Hopefully this is the right section for this.

I was driving home the other night in the rain. About a 3 hour drive, and gradually my wideband started getting leaner and leaner. It's an Autometer Sport Comp Series. Bad gas came to mind. A pin hole in the exhaust came to mind. And of course the obvious things like injector/fuel pump failure. The car seems to run just fine. So, I don't think the reading is accurate. I pulled the sensor. It looks good but it rattles. Is that normal? Also, with the sensor unplugged the gauge reads as if nothing is wrong at idle. It bounces from 14.6-14.9 like it always did when it was working properly.

I haven't found any pin holes in the exhaust. The sensor is probably 4 years old at this point. Do you think it has gone bad or possibly the gauge itself? Neither part is cheap to replace without knowing whats actually wrong.

Any input on how to test it or the likelihood of it just being the sensor?

 

Soak A rag in gasoline Nd put it around the sensor and see if it reads rich. That should tell you if the sensor is good or bad. And bad gas only causes knock, not lean afrs. Cheers

 

^ The above is awesome advice. I would assume after 4 years that it is in fact possibly bad. I had a bad wideband and I chased around so many other things before buying a new one. Lots of wasted time.

 

ever end up doing it?

 

Sorry for the delay guys. I thought the trick was to soak the rag in carb cleaner (which I did before the original post) and the reading didn't change. I haven't had a chance to play with the car anymore since then.

I really feel like it has to be a bad gauge or sensor. The gauge continues to read even when the sensor is unplugged. I agree that after 4 years the sensor could stand to be replaced regardless. Especially considering it gets rich when it goes into boost. I know the richness is hard on sensors.

If no one chimes in with anything else I will try it soaked in gasoline over the weekend when I get a chance to play with it again.

Thanks for the input thus far guys!