Do we really have to start using acronyms?
What are we, the army but without guns?
Just describe it and we’ll go from there.
As long as you’re not talking, for instance, about a rotor/cap in relation to your power window, I think we’ll figure out what you’re talking about.
@thesamemountainbike air/fuel ratio sensors and oxygen sensors aren’t exactly the same thing, even though they may look it.
There have been instances where mechanics wound up installing the wrong parts because they didn’t understand that there was a difference.
OBD 2 protocol states that acronyms must be standardized. That means a CKP is the crankshaft position sensor, regardless of if the car is an Audi, Cadillac or Ford. This makes diagnosis easier.
An example would be if a Toyota mechanic left the dealer and started working for a Ford dealership, he wouldn’t be clueless when reading the technical literature and ordering parts.
Just curious @thesamemountainbike, what’s the difference between a/f sensors, and o2 sensors? I’ve only heard of o2 sensors.
@GeorgeSanJose
http://www.wellsve.com/custom_searches/acronyms.php?acronym=af&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&submit=Submit
An oxygen sensor simply measures and reports oxygen content. It isn’t capable of measuring or reporting the actual air/fuel ratio.
An air/fuel sensor also doesn’t have a fluctuating signal voltage. Its voltage is steady. It doesn’t fluctuate from 0.2v - 0.8v, for example. Therefore, they’re not diagnosed in the same manner.
Thanks @db4690, I read up a little more on the link below. Like you say, it seems that both an O2 sensor and an A/F sensor measure O2 in the exhaust stream, but what is referrred to as an " O2 sensor" measures accurately only over a very narrow range of O2 concentrations, and in use it simply toggles rich/lean or lean/rich as the O2 concentration crosses the optimum point; i.e. the ECM monitors the O2 sensor, and it either reads lean or rich, never in-between. If it reads rich, the ECM reduces gas until the sensor reads lean, then the ECM increases the gas until it reads rich again. The O2 sensor, if you could look at it’s output, would rapidly toggle back and forth as the ECM alternately enriches the mixture, then leans it out again. An O2 sensor acts more like a switch, either reading rich or lean, but nothing in between.
The a/f sensor also measures O2 content, but over a wide range of O2 concentrations. As an analogy, if an O2 sensor is like a light switch, either on or off, an a/f sensor is like a dimmer switch, adjusting over a range from dim to bright. So with the a/f sensor, the ECM not only knows that the mixture is rich, but how rich, and can therefore reduce the gas a proportional amount. It appears the only downside to the a/f sensor is that it requires a higher operating temperature, which might possibly cause it to fail sooner than an O2 sensor. I’m not sure if this is an actual problem or not though.
I wonder, how do the prices compare, O2 sensor to a/f sensor?
"Giving the proper nomenclature simplifies and streamlines the process. I knew a young lady that referred to a part (car part) as a “didgy-poo.” That’s not as helpful as “gear-shift lever.”
I used to know a young woman who referred to everything with which she was unfamiliar as a “thingy-thingy”. As you can probably guess, she aggravated a lot of people working in auto parts stores, and almost always wound up buying the wrong items at those stores.
No amount of educational attempts on my part would induce her to change her chosen terminology. I believe that she thought it was, “cute”, to call everything a “thingy-thingy”, but in reality, it stalled the resolution of her auto problems and caused grief for a whole lot of people.
I have a similar problem with my 2006 Altima 4-cylinder (40K mi) and it’s been getting a little worse every month: it starts perfectly first thing in the morning/afternoon no matter the weather, but after I drive it a few miles and leave it parked a few hours, it usually cranks and cranks (up to 10 secs) until it starts. If I start it only a few minutes after parking it, it usually starts fine. The last mechanic sold me a new battery assuring me that it would probably fix the problem, but it didn’t and I was leaving for Fla the next week. Now I’m in Fla for the winter, have no idea what the problem is or to whom I should take it and don’t want to get ripped off. The repair facility closest to my development offers AAA and senior discounts, but the chain isn’t listed on this website. Any suggestions? Thanks!
@Disco T–You are doing yourself a disservice by trying to add your question to a thread that is one year old.
If you want to get full attention and the maximum number of responses, you need to begin your own new thread by clicking on the big red box at the upper right of the screen, labeled “New Discussion”.