AEM wideband, killing sensors

[Coxy]

Hey guys, just had my 3rd sensor die in 800 miles, 94 octane pump. I thought it was my sensor harness bouncing around, so i fixed that.

Heres my electrical setup, fuel pump is running off the accessory plug, with that rectifier/capacitor harness from Spoon. Oil pump, AEM O2, and boost gauge light is running off the OG fuel pump plug. Everything seems good except the sensors it keeps killing. only thing i can think of is i have the grounds for the AEM, Pump and light going to the black wire of the plug, not to the chassis... Im second guessing this now, although if its DC it shouldnt matter? Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys
Coxy

 

[mynewuseddoo]

only thing i can think of is i have the grounds for the AEM, Pump and light going to the black wire of the plug, not to the chassis... Im second guessing this now, although if its DC it shouldnt matter? Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys
Coxy

It doesn't matter which voltage or current type you are working with, ground is always important, always.

I just replaced my sensor and I had about 550 miles with it.

 

[never enough snow]

Aem gauges must be hooked up to a DC power supply !!! If they are hooked up to ac they give bad readings

 

[hatchers]

changing the O2 sucker on these 2 smokes is a part of life, leaded fuels will be worse, the high vibration is the real issue

 

[Coxy]

It is hooked to dc I believe. Regular fuel... Should I leave the ground to the black wire, or swap for a ground to chassis? Of does it even matter? The sensor is in a usual position, in the can post turbo, so I'm at a loss

 

[never enough snow]

:QUOTE=Coxy;2662847]It is hooked to dc I believe. Regular fuel... Should I leave the ground to the black wire, or swap for a ground to chassis? Of does it even matter? The sensor is in a usual position, in the can post turbo, so I'm at a loss[/QUOTE]

I like main chassis ground the best . I get around 200 to300 miles per sensor on 100 ll fuel

 

[Coxy]

I'll swap the ground just to see I guess, try and check the voltage output from that harness while running in the garage too perhaps, other then that I'll run er gangster with no sensor lol!

 

[catmanm7]

would it benefit to run these a/f gauges off a switch, and just turn them on once and awhile to double check things. I have egts to monitor as well, so if I had a switch on the a/f and just turn it on once in awhile, will the sensors last longer.
OR
the sensors burn up no matter what because they are installed in the pipe?

 

[Coxy]

That im unsure of, i love the wideband, but these sensors arent cheap, especially up here in Canuckistan... Dollars at par or better and i gotta pay almost double lol. I should probably just throw some egt's on it and throw the wideband in the junk.

 

[RDrangstveit]

I removed headlights and wired my AEM A/F, turbo oil pump, intercooler fan directly into the headlight wires. Wired EBC, BD box, EGT's into acccessory plug. No issues with the AEM, over 500 miles on 100LL.

 

[mynewuseddoo]

would it benefit to run these a/f gauges off a switch, and just turn them on once and awhile to double check things. I have egts to monitor as well, so if I had a switch on the a/f and just turn it on once in awhile, will the sensors last longer.
OR
the sensors burn up no matter what because they are installed in the pipe?

They are still being subjected to all the abuse weather they are powered up or not.

 

[catmanm7]

So the mais problem is the vibration killing the sensors. Why does this not happen as much in the automotive world. Or do some guys sleds just not have enough exhaust/ turbo mounts to hold things together?
You wouldnt think that a sensor made to go in the exhaust of whatever vehicle would be dieing just because of vibration. Maybe AEM could make a better sensor. Anyone cut one apart to see where they are failing. Some simple high temp silicone around the wiring connections in the sensor may help? Just throwing ideas out

 

[YETIms]

use K&N wideband monitor, work perfect,

AEN sucks, i got also problem with their A/Fr

Hey guys, just had my 3rd sensor die in 800 miles, 94 octane pump. I thought it was my sensor harness bouncing around, so i fixed that.

Heres my electrical setup, fuel pump is running off the accessory plug, with that rectifier/capacitor harness from Spoon. Oil pump, AEM O2, and boost gauge light is running off the OG fuel pump plug. Everything seems good except the sensors it keeps killing. only thing i can think of is i have the grounds for the AEM, Pump and light going to the black wire of the plug, not to the chassis... Im second guessing this now, although if its DC it shouldnt matter? Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys
Coxy

 

[Tonysnoo]

I'll swap the ground just to see I guess, try and check the voltage output from that harness while running in the garage too perhaps, other then that I'll run er gangster with no sensor lol!

I assume you have an 09 or later (or an M7) if you have to rectify for the big pump?

If so you may be running too much off of the oem fuel pump circuit. I don't think that low voltage would take out your sensor, but?

I ran my aem off of the same bridge as my fuel pump all season....no prob. Now it's on another sled......same sensor.

I would be careful screwing around with trying to ground your "floating" negative leads.

 

[mynewuseddoo]

So the mais problem is the vibration killing the sensors. Why does this not happen as much in the automotive world. Or do some guys sleds just not have enough exhaust/ turbo mounts to hold things together?
You wouldnt think that a sensor made to go in the exhaust of whatever vehicle would be dieing just because of vibration. Maybe AEM could make a better sensor. Anyone cut one apart to see where they are failing. Some simple high temp silicone around the wiring connections in the sensor may help? Just throwing ideas out

Put your hand on the O2 sensor on your 2 stroke engine and then put your hand on the O2 sensor on your truck or car, which one has more vibration?

The oil and leaded fuel are also big factors.

 

[Coxy]

Again, I do not run leaded fuel. There for it's either vibration, or 16 volts supplied from the original fuel pump harness.
If it's vibration, other guys are getting 1000+ miles on leaded fuel on one sensor. I'm not sure how much load the oil pump and aem draw, but maybe it's more than the fuel pump, which is still stock.
Thanks alot guys, I'm just trying to understand the electrical system on these sleds, to figure this out! Oh and yes it's an 09 m8.

 

[hatchers]

16 volts?

obviously its a 12volt elec guage, im not sure if said voltage is regulated down for the sensor itself..nonetheless, your guage/sensor are receiving 33% more voltage potential, this can only be a bad thing

the easy fix would to simply use the 12VDC that runs to your beeper in the right side footwell...that beeper is not really needed anyway

 

[mynewuseddoo]

Most electronics, weather DC or AC, will have an operating range, 8-16 volts dc for example. At 12 volts DC the gauge and sensor will be drawing a certain amount of current. When the supplied voltage goes above 12 there is less current needed so the amperage will go down. If the supplied voltage drops below 12 then the unit will need to draw more current to compensate.

Coxy take a multimeter and check weather or not the 16 volts you are seeing are DC or AC volts.

You also mentioned that you sensor is in an awkward place, is it placed at an angle 10* above horizontal or higher? The more vertical you can get that sensor the better.

 

[jhurkot]

16 volts?

obviously its a 12volt elec guage, im not sure if said voltage is regulated down for the sensor itself..nonetheless, your guage/sensor are receiving 33% more voltage potential, this can only be a bad thing

the easy fix would to simply use the 12VDC that runs to your beeper in the right side footwell...that beeper is not really needed anyway

i'm pretty sure that means you would only have power when you're in reverse, wouldn't it?
oops i forgot that there is constant power at that beeper.

 

[w2bridin]

I have over 1000 miles on my 2010 m8 running 75% 100LL and original aem sensor. Must be an electrical issue.