Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Warwick Tobin)

> I need two new sensors in my '91 GT and Ford wants $81.75 a piece!!


How can you tell when O2 sensors need replacing? My '89 LX 5.0 has almost
80k miles and I assume the O2's are the original ones. I've read the codes
from the EEC-IV and everything looks fine (only 11's). I get really bad
gas mileage however (about 12mpg), and somebody once suggested the oxygen
sensors might be going bad. How long do O2 sensors usually last? Is it a
good practice to replace them at regular intervals?


Warwick Tobin
(email redacted)

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Mail From: chucko (Chuck Fry)

One sensor data point: my original HEGO/HO2S/whatever you wanna call 'em
outlasted my Mustang's original engine, and are still going strong at
131K miles and 5 years. So I don't see the need to replace them on a
schedule.

The easiest way to kill oxygen sensors is to fill up with leaded gas, or
gas with "lead substitute" additives. Second-easiest is poisoning them
with the wrong kind of silicone sealant; be sure you only use
gasket-in-a-tube products that say "Sensor Safe" on the label.
Fortunately these are pretty common and don't cost any more than the
sensor-unsafe kind.
-- Chuck