A steady reading of .5 to .6 volt is a sign of an open sensor or one that
has not heated up enough to function. The voltage is due to the leakage at
the ECU input. Measure the voltage at the sensor lead with it disconnected
to see if you are really getting a signal.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
pickle vanagon
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 5:53 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: tested Oxygen Sensor, and...

Just for fun, I decided to go out and "test" my oxygen sensor today, by
which I mean I warmed up the car, and then checked the voltage coming off
the sensor wire with the van at idle.  I got readings of around .52 volts,
which maybe seems okay (?), but the voltage was steady, not oscillating
(it
stayed between .51 and .53 volts always).  Does this mean my engine is
never
entering closed loop operation?  If so, what are the standard things to
check, since the O2 sensor seems okay?

Thanks,
Wes