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Does anyone know what causes O2 sensors to fail ? I just bought a used Honda ATV and the check engine light is blinking the code for O2 sensor. I have never removed one, so I have no idea what they are all about. Can they be cleaned ? The bike didn't get ridden very much and the owner didn't use stabilizers. Is it possible that it's fouled ? Will it harm the machine to run it with a bad one ? I looked around on a couple Honda ATV forums, but it's not the same as asking questions here.
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Once it's done, it's done. They can fail from a variety of causes ranging from too much fuel to the sensor just breaking down.
As far as hurting the engine I don't think so. The computer goes into a closed loop mode with a "preset" set of parameters when a sensor trips a code so that things don't go south in a hurry.
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Alan tell me year make and model of ATV you bought and tomorrow I will ride down to my local shop where I have connections and see what all is involved in replacing it if necessary.
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I have way more experience with cars than M/C's, but with cars, an O2 sensor code doesn't mean to replace the O2 sensor, it means there's something wrong with the O2 sensor circuit/system. Could be a sensor, a bad connection, some other problem affecting the sensor. If the sensor is fuel fouled, try a 3000 rpm tune-up. With the engine at operating temperature, hold it at a high rpm while creating a lean condition for a minute or so. This will clean a fuel fouled sensor. I've even seen it clean a silicone poisoned sensor. Good luck.
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(12-11-2016, 11:04 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Alan tell me year make and model of ATV you bought and tomorrow I will ride down to my local shop where I have connections and see what all is involved in replacing it if necessary.
That is a standup thing to do ferret.
can Seafoam cause them to fail ?
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The seller never used additives. Like Gunn suggested, I need to do some diagnostics, just need to figure out the right ones for this machine.
