It looks like I have to replace the upstream O2 sensor (B1S1) according to my code reader.

The background is I replaced the air filter and while doing that I disconnected the air temperature sensor on the intake and drove a couple of KM, the care smoked like crazy so I pulled over and figured it out
Since then I have been getting the O2 sensor error and according to my search and of course, chat-gpt, I damaged the sensor with my forgetting to plug the temperature sensor back in, too much fuel went to the O2 sensor and damaged it.
In any case, I looked at replacement and it is selling for 322 plus tax. I like the car but it is 24 years old. That is probably half its value.
Any suggestions for cheaper sensors?

Thanks

 

Denso is usually OEM. Denso retail is around $165 USD.

 

That''s about right, and us poor Canadian pay considerably more using our weak dollar.
What about one out of a used car. It I read OBD and find no O2 sensor faults, then I am thinking it would be worth 50 bucks or so even if it goes in a year so. It is worth the risk..

 

You didn't fry the o2 sensor driving a couple km with the air sensor unplugged. Dont ask chat gpt how to fix your car.

 

This highlights a major issue with using AI. People should - but don't - realize that in its current state, AI is nothing more than a gatherer of information, meaning, it has no capacity for judgment. AI will scan billions of posts and records and boil down the results, then respond with what is the most-posted answer (ideally, anyway; at present, AI isn't really good at doing that). Often, if you run the same query through the various AI implementations, you will get different and sometimes conflicting answers.

Think of it like this: five hundred years ago, most people believed the Earth was flat. If AI had existed back then, it would have answered the question, "What is the shape of the Earth?" with "The Earth is flat", which would have been incorrect even though educated people in that era knew otherwise. No judgement.

Bottom line, there is no substitute for actual experience or educated documentation. If you don't want to read the service manual or spend money with an experienced mechanic, and you choose to think that AI will give you an accurate diagnosis, then good luck to you - you're gonna need it. I get it, reading is difficult, mechanics are expensive, and AI is easy.

 

AI is NOT intelligent. I don't even know how to define that. But it has access to immense resources—ours, of course, as you correctly noted. It is one hell of a tool and provides value unparalleled by anything I know of. What I suggest to everyone is to use it, learn it, take advantage of it, and remember that you are the 'intelligent one.'

Who said there are five types of content in the human mind: data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom? AI has data—lots of it—and processing power that allows us to organize that data to serve our needs.

Now back to the topic: I am cheap, which also means I don't like to waste my money. If buying a new one is the better investment, so be it. So the question is: does buying a used one that does not show an error mean it is functioning properly, or just that it's not bad enough to show an error yet? Meaning, its condition is not a simple one or zero—it can degrade over time, so a used one might be inefficient even when not producing an error.

Thanks

Note: Proofreading of the above was performed by my loyal servant, GEMINI.( who note: "I humbly accept the title! I am always at your service.")