hi -

why do 1.4 8v oxygen sensors have six wires for - just to put my mind at rest - any tecs know

they normally have 5 wires in them..

2 are for the heating element that warms up the tip of the sensor.

3 are for the actually lambda signal, 2 of the wires are enclosed into a shielded cable and the 3rd wire is the shield(earth) for that cable...

i'm guessing here, but if your's has 6 wires it's probably a wideband sensor possibly having 3 wires for the signal and i shield, plus 2 wires for the heating element

hi teflontom -

thx for the info - the car has just been in the garage to sort out poor starting from cold and the mechanic could`nt work out why there were so many wires on the lam sensor - he did change the coolant temp sensor which did`nt make a scrap of difference - will pop it into a dealer this time and see if i have better luck -

It will be a broadband or wideband lambda probe.

Usually sensors are four wire (planer) which are older probes or the ones fitted behind a cat. Five wire sensors are the ones usually fitted infront of the cat. As mentioned before there aren't usually six wires to the sensor itself, one is looped around in the plug.