1999 Camry O2 Sensor issue Fed vrs Cali

[bigmanjason]

My mother just bought a 1999 toyota camry v6. I am happy that she finally switch over from her ford.

So she has been driving it for about 2 months and all of a sudden the check engine light comes on. We get it tested and it says either the cat, or one of the oxygen sensors. So i order a CALI oxygen sensor, pre cat. When it arrives i find that her precat sensor on the car is a federal non cali.

I check under the hood and it says that "this vehicle complies with all California emission standards." So i amused that it requires a CALI sensor.

Has anyone run into anything similar? One thing that i thought was that it is possible that the used car lot rigged her car to except FED sensor's. If they did, they did a really good job hiding it. i.e. the wiring looks stock.

I havnt check that other precat sensor, but i did check after the cat and it is a California.

Thanks so much guys. I love these forums.

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by bigmanjason

My mother just bought a 1999 toyota camry v6. I am happy that she finally switch over from her ford.

So she has been driving it for about 2 months and all of a sudden the check engine light comes on. We get it tested and it says either the cat, or one of the oxygen sensors. So i order a CALI oxygen sensor, pre cat. When it arrives i find that her precat sensor on the car is a federal non cali.

I check under the hood and it says that "this vehicle complies with all California emission standards." So i amused that it requires a CALI sensor.

Has anyone run into anything similar? One thing that i thought was that it is possible that the used car lot rigged her car to except FED sensor's. If they did, they did a really good job hiding it. i.e. the wiring looks stock.

I havnt check that other precat sensor, but i did check after the cat and it is a California.

Thanks so much guys. I love these forums.

the hood emission info is only good if hood is still original, if it has been replaced for what ever reason, then it may not be accurate.

you can also look at the exhaust,
if it is cali emission, there should be two cat right after each exhaust manifold in additional to the 3way cat under the seat.