# Is It Possible For An O2 Sensor To Work Well When Cold But Then Malfunction When Hot?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-possible-for-an-o2-sensor-to-work-well-when-cold-but-then-malfunction-when-hot/173149>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [December 8, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-possible-for-an-o2-sensor-to-work-well-when-cold-but-then-malfunction-when-hot/173149 "2020-12-08T18:54:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ArgosNoble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@ArgosNoble](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ArgosNoble)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-possible-for-an-o2-sensor-to-work-well-when-cold-but-then-malfunction-when-hot/173149/21 "2020-12-25T20:31:22Z")

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![20201223_100813](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/9/e/9e90a5c34ee405a4994f6c5cdb0c5c9040330860.jpeg) ![20201223_100805](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/9/9/9943c9c37417d210b33bbc2a13e4e68f749df497.jpeg)

Does this O2 sensor look toast, like seriously burned out?

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**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-possible-for-an-o2-sensor-to-work-well-when-cold-but-then-malfunction-when-hot/173149/22 "2020-12-26T00:08:14Z")

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Unless an oxygen or air/fuel ratio sensor is physically broken the only way to tell if it’s good or not is to test it installed on a running engine. The way it looks is irrelevant.

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**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-possible-for-an-o2-sensor-to-work-well-when-cold-but-then-malfunction-when-hot/173149/23 "2020-12-26T17:17:57Z")

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Unlike Mike in NH, I haqve had several oxygen sensors trip the check engine light between 70 and 100,000 miles. I have done a lot of short trip driving.

When I have had hesitation when trying to accelerate , it was usually a dirty throttle body.

[Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-possible-for-an-o2-sensor-to-work-well-when-cold-but-then-malfunction-when-hot/173149.md?page=1)