Thanks for the advice! I am getting out of work at 3 and am glad to know that I don't have to get greasy under the car, spend an hour cleaning up, and then take off.

I did find out about the white wires.. they are swappable. There are no polarity issues.

Now I can rest easy.

I appreciate all the support! Brickboarders to the rescue again.

Larry

Yes, you can drive without the sensor. The fuel injection was factory programmed to be approximately correct under all conditions, and then uses the O2 sensor output to tweak the mixture for current conditions to allow the converter to rapidly switch between a little too much oxygen content (for oxidation) and a little too much CO2 (for reduction) so it can perform the rquired chemical changes to the exhaust.

The white wires are +12v and ground for the preheater inside the sensor and they are reversible, the black one is the sensor's output and goes to the ECU.

Hell, some people drive for years with a bad O2 sensor- it's probably one of the most common reasons for a Check Engine Light.

It may get poor fuel mileage (2-3 mpg less?) and it *could* foul spark plugs if the mixture is far off- but most of the time cars with bad O2 sensors run fairly well. It might not be able to pass a state emissions test, but it'll go 200 miles, I'd be almost certain.

I'd drive it. Fix it when you get back- but verify that it is indeed signaling an O2 sensor related fault.

Good luck with it!
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 87 244DL- 249K, B230F/M47, Turbo sways, Bilsteins, GT braces, Virgos, Turbo exhaust, Gislaveds for winter!