R36 Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Fault

[snerlo]

Evening gents,
I did know I had an O2 sensor previously from a scan but seeing as though it hadn't thrown an impromptu VW meeting, I mean CEL, I hadn't worried too much about it till a couple of weeks ago about two days after I had my 75k service done. Anyhow, I received a quote from my service mob to replace it and right after I picked myself up off the floor I said, oh ok, might have to wait a little while for that. Anyhow, I couldn't the info detailing the sensor for obvious reasons until a good mate helped me out on the weekend with a scan. Below is a snippet out of the scan. I was really hoping that someone with technical experience could confirm for me that this is the sensor from the front bank on the V6 and that it is before the cat as I would like to purchase the correct part and have it installed. If there is anyone in Brisbane that knows someone or can recommend someone that knows how to do the change, it would be appreciated if you could let me know, even by pm if necessary. Any advice is appreciated, cheers.

1 Fault Found:
008753 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1
P2231 - 004 - Signal Shorted to Heater Circuit - Intermittent - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 10100100
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 17
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 75057 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2015.08.10
Time: 16:46:10

[Darkhorse Developments]

Thats bank 1 sensor one. So drivers side before catalyst. When it throws a heater element fault its always the probe itself. Quite common on the v6

[snerlo]

Thanks mate. Any ideas on someone to install or where to purchase

[Darkhorse Developments]

The top ones are not too bad just needs to be cold engine. I diagnosed one for a guy and he sourced his own part from bosch instead of vw but not sure where. Also be bought a spanner and fitted it himself.

[snerlo]

Cheers mate. Will be ringing you shortly about canbus upgrade we discussed a couple of months ago for my jetta that you fitted the GTI steering wheel to. Got a new stereo that needs the canbus upgrade.

[snerlo]

Well here's a strange scenario for ya. Got in the car this morning to come to work and the CEL is still on, no problem, knew about it. Anyhow, I had to go to chiro late this morning as I threw a rib out from all my coughing that I have been doing over the last two weeks and the CEL is not on!!! WTF!! The car has magically healed itself!!
Anywho, will be interesting to monitor what happens over the next couple of days with this one.
It's funny also as the "light out" bulb warning light has flashed up randomly on the dash over the last week too showing my front left LED parker bulb as being out when in fact it is still working. Weird!! These cars are starting to get too smart for their own good!
So, at the moment, there is no warning lights on the dash, woohoo!!

[kamold]

I have a colleague who had a V6 Passat.
He had this same issue of heater element in lamda probe failing.
I reset the CEL a few times for him, other times it just started working again by itself and cleared the CEL.
He drove it like that for about 2 years and then sold it.

I'm not an expert but as I understand it the heater element in the O2 sensor itsn't all that important in our climate, and if its not working (apart from throwing a CEL) will only result in maybe increased fuel consumption just while the engine is warming up?

[snerlo]

Cheers, thanks Kamold. As long as I am not using more petrol than I need to when it is at normal operating temperature then I don't mind but if it keeps throwing the CEL then I will get it replaced because seeing the light annoys me!!

[kamold]

Don't quote me on that, hopefully one of the vw techs on here might offer some real advice

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

[3C4M Guy]

Just because the CEL is not lit now doesn't mean the O2 sensor has fixed itself. The fact that the OBD-II scan revealed 17 occurrences of the O2 sensor fault means it needs replacing. A shorted heater circuit is very common. The engine may be using more fuel because the sensor has failed. Don't make the same mistake as me - I replaced the wrong one! A dealer later told me this is very common and even their own technicians get it wrong sometimes.

My fault code was 08756 for bank 2 sensor 1 before the cat. I thought this was on the passenger side because my research showed bank 2 = not for cylinder no. 1 and I believed cylinders 4 to 6 were on the passenger side. The dealer later told me this is wrong and bank 2 = driver side. Anyway I ended up doing both.

They are relatively easy to do. Just remove the air filter housing to gain access. You can get specialised tools for replacing O2 sensors but I found a crows foot wrench that wrapped around more than 180 degrees was best. The passenger side is easier to access than the driver's side. The price of the part only from a VW spare parts counter is around $340. I sourced a genuine one from the UK via eBay for $200. The sensors are made for VW by Bosch and you can probably get a Bosch equivalent part from overseas via eBay in the low $100s (if you're confident it's the right one). First check with a knowledgeable expert which side is bank 1.

[snerlo]

Thanks for the heads up mate. If i can get one for in the 100's then i might think about getting two because you would assume that maybe if one goes, the other might not far behind, but ill try and have a look on ebay.co.uk. Appreciate your advice. I was actually going to try and find out which one it definitely is by unplugging one and seeing if it throws a code up. That way ill definitely know.

[b j p]

What was your outcome here Snerlo.

I've had my wifes R36 out at Euro Aus for a similar problem. They replaced the Sensor they said was a problem and cleared the CEL. Drove it home and before I even got home the light was on again.

They are saying that potentially it may require another one and that I should drop it back down for a rescan.

Thoughts... also rang Jmac, but as usual got his voicemail.

[snerlo]

To tell you the truth mate, i have actually done nothing. As the car was still running fine with the light on, i just was running around and then one day, the light dissappeared, and hasnt come back on! That was quite a while ago now, so maybe it has sorted itself out, or healed itself! ����

[Eaglehawk]

maybe it has sorted itself out, or healed itself! ����

If only every VW had this feature...

Good result!

[kamold]

A mate at work had the same problem with his b6 3.2l Passat.
He ignored it too.
From what I understand the issue with the lambda probes is with a heater circuit in the probe, not the O2 sensor part. I have no idea but guess that in cold climates the heater circuit might be required for the sensor to supply correct readings until up to temp from the exhaust. So if the heater circuit is failing then the probe will just send inaccurate readings for a while until it's warmed up. Which in aus in most places wouldn't take more than a few minutes. So ignoring or resetting the fault code will probably have very little effect other than perhaps running a bit rich or lean (depending which way the probe is out) until warmed by the exhaust.
Maybe someone with some actual knowledge could provide proper guidance...

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk