has anyone had any problems with an accel wideband sensor reading a steady 17.63 in the computer and an 18.05 on the gauge? anyone know what it could be? do you think my brand new sensor went bad?

 

more then likely its broken....remove the sensor from the pipe, hold the washer and shake it, if it rattles its junk.

 

There are no rattles, and the sensor does heat up. So the element is not bad. So i cleaned the end off and sprayed the tip with some brake clean, since i figured it was broken and i cant hurt it. It still reads a 17.65 solid on the logger. and an 18.05 on the gauge and does not change from there.

 

well, the sensor is probably ruined for sure now with brake cleaner on it.
I'd call, had it ever worked? There were a lot of junk ones that got on the market...Did it ever work for you? Did you buy it new? If so, when?

 

yes, i bought it brand new, and it maybe has a total of 5 mins runtime. i built a turbo kit, started the truck up for 5 mins, took it all back apart and redid the turbo kit, and now i start it up, it does not move. So, i do not know what is wrong with it. I know before, computer and the gauge were accurate with eachother. Now, they are off, so i dont know if it is the sensor or the box.

 

Did you forget a ground?

 

no, the box is grounded, but i will check into that

 

make sure to ground the sensor and computer at the same place preferably the battery

 

The sensor doesn't have a common ground connection anywhere on it.

 

my bad I was thinking that the accells had to use a wideband controller

 

Sounds like the sensor has gone bad. Time to replace it. I've had the same thing happen

 

The sensor has no miles on it, and maybe 5 mins runtime. I hate to replace it. If i ground it to the battery and nothing changes, i am going to change the sensor.

 

How is the sensor conected to the Dfi box? Is it a universel sensor, or is it through a DFI wide band controller / engine analyzer? I do know that the earlier versions of the engine analyzer would power the 02 heater when the main power is on even if the ignition was off. If the 02 has been powered up for extended periods of time even if the engine is not running. It will kill the O2.

 

Oh, my bad too. The sensor itself doesn't have an electrical connection to common ground but an external controller such as the one Accel uses would definitely have a ground connection. And I agree that it should be grounded at the battery along with the ECM.

 

Ok, so the Accel does use an external controller?

 

yes. the accel does use an external "box" that is grounded. i am going to try grounding it directly to the battery and see if this helps.