All cars have an oxygen sensor installed. Oxygen sensors help to ensure that the car runs efficiently and produces minimum emissions. Oxygen sensors help the performance of the car and your mechanism ensures that vehicle runs at its most excellent. The o2 sensor is a chemical generator and is the only component of the engine which creates its own voltage. The o2 sensor will only work once it has been heated to about 316 degrees C by the vehicle engine. The new car models have heating devices that heats up soon to ensure that the oxygen sensor operates fast. Once this temperature has been reached, the oxygen ions pass through the ceramic which makes the zirconium dioxide generate an electric powered charge. The ratio of the oxygen in the exhaust manifold compared to atmosphere outside is greater to ensure that a higher electrical charge is developed by making more oxygen ions to go through the sensor. This electrical charge is accumulated by the platinum electrodes which send it to the computer of the car through the cords. The strength of the charge helps the computer of the car establish if the air: fuel ratio is too high, lean or perfect (The best ratio is fourteen inches.7:1). If the air is lesser than the recommended ratio, then there often be extra fuel which would be left over even after the combustion process. This is known as a 'rich mixture'. This is not good as the unburned fuel causes pollution. The opposite is called the 'lean mixture' when there is definitely an excess of oxygen so it is more than the recommended ratio. This is a bad one as well since lean mixtures are known create nitrogen oxide pollutants because tends to decline the performance of the engine and cause damages. Is actually also due to this reasons why the oxygen sensor is in the exhaust pipe so it could detect the rich or lean mixtures. The mechanism from the sensor creates a chemical reaction which produces a voltage. The computer of your engine then determines many people and adjusts the fuel intake accordingly. An oxygen sensor runs a perfect mechanism to improve the performance of you can so that it could the engine could run effectively in many different conditions, be it altitude, air temperature, engine temperature, barometric pressure, engine load, and so forth.