Bosch WBO bad from the factory

[GZinga]

pretty excited to do my first power up of my MS2 today. Everything went great and read correct value,s except for my WB AFR which was reading out .25-.29volts.. I'm using PLX device's WB/Gauge kit. At first I thought I had something hooked up wrong so I went to a standalone setup. Double checked i didn't have it on the narrow band port (0-1v) but no luck. Gauge said it couldn't detect a sensor so unplugged everything and plugged it back it. without the WBO sensor plugged in, gauge reads 14.6 afr as it should. once I plug in the sensor it pegs out to 20+ AFR and reads 5.66v on the comm port. Gave a call to plx and ran some tests with them and they are saying the Bosch LSU 4.9 sensor is bad from the factory and that I'm SOL they don't warranty it.

so upon first power up of the sensor it was defective, the heater does come on and it does get hot, no response to air moving across it. Has anybody ever heard of this? could it possibly be wired wrong at a connector? Does Bosch have any kind of warranty for these situations or is ti likely "shipping damage"/

[72bluetr6]

I can't answer all your questions, but I have heard that with random sampling, some bad ones get through. But PLX is a pretty good support company. If you bought from them, one would think that they would replace it. If it was wired wrong just once, that may have caused it's demise. There is a troubleshooting sequence on the PLX box - may shed some more light on the issue.

[GZinga]

I did contact them and performed troubleshooting over the phone with them. While I'll agree plx seems to be a pretty good company they do not warranty the sensors provided by bosch. I guess I understand it but it seems a little ridiculous as this isn't really a warranty but more of a factory deffect. Its strange though, the gauge claims the sensor is at 100% health and the heater is working. I'm guessing it was a bad unit or it got damage in shipping somehow.

In case anyone was wondering, while I do like plx's pproduct and it's features, they seem to be lacking in finishing touches. For instance, their dm6 gauge and their modules have no mechanism for mounting. There are 2 wires coming front the back of the dm6 gauge that need to be plugged into a module, they are different lengths. Only reason I suspect shipping damage is because none of the components have a shipping protection inside.

[slow_hemi6]

I like living in a country where every product sold here must be covered by a consumer guarantee, by law.

[kaeman]

It would seem that there must be quite a few bad o2 sensors, I have a dual wide band system and had to buy 3 replacements in the last year, 85 dollars each, not covered by warranty from innovate. My first wide band sensor lasted 6 years. The new system I installed last year has already needed 2 replacement sensors.

Is bosch outsourcing to china?

I wonder if bosch has a warranty on their sensors. I have a couple I would like to get credit for.....

[GZinga]

I suspect foul play on plx. The sensor they sent out is not discolored in anyway. Discoloration, at least to me means it was at least plugged in and checked at the factory. Something I know bosch does. In addition the sensor I got from bosch had the part number engraved/etched into the sensor itself. Lastly the sensor from bosch was about 1 inch longer. These both have the same part number printed on the plug. I suppose the wires being different lengths isn't too strange but the clear difference in that one had been through quality control and the other hadn't seemed odd to me. Anybody ever get a sensor from bosch that didn't have heat Discoloration?

[turbo conversion]

Do the sensors have the word Bosch and part number etched on them?

If not they are not Bosch sensors I would say.

I sold aftermarket Bosch sensors for 20 years and have never seen one that did not have these markings.

David