Formation of the weld defect, such as a blowhole and a pit in lap-jointed fillet arc welds has been a serious problem in arc welding Zn-coated steel sheet. In this study, the relationship among welding conditions, welding materials and defect formation was investigated in order to minimize these defects in the CO₂welds. In addition, the arc stability of the commercial welding wires was evaluated for revealing their effects on defect formation. Main conclusions obtained are as follows: 1) There was no difference between shear tensile strength of the sound welds and that of the welds with blowholes whose diameters are less than 0.5mm. However, the welds with blowholes whose diameters are equal or large than 0.5mm and pits exhibited tensile strength 10∼ 20% and 30∼40% lower than that of the sound welds respectively. 2) The optimum welding condition to effectively prevent or reduce the weld defects formation are as follows: -The welding variables of 220A-23V-100cm/min and 120A-19V-30cm/min were recommended for minimizing the weld defects. -The gap between the two sheets at the lap-joint should be controlled to more than 0.2mm. -Solid wire was less susceptible to the formation of the weld defects than the flux-cored wire. -The low welding current condition produced less weld defects than the high welding current condition. 3) One of the reason why the amount of the defect was reduced at the low welding current was the gas discharging by the active agitation of the molten pool, due to an increasing in the number of the short circuit.