i just bought a 97 civic dx hatch with a 95 gsr swap and type r ecu and is has a air/fuel guage and it was always kinda on the lean side and now its always in the red(lean side).how do you fix that?i know its not good to drive it when its so lean.

 

Is this a wideband 02 gauge or just a standard narrow band?

 

If it's a narrow band don't fret, those are very inacurate, but when you get on the gas it should sweep over to the green side still.

 

I'd say put it on the dyno with air fuel reading, to be sure. Those narrowband gauges are only for show.

 

its a narrow band and when i do get on the gas it moves a little but never gets to the rich side

 

the reason most guys are saying that the narrow bands are for show is because the stock 02 sensor only has a range from 0-1 volts. Your stock 02 sensor is constantly changing from lean to rich as it tries to modify your injector pulse width. To see the gauge go from green to red all the time is not uncommon. This is why these gauges are inaccurate becuase of the constant change of the 02 chasing the pulse width. A wideband has a much bigger range and is realistic for you to monitor.

 

ask the guy who sold you the car if it had any kind of ecu recalibration. and those narrow bands are just a lights display.

 

i've seen this happen before with the autometer gauge, it just indicates that the o2 sensor is not good anymore.

 

im just gonna replace the o2 sensor and then see what it does

 

i would lab scope the 02 first before making that assumption. See what your wave signal is like, your 02 sensor could be lazy and not sending a MIL.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by arc_55 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your stock 02 sensor is constantly changing from lean to rich as it tries to modify your injector pulse width.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's constantly changing from lean-rich-lean because the ECU is actually commanding the injectors to do so. It's not like the a/f ratio just varies for the hell of it while the ECU monitors the O2 and tries to control that condition. This switching is actually needed to make the catalytic converter function properly.

And using a scope to look at your O2 sensor would indeed be the best way of troubleshooting it, rather than just outright replacing it.