O2 Sensors-used electrical cleaner on plugs and now not working properly

[airjawed]

I was having intermittent CEL for my catalytic converter below efficiency. When I would set readiness it would show OK but after driving sometimes a little and some times a lot a code would pop up. I thought maybe it was an electrical issue since I also randomly got an EGT code once that went away and never came back. So I decided to try and clean the connector at the firewall.

Now I get codes for bank 1 sensor 1 and bank 2 sensor 2. When I log the voltages in blocks 33 and 44 it will show 0 or near 0. I used electrical contact cleaner and now I'm worried that the cleaner wicked its way into the sensors.

When I uplug those the voltages read 0.450... which I understand is correct and means my ECU is fine. Car runs when unplugged.

I think I'll leave it unplugged for a while and hopefully this will dry it out? Or else I need new ones? Thoughts?

Thanks

[1gcrazy]

You sprayed electrical cleaner onto the head of the hot side of the o2 sensor(the part that goes into the exhaust)? Generally, you can't really "clean" those. Maybe there's a trick out there that I don't know about but from what I understand dousing those in anything other than exhaust is a no no... Granted I doubt it would kill the sensor since they see over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit but yeah... The rule of thumb, leave them alone until they die. Replace afterwards.

[airjawed]

You sprayed electrical cleaner onto the head of the hot side of the o2 sensor(the part that goes into the exhaust)? Generally, you can't really "clean" those. Maybe there's a trick out there that I don't know about but from what I understand dousing those in anything other than exhaust is a no no... Granted I doubt it would kill the sensor since they see over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit but yeah... The rule of thumb, leave them alone until they die. Replace afterwards.

I did NOT clean the sensor side...I sprayed cleaner on the brown and black plug side respectively.

[Timtheguru]

Did you wait for them to dry? Doubtful it made it all the way down to the sensor.

[hazard860]

let dry, same happened when i cleaned my neutral safety switch with it, let air dry for awhile

[1gcrazy]

let dry, same happened when i cleaned my neutral safety switch with it, let air dry for awhile

Yeah I learned this one when I was a toddler. Strangely, parts don't dry when they're "covered"(not sealed), even when they're close to/ in a hot ass engine compartment. Why? No clue...

[airjawed]

OK...I let it sit overnight unplugged to dry out. I'll report back with results.

[airjawed]

Oxygen sensor still not working properly.

The bank 2 sensor 2 worked better when first started but then after car heated up went to 0.
Bank 1 sensor 1 pretty much started near 0 then went to 0.

Seeing that there was slight improvement I'll probably wait some more.

My biggest concern is that the electrical cleaner made its way to the sensor itself via capillary action. Apparently the sensor is porous and would likely hold contaminants easily. At this point I don't think it is the plug itself.

[topquarkpc]

interesting...
please report back with your findings...

[airjawed]

interesting...
please report back with your findings...

I will...I'm good with follow up.

[airjawed]

Update:

Sensors were still acting up. I went ahead and got 2 Bosch universal oxygen sensors and put them in. Success! They are pretty much a direct fit other than the cutting of wires in order to use the old connectors.

Seems like even my previous cat below efficiency has not come back... when I would set readiness I used to get a value just below 0.80...now I'm at 0.55... as for a comparison with my newer cat which gives me a 0.25 or so.

The other thing I want to mention is that it seems the universal oxygen sensor may be a little slower to change values. The holes on the hot side of the sensor seem to be smaller. This is also seen in the sensor aging blocks. I'm guessing this is somewhat equivalent to using a defoulor.

Next I'll dissect the old sensor...I may not find anything though. It could be that the electrical contact cleaner did its damage and then burned off.