2001 Air Fuel Ratio Sensor costs $500.00??
 

Hi,

My sister has a 2001 Toyota Camry. She noticed the "CHECK ENGINE" light came on a few days ago, so she 'Religiously' took her car to the dealership.

After they diagnosed the check light, they told her it was the Air Fuel Ratio Sensor, and it would be cost around $500.00, to replace.

I googled this part and found it on EBAY for $119.99. This is similar to an o2 sensor.

I saw this on EBAY for sale for $119.95. OEM GENUINE TOYOTA/LEXUS ES300 2001-2006 CAMRY AIR FUEL RATIO SENSOR 89467-33060

"The Air Fuel Ratio Sensor continually tracks how much oxygen is funneled into your car's engines' cylinder. It's similar to an o2 Sensor, but does a few things differently." Are these really $500.00?:eek:

Thanks for any feedback!

Some heads up info.

The design of the air/fuel ratio sensor (A/F) is an improvement over an 02 sensor but both do the same thing. The A/F sensor however is able to operate over a much wider range of air/fuel ratio's then the 02 sensor having a very narrow range.

A wider range sensor allows the engine computer to better adjust the air/fuel ratio.

The A/F and 02 sensors are not interchangeable.

Unfortunately an engine has more then one sensor, perhaps up to 5. These sensors can be a mix of A/F and 02 sensors and have different mounting systems such as bolt-on flange or screw in base.

Plus a car may have built to pass California or Federal emissions standards for which different sensors are used.

Thus one A/F sensor does not fit all.

Do you have the service sheet and if so does this have a trouble code number or something in writing such as B1, S1 referring to the sensor location?

What engine model, V6 or 4 cylinder? This part is for a V6.

There is a sticker under the hood stating if the car was built to Federal or California emissions standards.

If the check engine light is on you can use a code reader to obtain the trouble code(s) yourself. Depending on the state you live in many auto parts stores will loan out a code reader or do this job for free. It takes only minutes to do. The plug is located under the dash next to the steering wheel.

With code in hand you will know which sensor is bad and be able to find the right replacement.

Sensor prices vary, the Ebay part is a great price. Retail dealer price might be $210 which still leaves $300 to account for in the quote. A bit steep if only one sensor is being replaced.

If you are going to do the work yourself and the part replaced has a screw in base suggest purchasing a special socket. This socket has a cut out on the side wall to allow the wires to fit through when the socket is installed onto the sensor body.

On the V6, the typical sensor that fail is the first sensor on the exhaust system coming off the cylinder head closest to the firewall. The sensor location is called B1, S1. Bank 1 (cylinder head 1 = cylinder head closest to the firewall), Sensor 1 (first sensor on exhaust pipe coming off the head).