some PB Blaster onto the sensor and exhaust manifold join. I
think the PB helps loosen things up a bit, BUT also if you spray
slighty more on the sensor, it cools the sensor more than the
surrounding exhaust manifold and makes it contract faster and hence
easier to get out. Place the socket wrench on the Oxygen sensor first.
Then connect up the ratchet. The socket does not stick to the ratchet
as with other sockets, and you will lose the socket in the depths of
the engine .... like me the first time around if you try and balance it
on the socket wrench. Then tug and try and loosen the sensor. Mine
luckly came out easily. Other people I have read needed breaker bars
and a lot more force.

I then put extra anti seize onto the new sensor, taking care to keep
it on the threads only and away from the business end of the sensor.
The sensor did come with some anti-seize, but I added more and
smoothed it over to ensure a nice even coating. Put the sensor in,
making sure the tip does not touch anything oily. Re-assembly is the
reverse of everything up to now.

The bosch sensor wire did not come with the rubber grommet that helps
secure the wire to engine clip and is longer in length. I clipped back
the wire connector clip, and used a few cable ties to secure the wire
away from the exhaust heat shield and radiator fan.

Hooked up the battery ..... Hmmm moment of truth ..... Ignition stage II. Clear the codes with the Actron. Then hit the starter. Engine fires
and the Check Engine Light remains off. Mission accomplished James.

Hope this is helpful to some one ....

Good luck. Best, Mike.

Well it has been 8 years and I can report that the Bosch Oxygen sensor is still working. So I guess that is what we can call a long term test. Milage is now 149,000 miles.

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