Wow, great answers/opinions everyone.


Yes, you can clean an O2 sensor with oven cleaner Mick. I've done it a couple of times and it works.

Fill a small glass with oven cleaner and soak from the threads down in it for an hour or two. Blow it out with compressed air and good as new. I do it twice to make sure everything gets taken off the element.

If you still get wild readings after cleaning it then the sensor has to be replaced.

A propane torch burns at 3500 degrees and normal car exhaust burns at about 4 to 500 degrees. I guess you can imagine what will happen to the element in an O2 sensor when you touch it with a propane torch. Yep, probably wreck a perfectly good $150.00 sensor.