1999 Honda Civic Could it be my oxygen sensor?

UKGIRLFAN78

MEMBER
1999 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
140,000 MILES

Occasionally, when driving my Honda, it will feel like I have run over ruts in the road and my steering wheel will shake. If I remove my foot from the gas pedal, it will stop. It only happens maybe 3 or 4 times a week. I really don't believe this is an alignment or steering issue, as those things have been checked out. A friend of mine believes it might be my oxygen sensor, which has never been changed. When I called the auto parts store to get a quote on a new oxygen sensor, they said they wanted to know if the sensor was "before the cap" or "after the cap". How do I know which one I need to buy? And, does this even sound like an oxygen sensor issue? Thank you!

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi ukgirlfan78,

If someone gives you an opinion and you start replacing things, chances are you would be spending a lot of unnecessary $.

I just can't figure out what the O2 sensor has got to do with the steering vibration.

Diagnose what are the possible causes before proceeding further.

Is the Check engine light showing?

When does the vibration happens? At what speed? Accelerating or cruising?

I would suspect a drive train problem, most probably the CV shaft inner joints requires attention.