MainFrame

My wife has a 2005 Honda Civic (not sure which trim.. the cheap one, automatic transmission, 1.7L, no power anything). At about 105k miles it started throwing the code for the up stream O2 sensor (bank 1 sensor 1). I tested the heater circuit (blue plug, black wires, sensor on top of the manifold) with my DMM and sure enough it was dead. Went to O'Riley's and they had the OEM sensor listed as a Denso 234-9017.. but of course they wanted $320 for it. So I looked around online, made sure I had found the right sensor, Denso 234-9017 (around half the places I looked had the down stream sensor listed as the up stream sensor).

Sensor shows up with the longer wire, two mounting brackets, and grey plug identical to the down stream sensor. The sensor with the blue plug has a male connection on the end.. the Denso 234-9017 has a female connection on the end. I have looked at several tutorials on line showing replacement of the sensor on top of the manifold, blue plug, then the pictures of the sensor they say to replace it with (Denso 234-9017) has the grey plug.. super frustrating.


What gives? Is this the down stream sensor, even though everywhere I look says it's up stream? Are there different sensors for different trim models that I don't know about? I figured this would be an easy task, but I guess I must have missed something..

04 blue civic

Yes they do mount different diff models. I.e. Coupe sedan, etc.

Mine on my sedan is not in manifold but in from pipe right under the manifold.


I'm assuming your convertor is made into your manifold and that's a different sensor.

Go to majestichonda.com input your VIN and it will give you the correct oe part number

ezone

Plain Jane car is LX or DX, no VTEC, and engine code D17A1, the upstream sensor is an AF (air/fuel ratio) $en$or-- not standard O2 (even though the look alike, they are very different internally)

Look up your car here on the DENSO website:

http://densoautoparts.com/find-my-part.aspx

Straight from the horses mouth:
Denso #234-9005

MainFrame

Ugh.. alright. That sensor has the right male connector on it (and the wire looks to be the right length). Looks like I'll be contacting the Amazon seller for an exchange.. on the up side, this sensor is $15 cheaper.

04 blue civic

Try Majestic Honda they're reasonable. Maybe cheaper maybe not but worth a shot

MainFrame

Now I want to make sure I've got the right thing here, because Majestic has the sensor, part#36531-PLM-306, listed for $207.. but on Amazon Denso 234-9005 is only $95 with free shipping. That's quite a big disparity in Price. To the point that I would think the Denso on Amazon might be a knock off, except for the fact that it has great reviews, and so does the seller (3rd party).

Coming from the turbo Subaru world I'm used to O2 sensors not being cheap.. but I always attributed that to them being subject to much higher EGT and manifold pressures than you would see on a N/A engine.

ezone

Link?

Maybe the seller isn't actually selling true Denso brand, but are selling cheapass parts that only cross reference to that Denso number.



DangerZone sells it for $159.99
Advance $158.99
Napa is proud of it, 171.99
Pep Boys $125.59 https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/806611/00504 (link)

MainFrame

..


https://www.amazon.com/Denso-234-9005-Oxygen-Sensor/dp/B000C5UFVM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502815146&sr=8-2&keywords=Denso+234-9005


It's the same seller who I got the other sensor from, which appeared to be in genuine OEM packaging. With the seller rating and part reviews I'm pretty sure it should be the real deal.. but with such a price difference I feel weary about it.

The photo Amazon is using has a gray connector, not blue, but that's not the seller's photo, and it's not uncommon to use a generic photo, so that might not mean anything. Plus the manufacturer could have changed the in the last few years for whatever reason.

ezone

Wait..... Don't you understand DENSO IS the manufacturer? (Denso is short for Nippondenso)
Did you check/click the Pepboys link I posted above?

Wankenstein

In the past five years I've purchased two Denso o2 sensors (6th & 7th gen) from Amazon that both work fine and cost less than the Honda Genuine..a.k.a NTK/NGK/Denso.

I recently purchased a Denso 234-4099 through Walmart online for $30 and it's stamped manufactured in USA. The Honda Genuine is listed at $225.

Not sure if Denso made in Japan o2 sensors are available in the US anymore?

ezone

I don't care where a Denso part was made as long as it is a genuine Denso part.

https://www.denso.com/global/en/


Same for NGK/NTK

https://www.ngkntk.co.jp/global/

https://www.ngk.de/en/company/the-ngk-corporate-group/

MainFrame

Yes.. Denso is the manufacturer, but just because the manufacturer hasn't changed doesn't mean that they are still making the sensor with the exact same color scheme as they did 12 years ago. Even if it's the same exact part, from the same manufacturer, sometimes you will see slight variations between years..

Are you saying that if it doesn't have the same blue connector as what they made 12 years ago that it must not be genuine? I looked at your link, and that sensor also doesn't have the OE color scheme..

ezone

No, I'm saying I seriously doubt Denso would sublet building their sensors to some other 3rd rate company.


AFAIK they haven't sold out like some other well known brand names who were bought out so someone could capitalize on the name while selling absolute crap wares until the name is completely ruined

MainFrame

Ahh.. yeah, I get that.



I guess I'm gonna go ahead and order that one from Amazon.. not expecting any more problems at this point.

llbaker2

The CEL on my Honda 2005 Civic LX recently came on. Got a sensor tool and checked. Got P0135. Said something like "Bank 1, Sensor 1 heater malfunction", dont remember exact quote. Checked continuity on heater (two black wires) and got zero. Pulled the sensor and noted that it was Denso 192400-1160. Started looking for replacement. Was not able to find exact match. Read someplace that that sensor had been discontinued. Checked Honda and found replacement with crazy price (nearly $300). Went to Denso web site and found replacement part 234-9005. Did some Googling and found an extremely wide price range on Denso 234-9005. Saw prices from $16 to over $200 for what sellers advertised as Denso 234-9005. Did a little more Googling and saw that my Civic required a wideband sensor, a more expensive type and that it was an air/fuel ratio sensor as apposed to a normal O2 sensor. Dont know what wideband means or AF sensor vs. O2 sensor difference other than the former being more expensive. Dont understand the huge price range for what is advertised as being the same item (a range of nearly 10x). Cheapest were listed on eBay ($16). Dont remember where I saw the priciest. Only thing I can figure the cheaper ones must be knockoffs. Needed car so decided to pick up sensor from AutoZone for $159. Think the same could have been picked up for $115 off Amazon. Dont know, may have pissed away lots of bucks for a part that could have been had for much less. Read several stories of people going the cheap route only to have new sensors fail in a relatively short time. I went with the AutoZone version assuming the cheap online versions were knokoffs. The replacement look to be the same except for color of the plug (original was blue, replacement was gray). My CEL is now out. Have only driven about 30 miles since replacement but so far so good. Guess time will tell.

llbaker2

Think you are comparing apples and oranges. The original AF ratio sensor in my 2005 civic LX sedan was labeled as DU2 Denso 192400-1160, which appears to have been discontinued. The Denso replacement is 234-9005. Technically the 192400-1160 and the 234-9005 are two different parts. No big surprise that the plugs are different colors. Plugs look to be shaped the same, just different colors. It seemed to work for me. Only put about 30 miles on since replacement so a little early to say. Time will tell. Got mine from AutoZone not Amazon.