Engine: S60: Lambda Sensor Change - Save £££

[YellowPinkie]

The orange 'engine' dashboard light came on in my 2001 S60 2.4T, the performance was terrible on full throttle, but could be driven quite well on part throttle.

I took it to my local indy and the computer told me that the front heated O2 sensor was kaput. He wanted about £180 to fix it, and as my MPG had improved from me not driving on full throttle all the time I left it.

Eventually, I wanted to enjoy the Poowwwwweeeeeeeeeeerrrr (in a Jeremy Clarkson voice) again so I started to find out if it was a DIY job. Fixing an oil leak (see separate post) I saw that the front sensor is really easy to get to. Next I needed a sensor. Volvo want over £230, some online lambda sensor sites wanted anything from £180 down to £110.

Poking around the internet, I found the Bosch part number for my vehicle is 0258007070, when I Googled that I found one on e-bay for £66!! The site looked very good and carried lots of Bosch branding, but I was a bit nervous of getting a conterfeit part. I needn't have worried, when it arrived it was obviously a genuine part. I'm not affiliated to them in any way, but try the Powersparks ebay shop if you need a lambda sensor. I was impressed.

Once I got the old sensor off, it too was a Bosch part and the part number tallied across the old and new parts. Volvo, making over £150 on the part, surely not...? I dread to think what the fitted price is!

Anyway, replacement is as follows:

The front sensor is on the turbo outlet pipe, accessible from underneath:


The hex is a 22mm, and Volvo have a special tool (of course). An open ended spanner works just fine. I had to cut my spanner down as it fouled on the drive shaft.

Before you undo it, you need to release the connector so that the cable can rotate as the sensor is undone. The connector is fitted to the gearbox (mine's an auto) on a mounting plate towards the back of the engine - there's two connectors side by side (I think the other one is for the rear O2 sensor). The one we are after is the left one (as you stand in front of the car and peer down the back of the gear box).



The white clip that holds the two parts of the connector together hinges up from the side nearest the plug on the sensor wire - get a small screwdriver under it and it just pops up. The connector on the sensor wire has two plastic pegs that hold it to the mounting plate - on the original part these are just too sturdy to be removed, so I had to loosen the nut that holds the plate in palce to get the plate off so I could compress the tabs from behind to get the old one off. The new one is a fir-tree type arrangement that looks like it will come off much more easily.



Once the old sensor has been removed, screw the new one in hand tight, rotating the cable with it to avoid straining it. Tighten with your special tool (hacksawed spanner), and feed the cable along the route that the OE cable took. The new cable has all neccesary clips fitted in the right place.

Plug the connectors together, push the plastic pegs into the small chassis plate and re-fit the undertray.

My engine management light is still on at the moment, I am told that three cold to hot cycles of the engine with no fault will put the light out, otherwise I'll need to get it re-set. That's the only downside - I'll post back if it goes out on it's own. I have my performance back, and have saved hundreds over getting Volvo to do it. Job will take about an hour, including hacksawing your best 22mm spanner.

[KATANA MAN]

Cheers for that Yellowpinkie.
Im having intermittant trouble with my engine warning light too. I have changed my o2 lambda sensor twice now for second hand ones and thought it was sorted .But lately every few days the engine management light comes back on and then will go off again after afew more days and is starting to p*ss me off. Doesnt appear to be running any worse though!

I want to sort it once and for all!

Can you post the ebay link for the one you bought so I can get a new one for my car?


My car is a 2001 V70 2.4 estate non turbo.

cheers

[Clan]

these sensors have a plastic box on the side of the plug as you see above . This contains laser trimmed resistors , in other words they are fine tuned by the manufacturer ( volvo ) to suit the particular engine type that they are fitted to perfectly . You may find the light comes on again if you get it reset .. You really do get what you pay for ..

[KATANA MAN]

Laser trimmed resistors????

You having a laugh.

Could you not cut the plug off the old one and solder it to the replacement sensor?

Rip off volvo is what I say!

[YellowPinkie]

If it's OK to post links to e-bay on this forum, then here goes:

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/POWERS...34Q2ec0Q2em322

If the mods want to remove it, feel free.

That's the link to the lambda sensor part of their shop, if the link dies over the lifetime of this thread, search for Powersparks - like I said, nothing to do with me, I'm just a satisfied customer.

You can find the link to download the Bosch lambda sensor catalogue at the bottom of this page, so you can find which one you need - min has two, so make sure you get the right one:

http://www.bosch-lambdasonde.de/en/downloads.htm

The engine management light went off on mine after the three cold/hot cycles. I'm chuffed to bits.

[YellowPinkie]

Originally Posted by Clan

You really do get what you pay for ..

Hmmm, genuine Bosch part for £66 or genuine Bosch part with 'free' genuine Volvo plastic bag for £250+

If Volvo charged £100 I wouldn't have bothered looking elsewhere, greedy greedy, greedy.

[TimS]

I've had my 2002 model V70 2.4/170 from new, & recently the front sensor has failed (According to the diagnostic). My nearest Volvo dealer (Colchester) quote £195 + VAT for the part. I've phoned a few specialists, & all say that my particular front sensor is hard to source, and that it must be an OEM part.

A local specialist told me that it could be either Denso or Bosch. Upon close inspection, it is indeed Denso (just visible on the sensor without removing it). He also said that all cars of that model year will have the same (all Bosch, or all Denso). I'm off to see him next week, however depending on what he says, I might play it safe & get a genuine Volvo part.

Car still seem to be running fine.
Tim.

[gmm]

getting mine done on wed,under warranty cant feel a difference in driving but my hell its drinking fuel like anything, 70 mile on £ 20 quids worth, mostly town but with a very light foot

[YellowPinkie]

Originally Posted by TimS

I've had my 2002 model V70 2.4/170 from new, & recently the front sensor has failed (According to the diagnostic). My nearest Volvo dealer (Colchester) quote £195 + VAT for the part. I've phoned a few specialists, & all say that my particular front sensor is hard to source, and that it must be an OEM part.

A local specialist told me that it could be either Denso or Bosch. Upon close inspection, it is indeed Denso (just visible on the sensor without removing it). He also said that all cars of that model year will have the same (all Bosch, or all Denso). I'm off to see him next week, however depending on what he says, I might play it safe & get a genuine Volvo part.

Car still seem to be running fine.
Tim.

I think I got lucky finding the correct Bosch part on ebay, as it took ages to establish exactly what it was I needed. The Denso unit might be even harder to find - my S60 wasn't listed on any of the lambda sensor specialists lists (yet everything else seems to be...). Good luck, it is a simple DIY job though.

[Chris_Rogers]

Originally Posted by TimS

I've had my 2002 model V70 2.4/170 from new, & recently the front sensor has failed (According to the diagnostic). My nearest Volvo dealer (Colchester) quote £195 + VAT for the part. I've phoned a few specialists, & all say that my particular front sensor is hard to source, and that it must be an OEM part.

A local specialist told me that it could be either Denso or Bosch. Upon close inspection, it is indeed Denso (just visible on the sensor without removing it). He also said that all cars of that model year will have the same (all Bosch, or all Denso). I'm off to see him next week, however depending on what he says, I might play it safe & get a genuine Volvo part.

Car still seem to be running fine.
Tim.

This thread may help you:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...ghlight=walker