My check engine light came on the other day. I took it to Checker tonight and they hooked up their computer to read the code. It showed up as P133 or something. It turns out to be the O2 sensor. Is this something that is critical? Or can I wait awhile to get it replaced? They said a new sensor was approx. $149. Anyone have any experience with this? My Jetta is a 96 and has 112k miles on it. Thanks.
they usually last about 90K miles or so, so it's not overdue. $149 is the going price for a OEM style sensor too. Sounds right.
Ok, thanks. Guess I gotta get it replaced. Anyone know if this is something I can do myself?
All it really is is a sensor that's screwed into your exhaust system. I'm not sure where it is exactly on your car, but on my '91 GTI it was in the exhaust manifold. Some cars have it just in front of the catalytic converter (and some cars have two sensors instead of one...don't know if that's the case with your car). The main caveat it that heat may have made it very difficult to unscrew and it might be pretty well bonded to the exhaust system and might take brute force to unscrew it. You would use an open-end wrench to unscrew it. I think the size is 22mm but don't quote me on that. You'd unscrew it, follow the wires to a connector, undo the connector, install new one. It's theoretically simple. What makes it hard is if you don't have the right size wrench, if you don't have easy access to it (can't swing the wrench or have a hard time reaching it), etc...annoying things like that.
When installing the new one, put high-temp antiseize on the threads (but not on the main part of the sensor or it won't work right). Your local FLAPS will have small tubes of antiseize for this sort of thing for just a few bucks.
The sensor is a Bosch unit. Some folks have had luck using a generic Bosch one (for $50 instead of $150) that just lacks the VW wire connector but is otherwise the same, in which case you'll need to splice your old connector to it. Some folks have found such a sensor at Ford dealers (Ford apparently uses the same sensor with different wiring).
I don't know if the swap works on later models but on A2's, a Bosch
13913 O2 sensor that has many Ford applications will work (at perhaps half the cost). Compare the part number on your '96 and '89 for example.Darryl.
You might also want to check out . They have the whole range of sensors (cheapos right up to the OEM replacements) at the best prices from the few comparisons I did. I just went through this on my Corrado; Matt B is dead on - cramped area to work in and hard to break loose, but once its broken, it is fairly straight forward.
BTW, no affiliation with oxygensensors.com, just a pleased customer.
Eric
62 Corvair Monza 63 Ghia Cabriolet 64 Volvo 1800S 90 Corrado"Matt B." wrote:
Hey Guys, I think the light may have just tripped on accident due to all the fog and crap we have in the air. I want to try and reset the check engine light myself and then see if it comes on again. If it does, I will get it replaced. So.... does anyone know how to reset the light without going to a dealer or service shop? There has got to be a way. Thanks.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.