Fresh sensors?

InlineDave87

Famous Member
So i have to ask the question of “are fresh sensors good for economy?” I have to beg the question after my dad made a good point to me that maybe the O2 could be giving a false reading due to age and sensitivity. I changed out the O2 sensor when i did oil change last month and after running a rough mpg test today it seems as my truck picked up another 3.5 gpm which now brings me to 21.5 gpm. This is a lot better than the 11 gpm i was getting with all the problems it had and running the AC, 15 gpm without ac. So, would it be a good idea to also replace coolant temp sensor, tps, knock, and maybe even Map sensor in hopes that more accurate readings will give better economy?
 
I believe that is a normal maintenance item that they were recommended changing the O2 Sensor's at 75,000 Miles. My truck lost a good amount of its MPG this year compared to last year I don't have one of the better Snap On scanning tools to check them out though.
 
Good for you getting that milage improved!!

Many things can be hard on O-2 sensors. It was a topic in a few publications and even adopted practice at some automotive shops to recommend replacement at 100k miles on many vehicles. An accurate sampling of the exhaust is key to good milage. It does live in the most extreme conditions when compared to the others. Things that can disrupt accuracy and even damage them are; operation in an uncontrolled lean or rich condition, contaminated or aged fuel, oil consumption from worn out rings or guides, ignition timing, age, etc. The list gets long. They don't always fail but rather get slow or even stuck within a range that won't trip a code. Some are even shit right out of the box.

The knock sensors for these are difficult to allocate and aren't a common problem. Map sensors can be inaccurate and still work, remember these serve as a barometric sensor also so if the initial read it takes which happens before start up is off, the rest of the ecm strategy can be off. TPS can be glitchy also or not give a complete read. The ECT can give bad milage if it doesn't give a correct (too cold) reading. The ECM takes a comparison reading with the IAT and ECT at cold start up. If you have a scan tool (not just a code reader) that can give some sort of data sampling (it doesn't have to be live) you can see where all these sensors are at before just replacing them without need. It can be difficult to see a glitch in the TPS without a "live' reading but you can sweep test it with a DVOM to look for any problems. Note: a wonky TPS can cause erratic, early or late shifting if yours is an automatic.

If you just feel better replacing a bunch of aged sensors I recommend doing one at a time and driving the vehicle for a day or three before proceeding to the next one. This way you aren't chasing your tail if you end up with a bad one somewhere along the way.
 
I believe that is a normal maintenance item that they were recommended changing the O2 Sensor's at 75,000 Miles. My truck lost a good amount of its MPG this year compared to last year I don't have one of the better Snap On scanning tools to check them out though.
My local ohreallys had the sensor for like $35 bucks. They had another one for $28 but it was the walker brand. I went with the bosch cause the factory is just a bosch with ford stamped on it too. I work on fire trucks and dont know a whole lot of details for emissions maintenance on regular cars. Ive heard other guys on here say they saw their mpg go out one day only to find out the knock sensor went bad and got it back after replacing it. So it makes me wonder if some of these sensor should be replaced.
Lets say the tps it telling the computer that the throttle is slightly more open than it really is. That false reading could be making the truck run rich. Maybe even the coolant sensor never reaching temps for closed loop operation. I know my truck is getting up to temp since i replaced the thermostat but in the cab i see my needle floating back and forward over the N in normal. It would be nice to see what the truck is doing with a computer and find out what it thinks the coolant temp is. Another thing would be if some corrosion is insulating the sensor from reading the right temp.
 
Dave- don't discard the knock sensor! And if it's not pinging, don't change it. The silence shows it's doing it's job. They are not available! Unless someone has found a source of the correct KS since this was last discussed at length last year.
Amazon, chain auto parts, etc list the 4.9 KS with the V8 KS. The frequency of the 4.9 is higher than any other engine, and the KS is specific to it. The V8 or V6 will not read the ping in the 300.

 
Maybe you can see some humor in this also; gpm is opposite of mpg.
Lol when i originally wrote it, i had to go back to change it to mpg because of my fire truck brain 🤣.
As far as the KS, maybe i should see if mine is the factory original and see if i could do a google search with that part number. Being self employed as a fire truck mechanic i have to look for unique places to find the same parts to beat out my competitor who is already well established and has shops across many states.
 
Back
Top