Yellow Bullet Forums banner

Wideband? Narrowband? Differences?

1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  68camaroturbo 
#1 ·
whats the differnce between a wideband and a narrowband system? im old school but trying to get educated on tuning with my supercharged small block chevy street car by O2 temps. any experienced info will be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
A narrow band oxygen sensor generates an output voltage of 0-1 volt which represents rich or lean whereas, a wideband oxygen sensor generates an output signal of 0-5 volts. the wideband gives much better sensor resolution and also gives you the ability to use more exotic fuels like alcohol, E85 and race fuels. Narrow bands were primarily used by the OEM's for pump gas as they are less expensive and only needed to help keep the engine in the stoichiometric range. I will put emphasis on proper placement of the sensor as incorrectly installed will cause inaccurate readings or premature sensor failure. An oxygen sensor ONLY reads the oxygen content in the exhaust. It does not read fuel or temperature. As far as I know, all aftermarket oxygen sensors are wideband
 
#3 ·
so basically a wideband has a more accurate/percise reading than a narrowband? what would be proper placement for the o2 sensor? i believe i read somewhere that the o2 sensor should be placed on a slight angle facing downstream to get the longest lifespan. i already have an autometer 3375. should i even bother with installing it? i have 3/4 length stainless headers, x pipe, and full length exhaust.
 
#7 ·
I use to work in a oxygen sensor plant. We made 3 types of sensors. A narrow band,old school first gen sensor acts basically like a switch. It's either rich or lean. The second gen is the basic heated OEM type that actually has some range of input voltage sensing between the rich lean so scaling can be done. The third sensor was a linear sensor developed in our plant. Once it got developed and working they shut us down and moved it mexico. Been 15 years so I know they have developed much better than we made.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top