O2 sensor Universal vs exact model

You can get the same base (by that I mean the part that screws into the hole) with a universal wire which probably won't connect without modification to your car or the original OEM wire/connector. The difference is you may have to cut off the connector that is on the universal model and install your own correct connector.

--Vic

It appears that is what is in the car now.

I bought it 50k ago and when I checked the O2 today I noticed that the

I just wondered how a universal would affect anything.

I've put a Bosch 13913 into two '89 Jettas with great results. The one currently in my car just passed the emissions test with flying colours. In both instances, I had to splice the wires from the O2 sensor to the factory wiring.

Darryl.

| |I bought it 50k ago and when I checked the O2 today I noticed that the |3 wires had been spliced into the sensor. | |I just wondered how a universal would affect anything.

Yes, it affects the price. The basic sensor is the same - from the same factory etc. The only difference is whether they put the plug on it specific to your car, or left it as a universal. Most of the shops figured this out decades ago, and just buy the 3 universal sensors. Of course, they charge you the full book price for the OE sensors. Rex in Fort Worth

Be very careful with this...on my '86 GTI, the shop that installed a new catalytic converter also installed a new universal oxygen sensor, and wasn't careful to isolate the 12V line from ground (the oxy sensor threaded into front of cat converter, and the 12V line for the heated sensor was NOT fused from the battery...you can guess what happened...less than a mile from the shop, my dash indicators started fickering, and smoke started coming out...the line shorted out, and burned adjacent wires in the engine wiring harness...there wasn't a new one available, so the shop had to pay for someone to piece together a used harness...some $1700 in damage (mostly labor)...so if you have a heated sensor, and use a universal, make sure the splice is well insulated from ground (the car's chassis) and also maybe want to put an inline fuse (if there isn't one there on your model) to keep this from happening...so you don't end up paying more in the end should something go wrong.

--------- Tom Flynn '78 Scirocco (sold 1988) '86 GTI (sold 2000) '00 Golf I speak only for myself

I am in the process of getting my 91 2.0 L 16v Passat ready for emissions testing. Does anyone know what Universal Bosche O2 Sensor can be used for my Passat?

Tom Flynn wrote: