Re: do old O2 sensors die or just fade away....

[Mark Shaw <autox@inficad.com>]

Chris Coracini wrote:

> well?  do they just go poop or do they slowly lose their effectiveness
>
> over time?  just curious...

There is no sudden failure mechanism  outside of a bad electrical
connection or a fracture in the porcelin case.  The normal problem is
that the surface becomes contaminated or fouled with deposits.  This
starts to show up as "sluggish" behavior...that is, the sensor is slow
and the engine control overcompensates too far before the sensor
responds.  The usual hint is a "hunting" or "surging" in the idle
speed and poor emissions.  A good O2 sensor will cycle back
and forth once or twice a second.  A bad one may take a few seconds
to switch states.

Bosch has some good literature on the O2 sensor.  They are generally
credited with bringing it into use in the automotive realm.

Mark


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