ok im woundering if my a/f guadge is reading right. when im crusing in town (primary operation) my a/f is 13.0 some times is flashes 12.5 not very often though. now my plugs are brown (the porcelen)but i think this is from the lead sub im using.
so i read that new gas with out the lead in it dosent change plug color to brown .
my fuel injected motors run the plugs clean no color.

so next time i fill up the tank ill skip putting in the lead sub and ill put in new plugs. if my plugs stay clean in town driving dose this mean that my a/f is leaner than 13.0
ive read how to check the 02 senser with a volt meter but ill have to look it up . unless someone can just tell me that would be good.

let me know what you guys think about this stuff. i need feed back as im all on my own here with this.  

just wondering if the lead substitute is fouling the oxygen sensor...?????

does the bottle say sensor safe...  ?????/


reading the voltage with a digital volt meter...  just hook the volt meter to the oxygen sensor...    or the wiring...    turn it to 2 volt dc scale... or 20 volt... ... hooking up a needle type will burn out the sensor...   if the wires short to each other, it will burn out the sensor....

it may take several tank fills to dilute out the lead substitute...

with a can of carb spray ...    or by holding the choke blade partially closed as fast idle , with the engine warm.... can you see if it will go richer...

if you pull off the power brake vacuum hose at the booster... will it read leaner????

that will at least tell you that  you system is reading properly ,.   or at least going full scale...  

well the bottle of cd-2 lead sub dosent say any thing about sensors but it dose say safe for cats. im going to test the sensor and the indicator. its an edelbrock a/f guadge.
is it safe to spray the senser with carb cleaner if its got carbon on it when i pull it out.
when im decelerating down hill the sensor will read a steady 14.0. so it dose change but im going to check everything still . ill keep ya posted thanks.  

i don't think that i would would spray anything on the sensor directly....

holding them lightly in a vice or a pair of pliers... and heating the tip with a "propane" torch ...   that is the only way i have ever heard about cleaning them...

then letting them cool ....     not dipping in water or anything else...

don't forget to reapply a tiny amount of anti seize... only on the threads. it also ... if it gets into the sensor.. will kill it.. but if you ever want to get it out again.. it is something that you need to ***  the threads are 18MM   same as the large ford spark plugs... so the big end of double ended spark plug thread cleaner will work wonders...     (for the viewers out there)

there is a gap between the parts inside...  if spray cleaner washes carbon or anything else into that gap... it will short out the sensor...  

ok i took a minute and checked the sensor for build up. it was pritty clean on the out side. it had some carbon on half of the outside shell towards the threds. the inside part was clean.
one other thing ive got the guadge grounded inside my cab.they say not to do that and to ground it to the cylender head. so ive got to do that. i know why diddnt i do it right the 1st time. i was in a hurry to get it hooked up.  

i put in new gas with no cd-2. (i emailed them about if it was sensor safe no reply ) it dosent seem to be coroding the 02 sensor though. now i might have to put in new plugs to see if they change to a coco color just crusing town. i dont know if they will though well see.

now as for the a/f guadge i payed more attention to it today and it dose give different readings with different throutle positions /load/ decelerate. so i know its working but if the readings are correct i dont know. i guess ill just have to go with it untill i can get the truck up on the dyno (if i ever get around to doing it).

motors running good now thats all i care about.  

here is 50 miles lite driving on my plugs with the occasional heavy foot mostly lite cruise.

2-4-6-8 the other bank was identical. 2-4 look good i think 6-8 look like there leaner. a/f varys from 13.0-13.5 at crusing.




how do these look the last two are 6-8. 5-7 looked the same. all im trying to do here is get a good cruse then ill worry about top end. i think most of my driving on these are from idle and transfer slots.  

can anyone comment on these? need to know if they look ok . are they starting to look lean with the whith haze.