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The job of the air fuel ratio sensor is to measure the oxygen content in the exhaust and provide feedback to the engine computer (PCM). Based on air fuel ratio sensor signal, the computer adjusts the air to fuel ratio to keep it at the optimum level, which is about 14.7:1.
Correspondingly, how does an air fuel sensor work?
An ordinary O2 sensor produces a voltage signal of 0.8 to 0.9 volts when the air/fuel mixture is rich, then drops to 0.3 volts or less when the air/fuel mixture goes lean. The WRAF sensor signal starts out low and gradually increases its output as the air/fuel ratio gets progressively leaner.
- Check Engine Light comes on. The first line of defense is the Check Engine Light.
- Bad gas mileage. If the oxygen sensor is going bad, the fuel-delivery and fuel-combustion systems will be thrown off.
- Rough engine idle and misfires.
In this way, is an A F sensor the same as a o2 sensor?
An air/fuel sensor can read a much wider and leaner range of fuel mixtures than a conventional O2 sensor. That's why they're also called “wideband” O2 sensors. An A/F sensor, by comparison, produces a changing current signal that varies in direct proportion to the amount of unburned oxygen in the exhaust.
O2 is the oxygen sensor in your vehicles exhaust system to reduce the harmful and poisonous fumes when the motor is running. You can drive it just fine with the broken sensor; it just means the vehicle can't properly monitor and adjust the fuel/air mixture properly. Sometimes its not the sensor at all that failed.