I have a UTEC with the turbo xs tuner and bosch wideband 02 sensor and I find myself changing the sensor in the downpipe too frequently. Septemeber of last year I installed my second sensor and now, 6 months later, the readings on the tuner are jumping all over the place and not reading at times. So, is the average lifespan of the sensor about a year give or take depending on the way you drive?

Also, I recently went catless with the Helix V3 downpipe which comes with the 02 bung for the wideband but its located about 2-3 inches from the turbo. Originally, i had it further down at the bottom of the downpipe after a high flow cat on my previous setup. Therefore, is it the proximity and heat from the turbo thats causing it to read crazy or just burnt out the sensor? Could it just be a glitch or any other factor?

In case it has anything to do with it, but I doubt it, I just installed the helix mechanical fix that came with the downpipe for the rear 02 and my problems came after that. Any correlation?
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Been 2 years on the same sensor for me. Not a single issue. Mines about 6 inches from the turbo as I remember. Helix catted dp. How rich are you running, was there lots of carbon build up, did you take a torch to the sensor to try and clean carbon off?
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I'll pull it off tomorrow and take a look at it but it could be carbon build up as you said. Didn't know you can just torch it to clean it. I'm not running too rich as my AFR's were usually 14.7-14.9 at cruising speed and around 11.2 -11.4 at wot. Although, I haven't had a chance to tune for the new downpipe so I'm not sure if that would have a major effect.

The tuner as of today started to blank out and was jumping around out of character. It was skipping and reading really high AFR's where they would normally read 14.7 or so consistantly.
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i went through 2 in a two month period. the bosch ones have been nothing but worthless for me.

Justin
www.grimmspeed.com
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i have the same helix d/p with the 02 right after the turbo. mine finally died after about a year, possibly due to the fact that for the 1st few months i was running pig rich around ~10.2
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Other than the Bosch, I only know of the VW sensor but I've heard it's not nearly as accurate. Can anyone recommend any other sensors?
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I have been through 2 VW probes in a year's time.
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2 years on the bosch in the stock rear o2 location in the dp
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Over a year and about 10k on my bosch.. No problems. I have a extra sensor sitting in my garage waiting to be swapped in when the day does come though.
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3 years, ~35kmiles, bosch o2 in the rear o2 sensor location (no rear o2).

does your mounting of the sensor obey the guidelines as per bosch?
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3 years, ~35kmiles, bosch o2 in the rear o2 sensor location (no rear o2).

does your mounting of the sensor obey the guidelines as per bosch?

Three things kill these sensors very quickly...

Water (Liquid or condensation, not steam from water injection)...
Stuff that shouldn't ever be there, like silicone, lead and other chemicals that clog the sensor...
Overheating the sensor, move sensor further down exhaust stream if you determine that the bung it is in is too close to the high EGT's...
You want it far enough away from the engine that the heater in the sensor does the heating, not the exhaust temps...

If you are killing sensors left and right...
I would recommend you check these things first...
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