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Recently, I had episodes of overly rich fuel/air in the '86 760T with loss of power and thick black smoke coming out of the tailpipe upon acceleration, particularly driving uphill in the mountains. When I posted about it, the usual suspects got rounded up (leaks in turbo hoses, ECT and O2 sensors), but I had put in a new ECT sensor and all new hoses. That made me suspect the O2 sensor. Then, during two of those episodes I checked O2 voltage and it was a constant .87 volts. When the car behaved normally, voltage fluctuated like it should. I thought I had slightly poisoned the sensor with silicone I had sprayed on turbo hoses to help put them on. I ordered a new Bosch OEM sensor from FCPGroton, but I wanted to be sure the sensor was the problem before I put it in the car. So I took the old sensor out, cleaned it with a wire brush, sprayed it with brake and parts cleaner, and put a propane torch up close through each of the slits until the flame came out of the other slits blowing out black debris and soot. I put the sensor back on the car and it seems to work. I would like to hear from others at Brickboard whether such cleaning generally works. I will put the now overdue new O2 sensor in the car to get the most benefit, but I would like to know whether cleaning is recommendable.
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