If your car, truck, or utility is surging (picking up speed on its own), you’ve got too much fuel in the combustion chamber. This can be caused by many things, including leaking fuel injectors and a faulty oxygen (O2) sensor. In this blog post, Fast Lane Automotive is going to talk about the O2 sensor. When it malfunctions, it can cause engine surging or hesitation as well as the other problems listed below.
Black Exhaust Smoke
Too much fuel will also cause puffs or a steady stream of black exhaust smoke. You shouldn’t see the exhaust that comes out of the tailpipe, even if you drive a diesel. If your automobile is suddenly releasing excess black exhaust smoke, you might have a malfunctioning O2 sensor.
Fuel Efficiency Loss
Another problem that occurs with a faulty O2 sensor is fuel efficiency loss. It will seem as if your vehicle is blowing through the fuel. When the fuel and air are not balanced in the combustion chamber, the engine burns through the fuel more quickly because it isn’t running efficiently.
High Emissions Levels
Higher emissions levels are also produced when there is excess fuel in the combustion chamber. As the fuel burns, it releases hydrocarbons. You may end up with too many hydrocarbons in your exhaust if the oxygen sensor is going bad. If you live in a state that has emissions testing, your vehicle may fail the emissions test. We do not have emissions testing in Florida.
Rotten Egg Odors
These excess hydrocarbons can also cause a problem with the catalytic converter. As the catalytic converter attempts to process the excess carbon in the vehicle’s exhaust, it may become clogged. When this happens, it begins to malfunction and the release of the exhaust is impeded. Unfortunately, you will smell rotten eggs in your vehicle’s exhaust and also coming from the engine. If you smell them inside your automobile, stop driving it because the exhaust is making its way into the passenger cabin.
Check Engine Warning
Finally, all of these symptoms will be accompanied by a check engine light on your dashboard. This warning light reacts to an error code sent to the engine control module by the faulty oxygen sensor. Once the engine control module realizes that the O2 sensor is bad, it will turn on the check engine light.
Fast Lane Automotive in Orlando, FL, can help, so give us a call today. We’d be happy to test your oxygen sensor and replace it if necessary.
