I have no emission standards or testing of exhaust were I live. I cannot find headers with an O2 sensor on both headers for my 1997 Ford F250. Is this required to make the truck function properly or will it run bad without the oxygen sensors???

 

Welcome to FTE!

It may run bad. Did your OEM setup have a sensor on each side?

You should be able to get someone to weld a bung on there for you. Might take some searching, might have to cart the header in there off the truck.

I take it you have not bought headers yet? What motor, what else have you done? Sometimes headers are more trouble than they are worth.

 

I'm looking at some JBA shorty stainless steel headers. I have a vortex supercharger on it with dual exhaust. No cat convertor

 

You still have EFI?

 

Usually for shorty headers, the O2 sensor would mount on the H-pipe

 

Summit sells several brands of header collector reducers (in many sizes) that have O2 bungs. No need to mount them on the header itself.

 

Your truck only has 1 sensor unless it is a Cali spec OBD2 version, but based on your other comments I doubt you live in California. On OBD1 trucks the single sensor would have been in the OEM collector pipe just downstream of the exhaust manifolds on the passenger side.

Yes O2 sensors are required for correct EFI operation, they are the only feedback the computer gets to determine fuel requirements.

 

Have a muffler shop install an O2 bung in the passenger side pipe as close to the manifold/header collector as possible, just make sure it's not in the bottom of the pipe.