Wideband sensors life. Yours?

spynish · August 20, 2008, 01:01

Hi mates,

I installed a new wideband sensor some months ago and is gone. Have not covered more than 7.000 miles. For me sounds very extrange it breaks so fast.

Which is the life of your wideband sensors on your cars?

Perhaps it's due to lack of fine tuning?

Thanks!

PS: If I don't have a gauge connected can affect? I only plug the laptop for tuning, however sensor recieves power from battery everytime car is on, so I assume although there is no gauge it's working normally...

Anonymous · August 20, 2008, 01:49

I got my Innovate Motorsports sensor wet and it was instantly fried. They say not to do that. I had a hard time believing water would go up into the exhaust pipe while driving through a puddle, but it must have splashed up in there. My guess is that it doesn't take a lot of water to ruin the bugger. So I'm on my second one, but the first one lasted well over a year, more like two. Worth it.

Tem · August 20, 2008, 04:37

Quote from: "spynish"I installed a new wideband sensor some months ago and is gone. Have not covered more than 7.000 miles. For me sounds very extrange it breaks so fast.

There can be tons of reasons why they fail early...

QuoteWhich is the life of your wideband sensors on your cars?

I don't really log km's, but I installed my Innovate in 2003 and changed the sensor last winter, so it was good for 5 years. Actually, it still seems to work and I've kept it as a spare. Just seems a bit slower than the new one.

The VW guys who get one from factory say some have gotten beyond 200tkm without changing it.

QuotePerhaps it's due to lack of fine tuning?

No, not really, it shouldn't affect the lifetime of the sensor.

QuotePS: If I have not a gauge connected can affect? I only plug the laptop for tuning, however sensor recieves power from battery everytime car is on, so I assume although there is no gauge it's working normally...

You HAVE TO power it when the car's running, it needs the heater circuit working when there's gas flow. Without that it'll fail in short time.

Might wanna read the instructions too and see if they say anything about it. Which wideband do you have anyway?

spynish · August 20, 2008, 07:40

Quote from: "Tem"You HAVE TO power it when the car's running, it needs the heater circuit working when there's gas flow. Without that it'll fail in short time.

Might wanna read the instructions too and see if they say anything about it. Which wideband do you have anyway?

Is powered when ignition is on. Well not ignition, just when key is turned and there's power from battery, but then when engine is on is still receiving power. Any problem with the fact that it receives power before the car is running?

Perhaps I have a problem with my ground... I conected ground wire to the block, if I remember well...

And It's and innovate motorsport.

Wabbitkilla · August 20, 2008, 08:06

I've had my innovate in a year now, 20000miles and no problems at all.

I'm N/A though so maybe not reaching the EGT that turbo guys reach?

Tem · August 20, 2008, 08:24

Quote from: "spynish"Any problem with the fact that it receives power before the car is running?

Not at all, that's actually a good thing. IIRC, best case scenario is that you let it warm up fully before starting the engine.

Tem · August 20, 2008, 08:25

Quote from: "Wabbitkilla"I'm N/A though so maybe not reaching the EGT that turbo guys reach?

It's not uncommon that N/A cars have higher EGT than turbo cars after the turbo. Turbo really eats up a lot of heat.

spit · September 15, 2009, 07:43

Resurrecting an old thread.

I'm onto my second sensor now, installed very recently. Its still 'working' but it has gone from holding a steady and expected reading to swinging back and forth around the target AFR.

The only change is from this weekend when we backed Stu's car up to mine (to avoid disturbing my sensor) and plugged into his LC1 to test for a firmware issue. Obviously my LC1 was powered up briefly during this test with no sensor connected.

Once plugged back into my LC1 it has failed to settle down properly. s:? :? s:?

Free air recal hasn't helped.

Any thoughts?

Tem · September 15, 2009, 08:13

Quote from: "spit"Any thoughts?

Some thoughts on this thread:
m http://www.spyderchat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34750 m

Maybe nothing for you, but a good read anyway. s8)

s8)

aaronjb · September 15, 2009, 09:41

Hm.. I'm wondering if there is some commonality in sensor locations? I know Kevin (I imagine the thread Tem linked to) has suffered three or four failed sensors already, while myself and Tem (if memory serves?) are both on our original..

If anything I thought my location would be the hardest on the sensor, since it's smack bang up against the exhaust housing of the turbo, and they advise further down the exhaust stream.

Probably jinxed myself, now, though!

roger · September 15, 2009, 13:32

My gauge has always swung "wildly" +/- .5.

I just assumed it was the inability of the sensor to keep up with the varied fuel flow, or come to that the air flow.

spit · September 15, 2009, 17:45

It is odd.

I've experienced a slow drift towards lean from stoich at idle before now, but it has never worried me - engine sounds just fine and it either drifts back under its own steam or responds to a small throttle blip.

This current issue is a timed fast-swing problem where the AFR reading starts richer than it (probably) is and swings into lean ... and it repeats this over and over approx every second. Daft.

I tried another free air calibration this morning. It seems to have helped a little. I'll recheck grounds and connections, but its got me a tad stumped.

kentsmudger · September 15, 2009, 17:53

Noob question alert! What is a wideband sensor?

spit · September 15, 2009, 18:03

Look it up! s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Potted and incomplete summary.....

Standard O2 sensors in our car are "narrowband" - they flip between 0volts (ish) and 1volt (ish) at a certain air-fuel ratio (AFR). The ECU juggles fuel to keep the O2 sensors dancing in this narrow band.

Wideband sensors don't have this limitation and they give a signal that relates directly to the AFR, whatever it may be.

kentsmudger · September 15, 2009, 18:17

I had seen the term plenty of times on here, but never in a context I could understand - thanks

noob-mode off

roger · September 15, 2009, 19:15

Quote from: "spit"This current issue is a timed fast-swing problem where the AFR reading starts richer than it (probably) is and swings into lean ... and it repeats this over and over approx every second. Daft.

Yes, Ste same as mine. As I said, thought it was normal - I'd be very interested if we could work it out, be it OK or something that needs attending to.

Can I ask does anybody with an AFR gauge have static readings, or do yours float rich to lean?

Tem · September 15, 2009, 21:34

Quote from: "aaronjb"Hm.. I'm wondering if there is some commonality in sensor locations? I know Kevin (I imagine the thread Tem linked to) has suffered three or four failed sensors already, while myself and Tem (if memory serves?) are both on our original..

Yeah, I'm still on my original sensor. I recall thinking it was going bad and already bought a new one (and even used it), only to realize my MAF needed cleaning. s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Mine's in same place as yours too, where it really shouldn't last that long, but it does. s:? :? s:?

spit · September 16, 2009, 19:01

Now stabilised s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:

I can't point to anything specific, but its possible that the mating surfaces of the contacts on the plug were at fault?

I gave them a good dose of contact cleaner last night and reassembled with a positive 'click'. Recalibration (three quick button presses on the XD gauge followed by a fourth to confirm) and now everything is back as it was.

Had many a chat with Klaus (Innovate) about the sensitivities of the earthing on his products. Perhaps this was the cause? Dunno, and currently don't care because its working again s:lol: :lol: s:lol: