Hi,
I got my car checked from a mechanic a few months ago. He connect the scanner to it and got a couple of codes. For one he said I need a new Oxygen Sensor and the second one is for gas leakage which he would have needed to inspect further to assess whats really wrong. I didn’t do the repairs at that time and it has been about 6 months now and my car is running completely fine. No check engine light etc.
So the couple of questions I have is
What actually is the function of the Oxygen sensor?
How critical these 2 repairs are and how long I can go without worrying about these?
Please advise. Thanks
Clarification: What were the codes?
Thanks for this. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the codes now Since it has been some time
Could not replacing the Oxygen Sensor cause some other major issues?
Yes, if you have a failing or malfunctioning O2 sensor you definitely want to replace it, otherwise overtime you can potentially consume more fuel, your engine won’t run right or optimally, your catalytic converter could become damaged (very expensive to replace those), and also fail emissions testing (in states that require it). But you have to make sure the issue is truly the O2 sensor - so having those codes and proper troubleshooting is important.