Is there a way to clean the o2 sensors?

 

What I use is a brench grinder with the wire wheel. It will clean all those deposit off. If you don't have one, a wire brush will work but you won't get those hard cake on areas of deposits off.

Vinny

 

What you can see of the sensor is just the metal shield, protecting the zirconium membrane inside. Other than cleaning the carbon off the shield, there's not much you can effectively do to clean the actual sensor. I've seen people claim they did it with brake cleaner or something similar, but its hard to see how any sort of solvent would be good for what is a fairly sensitive membrane.

 

I've also heard that you can rotate the O2 sensor 1/2 a turn to get the "cleaner" side facing towards the exhaust. I've never done it, but it's worth a shot.

 

test

 

Thanks for the replys. I was under the impression that the outer shield was impregnated with something special that made the sensor work.

 

If you have a scanner and the O2's are working i would not mess with them. If they go bad then i would definately replace since they are so important to a good running car. I got them for $40 each for Factory AC Delco so it makes the investment cheap and gives you piece of mind.