I just acquired a 4th gen car with a 5th gen VTEC motor. The O2 sensor is bad and needs replacing. The local parts house has two...a universal one and one that is the original style. Does anyone know of any issues with using a "universal" O2 sensor ($55) rather than the original style that comes with the plug and all ($200+)? I'm thinking I can splice 4 wires for $150 if there's no other reason not to go with the universal one.

 

Well, this is a very hot topic isn't it.........and haven't gotten any help here so far but I'm not giving up

I've replaced the O2 sensor (went with the universal one) and I'm still getting codes for the O2 sensor (code 1)and the EGR Valve (code 12). A friend said there were a lot of other things that could cause it to code for the sensor (bad plug for one) and also said the cat could be clogged. The car supposedly has a "high flow cat", DC header (both between 2 and 3 yrs old and probably 25k miles). They symptoms are intermittent rough idle, but mostly the car misses when under a light load when accelerating. If I go ahead and mash down on it, it smooths out (usually after about 3200 RPM). When it's cold it seems to run fine most of the time and the problems start after the engine warms up to normal operating temp.

Any thoughts anyone?

 

Anybody??? Since my last post (beginning to think it's an exercise in futility here) I have found out the catalytic converter is original to the car (225k miles on that), the plugs are just about new (last 500 miles or so). The car supposedly ran perfectly from the time the motor was swapped (3 yrs ago) until about March when the CEL started coming on. The guy says he had it ck'd and was told it was the O2 sensor. That's brand new now.