O2 sensor changed. (The Results are in!)

[Zonda_]

Just done this, went to Halfords to buy a removal socket (one with a slot for the cable but they didn't have one. Local motor factors was closed, bugger.  Popped the bonnet to have a look anyway and couldn't see a reason why a ring spanner wouldn't do the job. Tried at first with the engine cold and it was immovable, let the engine run for a couple of minutes and it came loose with minimal effort.  Now anyone who's tried this method will know there is not much clearance to move a spanner more that half a turn at a time so you either do it very slowly or do what I did and get some thick gloves and unscrew it by hand. Took 5 minutes to remove and refit the new one, the old one is black so I'm guessing that's why I had the fault code.

[eynonz]

Yer there's not a lot of room, almost cut my arm open when I removed mine  s:( s:(

[Wabbitkilla]

Black suggests very rich or using oil, I recommend you keep an eye on that for a while.

[Zonda_]

Never used a drop of oil in the 18 months I've owned it, the exhaust tip is black and it does smell a bit of fuel from time to time. Maf has been cleaned. How do I get the mixture adjusted?

[Wabbitkilla]

Have you reset the ecu?

It should sort the mixture out ok, but resetting forces it to sort it out quicker  s;-) ;-) s;-)

[Zonda_]

Disconnected the battery for 15 mins, that should have reset it I guess.

[Zonda_]

Drove the car for the first time yesterday since changing this and the difference is staggering.  I'd always assumed my car was running fine but it turns out it's been running like a bag of crap! The engine pulls harder, the revs drop off much quicker (I always struggled for smooth gear changes as the revs would run on a fraction) The engine note seems different too. I'm monitoring fuel use but so far it seems to have improved despite me thrashing my completely transformed car!