I drove over what looked to be a piece of a tractor trailer tire. It didnt hurt anything on the bumper but it did bounce underneath my car causing the CEL light to come on immediately. I pulled the code just to be sure and it was P0141 6 - 5 --------------- Secondary Heated Oxygen Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction (Sensor 2).

This afternoon I got underneath the car to inspect the o2 sensor, I was expecting the harness to be cut but it just looks like a couple small dents on the housing of the sensor. Small dents, closer to the end where the wires are.

Are o2 sensors that fragile? What is in the casing of the o2 sensor ?

 

We have Zirconia 02 sensors which are constructed by pressing a powder into a thimble and coating it with platinum. They could easily malfunction with a nice knock.

 

When you have the sensor out check that the core inside the cat has not broken lose. That's a pretty common cause of the bad O2 sensor.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I have a test pipe on the car with the CEL fix which has worked perfectly.

I'm going to replace the sensor I was just really curios as to what's inside and how fragile they are which was answered, love this forum.

 

Do you guys have a suggestion as to what sensor i should get and where, rockauto.com or a simple google shopping search? Advanced auto wants $103 which is double the online price but that may be because it's OEM quality.

TIA.

 

I've run a few bosch sensors with good luck. If you can deal with a CEL a day or two, just order it online. If you're an oem guy, your local dealer can hook you up also.

 

Thanks guys. I ordered a bosch one online.

 

NGk all day. Some hondas are picky with o2s