Installed LT's, SES Codes like herpes
I hate going on internet myths and like proof when I can get it. I put in a call to the folks at Bosch. A guy got back to me about an hour later. He said they don't have specific O2 sensor specifications available for them to see, but he did confirm that many are 10-12 watts while higher performance and/or newer cars are 16-18 watts.
I guess this is as good as we're gonna get as far as an exact answer to "what is the wattage difference" question.
What prompted my call is the that despite searching all the "Bosch O2/ higher wattage" threads here, on a few other forums and internet searches, nowhere is the exact wattages actually listed or documented.
I guess this is as good as we're gonna get as far as an exact answer to "what is the wattage difference" question.
What prompted my call is the that despite searching all the "Bosch O2/ higher wattage" threads here, on a few other forums and internet searches, nowhere is the exact wattages actually listed or documented.
It would be interesting to do some bench testing on various o2 sensors. One could measure resistance and voltage and then calculate watts using Ohm's Law. W = V*2 / R. (Or perhaps there are more elegant ways to measure load directly. IDK I am not an engineer or electrician lol)
A steady 12v power source and a multimeter is all that would be needed. Having the proper metripack pigtail to plug into the sensors would make life easier for access to the terminals. One could even go so far as to measure how hot the sensor becomes by using an IR thermometer gun.
Most common sensors reach upwards of 600 degrees F at operating temperature, and I suspect that a good portion of that heat comes from within the sensor, so caution should be taken while testing
Moving to the signal wire, you could also measure/observe how the voltage signal changes as the sensor experiences different environments (the voltage from the signal wire can vary from 0-1v during operation).
Another thing you can do, and this is actually a crude method for testing o2 sensors: using a multimeter, tap into the signal wires of the sensor and heat the thimble of the sensor with an external heat source. The voltage signal should swing about as the heat is waved near the sensor. I've done this before and it works. If the sensor's signal voltage does not change when they are heated, the sensor is bad. What we are observing is the voltage produced by the chemical reaction within the sensor with the external heat acting as the catalyst.
This is getting way too geeky, but it's interesting stuff if you have the time.
Last edited by ShevrolayZ28; Apr 7, 2011 at 08:54 AM.
I'm not sure if this is relevant to what's going on, but I actually bought ONE Bosch O2 and left in a stock w/ extension and did some logging. The stock side actually read a few counts lower (which could just be from minor leaks, stock injectors, etc) but, undeniably, the response time on the Boschs were significantly faster. After swapping in to both Boschs, the readings were much closer together, but I also put in newer injectors, still stock rating. So even if it isn't throwing codes, you're going to be running better with the Boschs. As to the popping, just because you have less back-pressure and more free-flowing exhaust, it's going to do that. I can sometimes get my T/A to pop fire 
. But if it gets really bad or happens a lot, it can be a MAF or O2 issue. Popping can mean that your exhaust gas is too rich.... Hope that helps!
. But if it gets really bad or happens a lot, it can be a MAF or O2 issue. Popping can mean that your exhaust gas is too rich.... Hope that helps! 
Shevrolay and JRENIGAR were right, passenger side front o2 extension fell down on the collector and melted right through the connection for the extension. I just cut out the connector and spliced the remainder of the extension into the o2 sensor harness.
