2007 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 - O2 sensor recommendation

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Jul 7, 2014
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Winnipeg MB CA
Hello all -

Our new-to-us 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan is thirstier than I'd expected it would be.

It runs well, and the spark plugs looked pretty good when I changed them out. There's no CEL.

I'm thinking that the O2 sensor is likely original at 14 years and 203K km (c. 126K miles), and is due for replacement.

Here are the choices from Rock Auto:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...05,exhaust+&+emission,oxygen+(o2)+sensor,5132

Questions:

1. Which sensor would you recommend? (I say "sensor" singular, because I don't plan to change downstream one.)

2. I'm presuming there's only the one upstream sensor, correct?

Thanks in advance!
 
I always use the brand that was OEM...in your case, Bosch. I know a lot of folks don't like Bosch O2 sensors, but since it's OEM, that's what I'd use. We had a 2005 Chrysler T&C 3.8 which took the same sensor. I installed one while we had it, and it worked fine. Yes, I believe those only had one upstream sensor...hopefully someone corrects me if I'm wrong.
 
Denso, Bosch, and NTK are all good.

Don't you have 2 upstream sensors? V-engines usually have one upstream sensor per bank :unsure:

So at least change both of the upstream sensors, even if you don't change the downstream. The Denso downstream sensor is only $20.
 
I just got rid of an 07 town and country with the 3.3. The car had 236 k miles. With the mpg gauge in the car I averaged a little over 22-23 mpg with mostly easy highway driving and the cruise control set at 65. That was when I commuted 50 miles to work.

When I had a local commute of 9 miles, and no faster than 45 mph and mostly city driving, that gauge stayed at 19.7 for years.

It had the original O2 sensors. I don't know what you are getting but that is where mine was at. Don't look for miracles to happen.
 
Thanks all - Bosch it will be, if I proceed.

My good friends, whose Sonic I did the recent work on, gave me a THINKOBD 100 scanner, which looks like a big step up from my ScanGauge as far as a scan tool. The ScanGauge is a good gauge package, but is pretty limited as a scanner.

Anyway, I plugged in the new THINKOBD scanner, and although the "TEST O2 SENSORS" function is not supported by the van, I was able to read the long-term fuel trim - it was +9.4%, indicating that the ECU thinks that the AF mixture is lean, and is adding fuel to achieve a stoichiometric AF ratio.

If the AF mixture were actually lean, this could be caused by a vacuum leak, correct? But if there isn't a vacuum leak, could that be caused by a lazy O2 sensor? (When I say lazy, I mean slow to respond, but not bad enough to trigger a CEL.)

Again, thanks in advance!

Denso, Bosch, and NTK are all good.

Don't you have 2 upstream sensors? V-engines usually have one upstream sensor per bank :unsure:

So at least change both of the upstream sensors, even if you don't change the downstream. The Denso downstream sensor is only $20.
As far as I can tell, there is only one upstream O2 sensor. The exhaust pipe for the front bank takes off from the exhaust manifold, runs toward the driver's side, and then sweeps back (over the transmission), then curves in and joins up with exhaust pipe coming off the rear bank. There's an O2 sensor after the confluence of the two exhaust pipes, so I'm thinking it's the only upstream O2 sensor.
 
I just got rid of an 07 town and country with the 3.3. The car had 236 k miles. With the mpg gauge in the car I averaged a little over 22-23 mpg with mostly easy highway driving and the cruise control set at 65. That was when I commuted 50 miles to work.

When I had a local commute of 9 miles, and no faster that 45 mph, that gauge stayed at 19.7 for years.

It had the original O2 sensor. I don't know what you are getting but that is where mine was at. Don't look for miracles to happen.
I'd be pleased with that mileage - 23 MPG (US) works out to about 28 MPG (Imperial), which is about 10 l/100 km. My one short highway run indicated more like 12 l/100 km. Not catastrophic, but not what I think the van should be able to do.
 
@slacktide_bitog, a picture and 10^3 words and all that ...

Here's a shot of the engine compartment, and one of the O2 sensor (taken peering over the top of the IM):

20210622_114040.jpg


20210622_114058.jpg
 
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