Intermittent Bank 2 Sensor 2 errors

[Qship]

Just looking for some insight. Every few days, I end up with a CEL/MIL pointing to 2 issues.
P0160 (Sensor Circuit No Activity Detected - Bank 2 Sensor 2)
P2273 (O2 Sensor Signal Stuck Rich Bank 2 Sensor 2).
It lasts about 3 to 4 days, then goes away for a couple of days.
Do O2 sensors intermittently work when they're reaching their life end? Or do they just fail entirely out of the blue?
I've never had an O2 sensor code on any car I've ever owned which is why I'm asking.
Does this seem like an actual O2 sensor issue, or a bad connection somewhere?
I've checked for functionality (voltage) of the O2 sensor when the CEL/MIL is on and it's stuck at 2.47 volts or so and doesn't change compared to the bank 1 sensor which reads around 0.9 or so (I can't recall specifically off hand).
When the CEL/MIL is off, the bank 2 sensor 2 functions normally.

Any input is appreciated, I went to the dealer to ask about this, they said replace the O2 sensor at a labor cost of 1.5 hours x $125. Uhhh, ya, I don't think so. 1.5 hours to change out an O2 sensor? And they want about $200 for the part (I ordered a Denso elsewhere for under half that cost) this is Canadian funds.
I just don't to replace the O2 sensor to find out it's actually not the issue. Ideas? Anyone gone through this before?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gunkk]

9/10 the sensor is bad.

Part cost should be approx USD $65 or close to CAD 100.

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The actual sensing element in an 02 sensor is ceramic and pretty robust. More often than not failure of an O2 sensor (that manifests itself as high resist/open and/or CEL is due to the heater element failing than the ceramic itself, but I guess it could still happen very rarely. The heater elements typically fail when exposed to excessive moisture. Sensors downstream of the catalytic converters are closer to the tailpipe and thus more susceptible to this kind of failure. They only exist to measure the health/performance of the cats, and do not (normally) affect the car in any other way other than to throw a code. And since cats almost always last longer than O2 sensors (in part due to things like USA federal law warranty requirement of 8yrs/84k miles on cats), most of these O2 sensor failures only really end up generating revenue for dealer service departments on older cars... as you have noticed.

The intermittent CEL illumination in your car is more likely due to ECU programming. For example, our cars will clear many intermittent faults after 3 restarts if they are not consistent, and I would expect emissions systems to be included in this. I wouldn't expect a failed O2 sensor to ever find itself "back in spec" so the ECU might just be programmed to reset all emissions codes by itself every few restarts (yes I'm a cynic). Who knows?

$125 labor for any car repair isn't terribly excessive (given today's costs/overheads), but yeah them double dipping to over $325 for a 15-30 minute job with a CAD$100 part is still a bit much.

Good luck.

 

[Qship]

9/10 the sensor is bad.

Part cost should be approx USD $65 or close to CAD 100.

2010 HYUNDAI GENESIS 3.8L V6 Oxygen (O2) Sensor | Shop Now at RockAuto

Exhaust & Emission Parts and More for Your 2010 HYUNDAI GENESIS at Reliably Low Prices. Fast Online Catalog. DIY-Easy. Your Choice of Quality. Full Manufacturer Warranty.

www.rockauto.com

The actual sensing element in an 02 sensor is ceramic and pretty robust. More often than not failure of an O2 sensor (that manifests itself as high resist/open and/or CEL is due to the heater element failing than the ceramic itself, but I guess it could still happen very rarely. The heater elements typically fail when exposed to excessive moisture. Sensors downstream of the catalytic converters are closer to the tailpipe and thus more susceptible to this kind of failure. They only exist to measure the health/performance of the cats, and do not (normally) affect the car in any other way other than to throw a code. And since cats almost always last longer than O2 sensors (in part due to things like USA federal law warranty requirement of 8yrs/84k miles on cats), most of these O2 sensor failures only really end up generating revenue for dealer service departments on older cars... as you have noticed.

The intermittent CEL illumination in your car is more likely due to ECU programming. For example, our cars will clear many intermittent faults after 3 restarts if they are not consistent, and I would expect emissions systems to be included in this. I wouldn't expect a failed O2 sensor to ever find itself "back in spec" so the ECU might just be programmed to reset all emissions codes by itself every few restarts (yes I'm a cynic). Who knows?

$125 labor for any car repair isn't terribly excessive (given today's costs/overheads), but yeah them double dipping to over $325 for a 15-30 minute job with a CAD$100 part is still a bit much.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input!
The O2 sensor came in today, so on one of the warmer days this week, I'm going to ramp the car and get to work replacing it. After that, I'll see how it goes. As you said, it could just be the heating element.
Hopefully, the new O2 sensor will be enough to fix this.

 

[Qship]

Well, I wasn't able to get the O2 sensor off on my driveway with the car on ramps, just not enough room for a breaker bar to get in there.
Took it to the dealer who charged me only for the diagnostic fee which absolutely pointed back to the O2 sensor intermittently failing.
Replaced the sensor and so far so good, no CEL

 

[Gunkk]

 

[Tristan Talo]

I was going to suggest spraying the sensor daily until you are ready to replace it. That is what I am going to do to make it a little less daunting.