Why does my 02 sensor look like a iron-toothed troll has been chewing on it?

[Th0r]

Just curious. I installed my header yesterday and the sensor was mangled when I pulled it off my manifold. Still reads fine though. Is that normal and what causes it?

[Nate's Alero]

Pictures!


(hot exhaust)

[jayson_waltz]

you mean the part that goes into the inside the the exhaust pipe? the new one i just picked up have ridges in it all the way around, whats yours look like? might be normal

[Th0r]

Nah, mine looks like something smashed into it. No pics cause I already slapped it in the header.

[BlackJack]

Probably just pieces of one of your pistons, nothing to worry about.

But seriously, a pic of this might help give us some ideas as to what it might be. There shouldn't be any detonation occurring within your exhaust pipe, so from what you're describing, we'll have to assume flying metal fragments. Since the O2 sensor is stationary inside the exhaust pipe, if it were flying debris causing the pits, it should only be on one side of the sensor. Is it on one side, or all the way around the sensor?

[Gr1m]

Probably just pieces of one of your pistons, nothing to worry about.

rofl.

[Th0r]

It was on one side of the sensor like something came from the engine and slammed into it. I'll pull it and take a picture when I install the rest of the exhaust.

[Oldsman]

this is very interesting. can't wait to see the pics.

[Nate's Alero]

this is very interesting. can't wait to see the pics.

agreed, very curious

[jayson_waltz]

interesting. had your engine has ever had internal breakdown before? maybe before you had it?

[Redog]

Yeah pics are a must

[wrestlingandrunning]

this may have been said before but you should really post pictures

[Nate's Alero]

i wanna see, i still say hot exhaust from boost

[[ion] C2]

i wanna see, i still say hot exhaust from boost
EGTs don't get much higher than stock with a supercharger... a turbo yeah. My O2 sensors look fine. You should see my first O2 sensor though before I replaced it, looked pretty bad. I'll try to find a picture.

[Th0r]

Here it is...

[BlackJack]

your exhaust manifolds....are they new, custom (home garage) made, or professionally made by one of the major header manufacturers?

I've seen something like this before where "home made" headers had slag and what not left inside the runners from the welding and went flying out through the exhaust pipes doing the same kind of damage.

If you don't think this is the cause, I suspect you should pull all your spark plugs and check them for pitting. If you find any, then pull the heads, and look for a broken piston crown. With a busted crown, the engine can still run, although a bit rough, but is a possible cause.

[natedawg9640]

or go to napa and buy a can of Troll-Be-Gone brand iron tooth enamel decay spray... works wonders

[jayson_waltz]

looks like it had a blow torch taken after it, thats effed up.

[Oldsman]

has your car backfired at all?????

[Gr1m]

have you been feeding the trolls with that?

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q67/alero88/LOLcats/1258477293879.jpg

[Th0r]

your exhaust manifolds....are they new, custom (home garage) made, or professionally made by one of the major header manufacturers?

I've seen something like this before where "home made" headers had slag and what not left inside the runners from the welding and went flying out through the exhaust pipes doing the same kind of damage.

If you don't think this is the cause, I suspect you should pull all your spark plugs and check them for pitting. If you find any, then pull the heads, and look for a broken piston crown. With a busted crown, the engine can still run, although a bit rough, but is a possible cause.

This was in the factory LD9 manifold that's been on the car since new. The sensor was not dropped or anything like that. That's just how it looked before I put it into the header. No backfires that I know of. The current plugs are also in good shape, but they've only been there for a month. I saved the old plugs since they only had 6k miles on them and they look fine as well.

A busted crow could be possible. My engine does seem to run rough, but I just attributed that to it being a quad, so who knows. I'm sure I'll be breaking the motor down soon enough. Cam towers are leaking so I need to replace the seals, while I'm at that I might as well install new cams, and while the cam towers are off I might as well crank a few more bolts and pull the head to PnP it, and while the heads off I might as well put in forged guts. Most expensive cam tower seals ever.