Lambda sensors

[dannygti]

Hello there guys.. just a quick one.

I've had my car up and running on a s6+ and not really done many miles, but I've already gone through 2 sensors (the second one today).
The car was wired by Bremax electronics so I'm confident the wiring is spot on and the sensor has worked perfectly but then just stopped working suddenly.
First time it happened on the dyno when it was working perfectly and stopped which put an end to that session. This time i was driving the car and noticed the lambda reading on the dash stayed at 1.08 and didn't budge.

Is this common or am I just really unfortunate? I simply cannot afford to replace a lambda sensor every 50miles or so. Has anyone else had these issues? The sensor is the NGK wide and that Syvecs sell.. not a cheap sensor

Thanks Dan

[TimH]

NTKs are usually VERY reliable. We've sold 100's and 100's of these and I can't recall a single failure (I'm sure someone will step in and correct me!).

My first thought was that the GP+ wasn't configured for the NTK (default jumper links are for LSU4.9) but since it has worked, I doubt it's that.

Wiring is not difficult so doubt that was wrong.

So could be the CAL isn't right for this sensor, or the mounting of it isn't ideal and it's suffering from failure due to condensation?

[dannygti]

Thanks for the reply Tim, that's what I was told that they were reliable but I'm not having much luck. The sensor is mounted around 10" after my downpipe finishes. And it's in the side of the exhaust (parallel to the ground) which is kinda standard placement. I do know from experience when people mount them pointing upwards you can have issues with condensation.

The car was mapped at Torque Developments by Romain so can't see there being anything wrong there. Maybe I'm just really unlucky (which is highly probable). It would be ideal if I could send the faulty ones back to see if anyone can work out what's wrong with them.

[TimH]

Agreed - Romain knows what he's doing so will have been mapped right

Was it a genuine NTK?

[stevieturbo]

Regardless of setup...always worth going through everything just to be sure.

And if there are possible hardware changes needed for different sensors, again, check and be sure.

Failures within such a short period of time are not normal. Something is clearly wrong. And ideally the sensor would be mounted in the top half of the exhaust as opposed to even parallel with the ground. But unless the engine runs very cold and is prone to lots of condensation, it should not be a concern.

IMO check everything, wiring, setup whether it "should" be correct or not. If it is correct, at least then you know for sure.

[dannygti]

Thanks Steve, unfortunately that's as high as I can mount the lambda sensor otherwise it would hit the floor of the car. I've never had an issue with any of my other setups with the lambda in this location and the car is stored in a dry garage so I'm extremely confident it's not that.

I'll have to give Syvecs a call because this isn't my field. I pay good money for good quality parts so expect the product to work. That's not too much to ask, is it?

[stevieturbo]

Again it all depends on the reasons behind any failure.

Regardless of how much spent, it should not be happening.

Once you could put it down to bad luck, twice...nope.