You've got the O2 Sensor/mileage thing backwards.  Pull the wire from the
sensor and watch your gas mileage plummet due to running over-rich.

Keep it, and keep your cat too; your grandkids ( and mine) will thank you
for it.

On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 11:12 PM, Matt Drew <t3vanagon@gmail.com> wrote:

> Howdy all!
>
> Been some time since my last post.
>
> Since my purchase of a beautiful '90 GL Weekender (Blackbeard) back in
> November of '06, I've hauled it (along with my dog, Jack and all of my
> worldly possessions)
> cross-country from Chicago to Vegas.
>
> Yep. Dry, hot Vegas.
>
> Almost immediately upon arrival I was made brutally aware (smoke, smell,
> mess on the garage floor) that I was due to replace some valve gaskets.
> Not a huge surprise, since I was planning on a fairly major tune-up,
> anyway.
> . . especially given that ol' Blackbeard has recently crossed the
> quarter-million mile mark!
>
> I had a feeling that the catalytic converter was bad (broken, bouncing
> pieces of ceramic have a very distinct sound), but what I was not
> expecting
> (and should have been, given that this is after-all a Vanagon) was that
> the
> rear O2 sensor was in need of replacement.
>
> So bottom line...
>
> I have been going back and forth on whether or not to completely bypass
> both
> of them.
>
> I've known of people who've had their cats completely removed and had the
> resulting missing section replaced by a simple connecting pipe (in one
> case,
> glass).
>
> There's also the old "To O2 sensor, or NOT to O2 sensor (if I can find
> someone willing to remove it)".
> The purist in me is saying "It's there for a reason. Keep it stock and
> just
> replace it."
> But the paying way-too-much for gas part of me is saying "It's always
> gonna
> run too rich with that thing in place, so just yank it."
>
> Further, it would seem that bypassing the cat and yanking the O2 sensor
> would do great things for fuel economy . . . but not being any type of
> mechanic, I'm wondering if it would have negative impacts on other systems
> that I'm not considering.
>
> So before I do ANYTHING, I felt it necessary to call upon the mechanical
> expertise of the list and get some of your thoughts on the best way to
> proceed.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> -Drew
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
Crescent Beach, BC
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27