Understanding the impact of failed oxygen sensor in your Audi

Among all the processes that occurs in a vehicle, the process of use of fuel in generation of power to make the vehicle move is one of the most important. For a good amount of power, the engine should have a proper amount of air and fuel in its combustion chamber and they should be in a definite ratio. So, maintaining this ratio of air and fuel in the mixture is very important. Maintaining this ratio is done by various components that take part in the proper functioning of engine. One of the components is oxygen sensor. In this article, I’m gonna discuss about the effects on Audi cars when its oxygen sensor is damaged.

Oxygen sensor role in performance of Audi

The oxygen sensor is one of the most essential components for the performance of the car. The work of the sensors is to monitor a process and then inform the control unit and give a response. In vehicles such monitoring components are highly required because now a days, the vehicles are installed with many components of different functions and one cannot know if any of these components start to get damaged or start to malfunction or something wrong to happen. So, these sensors monitor and then handle different problems by giving the information to the car computer which responds by giving some alert signs or by bringing some changes in the working of some components.

Oxygen sensor monitors the oxygen amount in the exhaust gasses flowing out of the engine. The purpose of monitoring the oxygen in the exhaust is to know about the combustion process going on in the engine. Because the output power of the engine depends on how well the combustion process occurs and for that the air fuel ratio should be correct. The oxygen sensor detects the amount of oxygen in the exhaust and sends the information to the engine control unit. The engine control unit then makes some adjustment in the amount of fuel or air to the combustion chamber. Then only the engine would be able to run smoothly and efficiently as the ratio of fuel air would be correct to make the perfect power.

The oxygen sensors are present near the exhaust system, they may become faulty when they get dirty or due to aging, damage and other factors. A faulty oxygen sensor can give a wrong reading to the ECU which would lead to various problems.

Symptoms of faulty oxygen sensors

If the oxygen sensors become faulty, then it would negatively affect the performance of engine. Here are some possible reasons-

Engine misfires

Even having good ignition system, if the oxygen sensors get faulty, there would be a wrong fuel and air ratio in the mixture which would not burn in the combustion chamber properly, so there would be misfires, jerking of car while driving.

Rough run

Due to faulty sensors, a wrong air and fuel ratio would make the car to run very roughly instead of running smooth.

Check engine light glows

The engine would not operate properly if there are faulty oxygen sensors, hence the check engine light would glow.

High fuel consumption

You would find that your engine is consuming fuel a lot if the oxygen sensor is faulty. Because a wrong signal from faulty sensors can make the combustion process to go wrong, leading to low power. So, the ECU would make the more consumption of fuel to produce high power.

Poor acceleration

Acceleration needs more power. But if the oxygen sensor is faulty, then there would be no enough output power to make the car accelerate.

Conclusion

A bad oxygen sensor lead to horrible performance by the engine, hence it can go into limp mode. To get rid of such behaviour of car and make it again to run normally, you have to get the oxygen sensor replaced at Audi service center.

Santa Barbara Autowerks is a renowned car repair shop name in Santa Barbara. We are committed to offering the highest level of services to our beloved customers so that they can grab the fun of their vehicles completely.