Using Ford O2 Sensor - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JoeinNigeria · #1 08-10-2003, 10:05 AM

Hey Guys,
Has anyone here used the 1990 Ford 302 Mustang O2 Sensor, instead of the MB part..... It's only $40 Bucks and I've been told does the job, My 1993 230 E 4 cylinder (German Import) is acting up on the long runs!! When hot and in traffic it stalls, starts up right away, but idles poorly, then stalls again. We 2 foot the car home...... Is the O2 sensor the scoundrel???

Joe & Laura McGlynn
Nigeria, West Africa

xp190 · #2 08-10-2003, 11:11 AM

there is a few tests to do to check if the O2 is the culprit or not, I would start by measuring the eha currnt with it plugged in and not. You should be able to tell just by unplugging it.

And yes, the ford O2 works well, I had one in my car for a year now and it does what it's supposed to do.

xp

Arthur Dalton · #3 08-10-2003, 11:30 AM

Lift the rug in the passenger floor and see if you have a 3 wire sensor..if you do, it will work, but you may have a 4 wire sensor...

Kestas · #4 08-10-2003, 06:02 PM

Before throwing money at the problem, clean the throttle body and check the egr valve for proper operation and for deposits on the poppet valve.

sixto · #5 08-10-2003, 07:18 PM

Poppet valve?

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

ejsharp · #6 08-10-2003, 09:32 PM

Your car appears similar to my 1987 300E so I'm going to suggest that the symtoms you describe sound like cracked solder joints on the cars fuel relay board.

If so the condition is activated by heat that causes the cracks to expand and lose contact. The cracks themselves are caused by the weight of the little electro magnets that operate sets of points that are mounted on the circuit board. Vibrations over time cause the solder to crack at the pins where the magnets are connected to the board. Look on the back of the board and you may see circular hairline cracks around the some of the pins.

If so resolder or replace fuel relay. My relay looks about the size of a pack of cigarettes and is a black plastic box. The bottom will slide out of the box to expose the circuit board. It is located on the passenger side engine compartment behind the plastic panel that sits under windshield area.

Kestas · #7 08-11-2003, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sixto
Poppet valve?

The valve that opens and closes the flow of exhaust gases. Is it called something else?

95e320 · #8 08-11-2003, 09:15 AM

I used a O2 sensor from Lincoln continental for my 95 E320. Runs fine without any problems. Now getting 25mpg from 16mpg.

300EE320 · #9 08-11-2003, 12:35 PM

I put the Ford (Bosch) sensor in my 1990 300E and got "check engine lights" repeatedly. 4 times in a week. I put the MBZ sensor back in and the problem went away. Maybe I got a bad sensor because I'm convinced that they are the same. I was surprised that this didn't work as I expected.

Arthur Dalton · #10 08-11-2003, 06:16 PM

DH

In the case of your 300e , the cross-over replacements seems to work fine, so you just may have had a bad replacement..or poor connections....
However , what has been noticed lately is that the later, more sophisticated [ obd2] sytems have had CE lamp activation when Universal spec. sensors are subbed for OEM.
Reasoning here is that the later diagnostic ECUs are looking at a lot more specific o2 specs [ cross counts , tight rise and fall speed/times,heater circuit current draws and resistance, the ability to drop to very low millivolt lean recognition for AIR systems self-test, etc, ...
Seems that the EFI, OBD2 systems on are having less success
here... although some seem to do fine..
I have done some scope patterns on same vehicle [hfm-sfi]
with different set-ups [ Brands/Universals/ OEM] and the best pattern I could come up with [ as far as speed/amplitude and clean sig., anyway]
was with an NGK/NTK vehicle specific replacement-...I was pleasantly surprised...

300EE320 · #11 08-11-2003, 07:50 PM

Thanks for the tip Arthur.

I soldered the connections and used heat shrink tubing (splice inside the car), so I also came to the conclusion that I had a bad replacement. Oh well, I also have a Ford that is due for smog, so I might just have an opportunity to install the sensor in that!

Thanks,

manny · #12 08-11-2003, 09:08 PM

Arthur

Having done some extensive O2 sensor testing in the past, I totally agree with your findings.
NGK/NTK in my opinion are "better" than Bosch & certainly lightyears ahead of Autolite.

Phalcon51 · #13 08-12-2003, 01:15 AM

Can anyone tell me what the correct NGK/NTK OE replacement O2 sensor is for my '86 300E? I've been searching all over the web and can't find anything that says they even make a 3-wire OE type replacement for this car.

How are the NGK/NTK's priced compared to Bosch?

Thanks,

Gary

#14 08-12-2003, 06:59 PM

Can anyone tell me what the correct NGK/NTK OE replacement O2 sensor is for my '97 S420 M119 engine? How can I find the specs for the O2 sensors on my car to be able to compare with NGK/NTK specs? When I looked at the NGK web site they have you fill in the kind of car.

Thanks.

deportes · #15 08-12-2003, 07:43 PM

KUDOS to a great forum, my 93 300E 3.2 runs great but when the O2 sensor starts messing up, I will remeber this info. Thanks to the members for being so dedicated and to the guys that make this possible. I mean it.