Okay, I see lots of pictures of downpipes, turbo elbows and other things with a wideband sensor right next to the stock sensor location.
I've read a number of documents that say not to place the sensor right next to the turbo outlet, place more than 15 degrees from horizontal and 10 degrees from vertical, and that failure to do so will cause early failure of the O2 sensor.
So, there's some discontinuity there. The parts manufacturers, are likely only doing what's easiest for them, so having the O2 sensor right next to the stock location is obviously easiest.
I'm more curious about what early failure means, in real terms.
The sensors appear to be rated for about 160,000 km. That's kind of short for a sensor, considering that's the expected lifespan of a typical platinum tipped spark plug, and I kind of expect spark plugs to be wear items, and sensors not to be.
So, if I were to get the wideband bung welded downstream in the exhaust, about 1m from the turbo outlet, but still protected from damage from whatever would be under the car. Route the wiring away from excess heat and strain, and do everything perfect, I could expect the sensor to last about as long as a set of OEM sparkplugs.
What if I don't? If I were to pop the wideband in that bung that came with my elbow/downpipe about 4" from the turbo. It's still more than 10 degrees from vertical, so at least that's still in the good range. Tech notes seem to suggest that recessing the sensor a little back from the exhaust stream will help prolong its life in that situation, but I don't know how much, or even how much it's life expectancy will suffer from being out there in the first place.
So... how much will it suffer? Would that elbow location mean instant death for the sensor the first time I go WOT at 16 PSI? Would it mean that life expectancy goes down to half? I mean, I assume that reasonably low EGTs (Where my car will spend most of its life, but by no means all) will hurt the sensor less, since higher EGTs seem to hurt it more. They seem to be so picky about other things, too. (If it's that sensitive to silicone, maybe I won't install the wideband at all until after engine break-in, just in case there's anything from the FIPG at the head gasket location, or somewhere else in the engine where it might hit the exhaust. (The stuff I used is labelled as "sensor safe" so maybe it's okay?)
Or maybe I just budget to replace a $78 sensor every couple of years. Do it when I flush coolant or something.
Lots of people seem to be running wideband sensors close to the turbo outlets, many with upgraded turbos, running elevated boost. How long DO they last?
I've read a number of documents that say not to place the sensor right next to the turbo outlet, place more than 15 degrees from horizontal and 10 degrees from vertical, and that failure to do so will cause early failure of the O2 sensor.
So, there's some discontinuity there. The parts manufacturers, are likely only doing what's easiest for them, so having the O2 sensor right next to the stock location is obviously easiest.
I'm more curious about what early failure means, in real terms.
The sensors appear to be rated for about 160,000 km. That's kind of short for a sensor, considering that's the expected lifespan of a typical platinum tipped spark plug, and I kind of expect spark plugs to be wear items, and sensors not to be.
So, if I were to get the wideband bung welded downstream in the exhaust, about 1m from the turbo outlet, but still protected from damage from whatever would be under the car. Route the wiring away from excess heat and strain, and do everything perfect, I could expect the sensor to last about as long as a set of OEM sparkplugs.
What if I don't? If I were to pop the wideband in that bung that came with my elbow/downpipe about 4" from the turbo. It's still more than 10 degrees from vertical, so at least that's still in the good range. Tech notes seem to suggest that recessing the sensor a little back from the exhaust stream will help prolong its life in that situation, but I don't know how much, or even how much it's life expectancy will suffer from being out there in the first place.
So... how much will it suffer? Would that elbow location mean instant death for the sensor the first time I go WOT at 16 PSI? Would it mean that life expectancy goes down to half? I mean, I assume that reasonably low EGTs (Where my car will spend most of its life, but by no means all) will hurt the sensor less, since higher EGTs seem to hurt it more. They seem to be so picky about other things, too. (If it's that sensitive to silicone, maybe I won't install the wideband at all until after engine break-in, just in case there's anything from the FIPG at the head gasket location, or somewhere else in the engine where it might hit the exhaust. (The stuff I used is labelled as "sensor safe" so maybe it's okay?)
Or maybe I just budget to replace a $78 sensor every couple of years. Do it when I flush coolant or something.
Lots of people seem to be running wideband sensors close to the turbo outlets, many with upgraded turbos, running elevated boost. How long DO they last?
I was sure that I had it with my targa seals. I bet that I put it "somewhere safe."
