l have an infiniti i30 and was told l need to replace the front oxygen sensors.i'm wondering how important that is.do l need it asap.l have been driving for several months now and nothing seems to be wrong other than the check engine light is on and its becuz of that.l cant really afford it and would like to wait if l dont have to spend that money.

The sensor is for emissions, the car will run fine without it, but you can not get an inspecion without it. So you can run it until you need to get a new inspection.

the O2 sensor measures the gas exiting the combustion chamber in the car. It tells your car is computer how much fuel to mix with the air in the injectors in order to burn right. Too much or too little and you will start misfiring or firing early (detonation) in the cylinders.

This is an expensive part, but much less expensive than a blown head gasket or fried piston ring. I'd get it replaced as soon as you can afford it.

The o2 sensors are measuring exhaust gases. If you have 1 front one out you can drive without much loss of performance.but if you start loosing some of the others also, the impulses to the engine controller will screw up the mixture control and you maybe in a walk home situation.

Somewhat important