An oxygen sensor plays a critical part in reducing deadly emissions from your vehicle. Like any part your Honda's oxygen sensor will age and wear out, therefore it must be replaced or your car will be found spewing noxious fumes into the atmosphere. You can take charge and replace the part, but you must be careful to find a product that meets rigorous standards and is built to last. Not just any oxygen sensor should be placed in your Honda vehicle, so let's look at some of the requirements for a good replacement part.

Bosch oxygen sensors are considered to be amongst the finest ones in the industry, particularly since Bosch brought the first ones to market in 1976. Bosch's product is considered to be the benchmark for Honda oxygen sensors, BMW oxygen sensors, and for others found in vehicles throughout America. Indeed, their product meets OEM [original equipment manufacturer] requirements on a wide variety of vehicles.

Oxygen sensors are made of several important parts, all critical to helping reduce emissions.

Your OEM replacement part must contain:

The quality of these internal parts is critical to your oxygen sensor working right the first time and every time. Settle for something less and you invite headaches as well as a lot of trouble.

So, what if you decide you don't want to replace your oxygen sensor? Trouble will abound! Essentially, your gas mileage will suffer, your catalytic converter may become damaged to the point it will have to be replaced too, your car may fail its next emissions test, and overall performance will dip as you notice your Honda hesitating or surging. Not a pretty picture!

None of these things can be good for your car and, ultimately, a bad oxygen sensor can leave you with high repair bills if you fail to replace it according to manufacturer recommendations. If you haven't checked your car's oxygen sensor lately, please do so today.

Matt is a contributing writer to automobile sites including Car Parts Stuff.