Your car’s oxygen sensor has an important job. It monitors oxygen levels in the exhaust to help your car’s onboard computer finetune the ratio between air, fuel, and spark. Kauai Auto Repair has some tips to help you to recognize when your oxygen sensor is failing you.
The Engine Isn’t Running Well
You might be starting to notice that your engine isn’t running so well. You might hear knocks and pings, or worse, the sounds of misfiring. Also, when your car is idling, it might sound a lot rougher than usual. Your car might even stall out when you least need or want that to happen. This combination of problems means that your car’s engine isn’t getting what it needs and that can turn into a big problem if you ignore it.
You’re Getting Bad Gas Mileage
Have you checked your gas mileage lately? Lots of people don’t go to the effort of keeping track or calculating gas mileage, but there’s an easier way to know for sure that your gas mileage is getting worse. When your car isn’t using fuel efficiently, you’re going to be filling up the tank a lot more often. Spending more time at the gas station gets your attention pretty quickly.
Your Car’s Exhaust Smells Pretty Awful
Car exhaust isn’t exactly the next fragrance on the market, but if it’s smelling worse than usual, there might be a reason. When your oxygen sensor is failing, that means that the fuel, air, and spark ratio is off in the engine. That’s going to alter how your car’s exhaust smells, because you’re not hitting that optimal mix that the car needs to run properly.
The Check Engine Light Shows Up
Probably the scariest way to tell that your car’s oxygen sensor is failing is that your check engine light appears on the dashboard. This is not a light you ever want to ignore, because the problems that cause a check engine light to come on don’t just fix themselves over time. You’re going to need to take your car to a professional to find out what’s going on.
Worried about how your car’s engine is running? Give us a call at Kauai Auto Repair in Lihue, HI. We can inspect the engine and see if what you’re dealing with is a failing oxygen sensor or something else so that you can get back to enjoying your daily drive.
