# O2 sensor



## Hendrix (Jan 17, 2004)

There's been lots of talk on here concerning checking/changing the O2 sensor when the gas mileage starts to look bad. However, I've seen nothing concerning cleaning the O2 sensor. A buddy of mine, civic driver, told me that he took his O2 sensor out and cleaned it with a dremel. After checking the voltage, I also took the dremel to my O2 sensor and cleaned it. Noticed a definit improvement in my gas mileage and saved some money :thumbup: Has anyone else ever attempted this with bad result? Have I ruined my O2 sensor and it's only a matter of time before something blows up?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

I personally would never clean my O2 sensor, let alone with a dremel.....but that's just me.


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## Hendrix (Jan 17, 2004)

chimmike said:


> I personally would never clean my O2 sensor, let alone with a dremel.....but that's just me.


OK. Are there any possible draw backs to my cleaning of the O2 sensor? By the way, it was cleaned at the beginning of June with no problems yet.


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

The fact that it gets dirty again about 1 second after you start your car.
They have a life of around 50k-70K km's


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## Tavel (Aug 21, 2004)

no the problem is that you can't "clean" an o2 sensor, look up how they work and you find this: 



http://hostingprod.com/@aa1car.com/library/o2sensor.htm said:


> The performance of the O2 sensor tends to diminish with age as contaminants accumulate on the sensor tip and gradually reduce its ability to produce voltage. This kind of deterioration can be caused by a variety of substances that find their way into the exhaust such as lead, silicone, sulfur, oil ash and even some fuel additives. The sensor can also be damaged by environmental factors such as water, splash from road salt, oil and dirt.



get a new one.


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## Hendrix (Jan 17, 2004)

^I'll go with a new one as soon as I notice a drop off in my mpg again :thumbup:


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