No before the bashing begins yes I have google yes I have researched yes I have read every thread pertaining to any VX issues for years now. I've been a member here for probably 10 years yes I know this is my first post I lost my other account information. So it's a 92 vx d15z1 all stock and now in 5 years it's killed 3 o2 sensors. The first was an oe it was about dead when I got the car. I replaced it with the proper NTK that one lasted almost 2 years. So then I got cheap seeing as how the NTK is almost $200, I got an $80 5 wire that needed to be spliced in. It turned off the light and it operated fine for probably almost a year. Now all three of these oxygen sensors have failed with a 41 code. I have heater voltage at the plug. My question is when I bought the car the cat was already hollowed out, does this car somehow require the catalytic converter to help keep the oxygen sensor warm? Am I over using the heater circuit and that's why it's cooking these sensors? Yes I know it's OBD one and I could do a sensor delete and get a modded computer however vx is a mutt....if they don't have an oxygen sensor the fuel economy is absolute garbage. Anyone have any info or help

 

I would guess that is a yes to the cat delete eating up the heater of the sensors. The cat would normally provide a bit of back pressure which in turn would trap the hot exhaust around the upstream o2 sensor.

Without a cat, the exhaust can exit freely as well as allow cooler air to back flush up near the o2 sensor which in turn could force the o2 sensor heater to run more often than usual when idle or low rpm/low load situations.

I suspect the VX is more sensitive to having/not having a catalytic converter.

 

well seeing as how it's a 92 there was only one oxygen sensor the VX and CX are the only Hondas e.g. That have the catalytic converter part of the header pushed between the motor and the radiator. The fact that the O2 sensor is less than a foot away from the exhaust ports is the part that trips me up. I completely understand your logic and have wavered back-and-forth forever. I guess the way I look at it it's kind a like I don't want to put tires on this car that needs a front End alignment....yes the Vx are the most finicky beasts ever that's probably why they quit making them

 

All the sensors burned out after some obviously very smart person hollowed out the cat. You can make what you want of that.

Honda made a car with a similar engine up until 2000, it was called the Civic HX. Perhaps in 1992 they didn't realize that the US Army knows "VX" as a type of nerve gas.

 

Well I didn't hollow out the cat and I know tons of people that run cars without cats....yes I am aware of the hx similar but not quite the same beast. Burned up with not cat.... well there is no proof of that..... none of the oxygen sensors I have installed are the Honda bagged $800 one. One can assume all they went bad from a lack of a cat. You are missing the point that I am looking for real world answers not assuming. Yea I can throw a shotgun of parts at it and fix not how we really should do repairs.

 

I agree not how to do repairs but there is one obvious problem from stock and that is no cat.

If you insist on running modified, then you can't expect the same results as factory. Nor can you use factory diagnostics.

Until the car is actually stock (is not right now) you don't have the same factory resources available (diagnostics).

And I get your thoughts about the o2 sensor being right at the exhaust ports or darn near, but you also have not put in the OEM sensor due to cost. Well, who is to say your third party wideband sensors are meant to be that close to the exhaust ports. We know the OEM one is. Built for those specifications exactly. So you have a few factors to consider and until you start ruling each one out one by one, you won't know exactly which modifications (no cat, aftermarket o2) is the problem.

Personally, putting the cat back is not just throwing parts at it, it's repairing the car and putting it back to stock.

Usually those not running cats are further down the chain and they use a defouler if they have a downstream o2.

 

I don't insist on running modified at all. The 2nd sensor I put on was the NTK oe replacement. Oem not in a Honda bag. This is just a vx anomalie and trying to gather answers. I already have a new used cat.

 

aftermarket OE parts are a crapshoot. odds are slim that you got 2 bad sensors, and since wideband sensors are so expensive, and the VX relies on its catalyst programming to do what it does, the question is why wouldn't you put it back to stock and see? is your question whether or not there is a wiring issue or other common issue to the vx as it relates to the heater circuit? to my knowledge, no. try out the forums on ecomodder, those guys are vx nerds.