i was told by a mechanic that the Widebands from Carscustom are only good to put in tune then take out because the sensor on it will go bad if left in, so basically i cant use it as a gauge he means is this true or have people used theres for months/years? if he was right is there a way to keep it as a gauge maybe change the sensor?
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Let's clarify a little further.
The guy is assuming the wideband sensor Karo sells does NOT have a heater element inside of it. Without a heater element, the sensor will begin to fill up with carbon deposits before it reaches operating temperature. Well, that assumption is wrong. Every wideband sensor I've seen on the market includes a heater element so you should have no problem with keeping the sensor in over time.
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widebands will last about the same amount of time as a normal o2 sensor and are only slightly more expensive to replace
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Rodimus Prime wrote:widebands will last about the same amount of time as a normal o2 sensor and are only slightly more expensive to replace
Ehh, debatable. The NTK sensor most wideband companies love to use is roughly $140 to replace whereas the upstream sensor on our cars is around $30. Then again, the downstream is around $110.
As a shamless promotion for the wideband O2 system I use, the Tech Edge systems all use a Bosch 057 sensor that costs around $35.
www.wbo2.com
If you're good with solder like me, you can get away with a wideband system for $170 if you build it yourself.
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I've worked in a dyno shop and I have 2 of my own WB sensors, with a 3rd waiting for me to assemble. In the shop we had problems with water damaging the WB sensor. I'm talking about fairly large amounts of water here, and the problem was that the car would sit for 10 - 20 minutes while tuning or mechanical changes were made allowing the exhaust to cool and the moisture in it to condense. Meanwhile, the O2 heater was being kept fully warmed while the dyno sat idle. When the engine was started back up, cold water hits the ceramic element and (presumably) destroys it. I figure it's like spraying cold water on a hot light bulb. This system used the Bosch WB O2 sensor.
As far as my own WB sensors, I have had no problems with them so far. The NTK sensor just seems to last and last. One of my sensors is installed in a short length of exhaust pipe which can be clamped to the tailpipe of a car. I make sure to install the sensor facing as close to straight up as possible, and it's worked for 3-4 yrs so far.
The NTK sensor used for many WBO2 meters was originally used as the _only_ O2 sensor in a Honda Civic non OBDII car. It was designed to be installed and left there for many thousands of miles. The Bosch sensor is used in Volvos and other cars, again for many thousands of miles before replacement. You don't need to remove the sensor if you don't want to.
-->Slow
slowolej wrote:In the shop we had problems with water damaging the WB sensor.
I've also heard of that before. However, in cars where the sensor is installed in a bung that's directly welded to the exhaust system, the water damage can be avoided if the bung is placed on the downpipe region of the system. Be sure to do this after the collector or else you will get an inaccurate a/f reading due to having the O2 sensor mounted in an area that will see pressure differences.
slowolej wrote:You don't need to remove the sensor if you don't want to.
One more clarification. As long as you have power applied to the sensor when the car is running (to allow the heater to be active), you don't need to remove the sensor. You must always have power going to the sensor so that it can clean itself off when you first start the car up.
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Also, right in the instructions for the Innovate Motorsports WB, it states that you should mount the sensor on the top of the pipe to avoid water buildup, as well as start the engine and turn on the sensor shortly afterwards, to avoid the situation Slowolej is talking about.
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