Nose for Oxygen 14.7:1 stoichiometric ratio. Grammar 14.7 parts of air to 1 part of petrol is the ideal mixture of these two compounds to achieve a clean, economic and efficient burn. Unfortunately, other conditions cause constant variation to this ideal. Temperature, acceleration, deceleration, load, altitude, inertia, mechanics, etc are factors contributing to rapid fluctuations between lean and rich mixtures. Taking petrol as the yardstick. And the ratio being 14.7:1. A deviation to 13:1 equates to a rich mixture as the air is less and petrol is more in relation to the ideal. A deviation to 15:1 equates to a lean mixture. All of this is a major determinant of what is emitted as waste gas at the exhaust end pipe. However, running an engine for too long on either a rich or lean mixtures can have serious consequences, while on short term may cause drive ability issues. To counter, a device is fitted to the exhaust just before the catalytic converter called the OXYGEN SENSOR. Best described as a nose but only for oxygen, this device detects the unburnt oxygen content of the waste gas and sends constant readings as signals to the control unit (Brain box) which would then react to adjust to the ideal ratio. Oxygen sensors can be vulnerable to bad connection, bad petrol, mechanical faults, damaged heater elements. Faults related to a bad oxygen sensor or the sensor itself will most likely activate the check engine warning lamp. Do not ignore Pic 1- Oxygen sensor Pic 2- Process cycle Pic 3- Graph pic 4- Oxygen sensor location #DRIVESAFE
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 18:59:40 +0000
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