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Subject:stalling after engine cleaned
From:Warren Lail
Date:Tue, 22 Feb 2005 08:38:27 -0600

Cudos to all of you guys who believed that washing my engine somehow
interfered with the 02 sensor.   I was thinking throttle body switch, but
apparently I was wrong.

As you may recall, after I washed my engine, and for a long time thereafter,
when I start the bus and drive away it would stall.  I could turn the
ignition off and restart it and it would be fine for a while, but then do it
again.  Or, I could floor it and it would take off and be fine for a while.
Once the engine warmed up, the problem went away until I started it from
cold again.

So, on the advice of several listmembers, including (if I recall correctly)
Dennis Haynes, Ken Lewis, Sam Walters, and others, I began to focus on the
02 sensor.  I could not find any cracks in the wiring or any defects of any
kind, but when I unplugged the 02 sensor the problem went away.  So this
means that water is invading the system somewhere.  Now where do I look?

My 02 sensor is a Bosch, but one of those that I had to wire into to my old
plug.  I am going to solder the connection and put shrink-tubing on it
(maybe even double up on the shrink stuff).

How long can I run it with the 02 sensor disconnected?  Strangely enough, it
seems to run great with it disconnected, maybe even better than normal.  Why
would this be so?

Warren Lail

88 Westy "Billy Bones"