fastrex

where and how can i get a wideband o2 meter? is it different than just an air/fuel gauge from autometer? whats the benifits? thanks Brian

JHill

Way different than a air fuel gauge. Normal O2's are only accurate at stoichiometeric, which is 14.7/1 a/f ratio. It will only tell you if it is rich or lean, period.

Wideband will tell you what the a/f is exactly, whethter it is 12.1/1 or 13.6/1 or 15.9/1. They have come down in price recently, I have one that cost about $750, and there is a DIY kit called techedge that sells kits. Very usefull for tuning. I have it wired directly to an AEM EMS, so it can even datalog the a/f or even run closed loop at a target a/f that is input.

Jim

kamaleon

my apexi turbo timer gives o2 reading in (volts) and a/f ratio... is this any good? accurate?

JHill

If it is using the signal from your stock O2 sensor, then it is only accurate at stoich. Rich or lean, it is not accurate as the voltage curve is way to steep to be converted to a usable air/fuel ratio. The only thing it can tell you is if it is rich or lean, but not how much.

kamaleon

i believe that the 02 sensor from the HX ($400) is wide range for better fuel efficiency.

is not the common sensor.

JHill

Yes, the HX is the wideband O2, which can be used in conjuntion with one of the wideband O2 controllers available from Techedge or possibly even the FJO. It does need a controller though. The HX has the controller built into the ECU.

kamaleon

im not familiar with hose names or controlers

edit: in short? the a/f ration and a/f voltage reading that my apexi reads are or arent accurate!?!?

dennis

I don't think any of you answered the question here. Yes a wideband o2 sensor is sensitive over a wider mixture a/f mixture range, but what he's asking is if a "standard" meter will work with a wideband sensor.

I was wondering the same thing...

Although it could easily be figured out. Does a wideband output the same voltage as a standard o2? If so, it would work, but wouldn't be very useful unless you knew exactly what voltage each little LED would represent - digi voltmeter would probably work the best. So for the guy with the Apex'i TT with the o2 in volts - that's probably a good thing assuming it'll cover the range of the wideband's output.

kamaleon

thanks dennis..

the Apexi TT is like a volt meter.. goes from 0.00v and the highest i have seen it go is like 5v when the engine is first started (cold), seening this i would think that it covers a wide range.. i also have the 'led' a/f gauge which im discovering to be rather useless since i get a more accurate/usefull reading out of the Apexi unit.

JHill

It is not that simple. Yes, the voltage range is the same or the O2 seneors. The reason you need the controller is that the output voltages are different for widebands, so 1.2v may be 13.1/1 af on one O2 sensor and 16.3/1 af on another O2. The controller you use must be scaled properly to read the O2 sensor you are using.

If the original question had provided a little more background on the setup a lot of this back and forth could have been eliminated.

There is still a lot more to it than this. You can buy widebands directly from NGK/NTK, the maker of the Honda HX O2, but they will not sell you a controller for use with a Honda HX O2. They won't even tell you which one will work, they do not support it. They will sell you the O2 with a controller. They have three different controllers available depending on where you would like the sensitivty range to be, on the lean side, rich side, or both. The controller is about $600 of the package, and the O2 is about $400.

So to answer the question, I highly doubt that the Apexi or any other rich/lean gauge will give you accurate air/fuel readings. You could always take it to a tuning shop, put it on the dyno in conjunction with the tuners wideband to compare values.