I stupidly didn't do any research on this before I sprayed some chlorinated brake cleaner down into my engine cylinders in an attempt to decarbonize the piston and rings. I didn't have any carb cleaner on hand so I used the next closest thing. Apparently brake cleaner decomposes into phosgene gas when it burns. Luckily I didn't spray much down there.

Car ran really poorly for about 10 minutes but seems to be basically OK now. Did I just fry my O2 sensor?

I'm really worried because I actually have the regular O2 sensor and an additional wideband sensor installed, and those wideband sensors are not cheap!

It's on a Honda H23 engine if it matters.

Thanks

maybe,, there is a reason they have sensor safe sprays

Lmao, explain the procedure, you could have also hit the MAF if you sprayed it in the intake near the air filter.

Guess you saw this: Brake Cleaner = Phosgene Gas

It was dumb, I know.

I sprayed some cleaner directly down the spark plug holes and let it sit for awhile. Luckily no MAF on this car.

quote Originally posted by masospaghetti: It was dumb, I know. I sprayed some cleaner directly down the spark plug holes and let it sit for awhile. Luckily no MAF on this car.

Why?? remove carbon??
running engine with it feed air with water mist is better at this than cleaning all oil off the rings and cyl wall.

I have excessive crankcase pressure and wanted to rule out stuck/dirty rings. I let the engine crank over a good 15 seconds or so with the plugs removed so hopefully I didn't scuff the crap out of my cylinder walls.

Not one of my finest moments.

I'd bet you only fouled the plugs, clean them up, sand the electrodes lightly until bare metal is exposed. (I'm assuming you don't wanna spend the time or money on new plugs considering your history with the brake parts cleaner)

Reinstall and if throw a code for O2 sensors you just learned an expensive lesson.

quote Originally posted by E.Furgal: Why?? remove carbon?? running engine with it feed air with water mist is better at this than cleaning all oil off the rings and cyl wall.

That's more or less how we used to do it. "Give it a drink"...tech would pull a small vacuum hose and let it suck in a cup of water slowly(note slowly...you don't want to hydro-lock the engine). I stuck with spraying a mist, as I didn't care to find out where the line is...

Haven't bothered in years...gas seems to be better these days around here. They almost all claim to have cleaner additives. I just go for a hard run up the mountain/highway if I feel the need to clean her out.

quote Originally posted by WBailey1041: I'd bet you only fouled the plugs, clean them up, sand the electrodes lightly until bare metal is exposed. (I'm assuming you don't wanna spend the time or money on new plugs considering your history with the brake parts cleaner) Reinstall and if throw a code for O2 sensors you just learned an expensive lesson.

I'm really not that cheap, it was a matter of convienence and what I had on hand... I don't care about spending $10 on a set of plugs. I did it because i knew brake cleaner and carb cleaner both powerful solvents and dissolve carbon.

Anyway, lesson learned...it could have ended with a cloud of phosgene gas so I consider myself lucky

[This message has been edited by masospaghetti (edited 02-06-2017).]

quote Originally posted by masospaghetti: I'm really not that cheap, it was a matter of convienence shortcuts and what I had on hand... I don't care about spending $10 on a set of plugs. I did it because I DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER.. Anyway, lesson learned...it could have ended with ONLY WASTING A CAN OF CARB CLEANER INSTEAD OF A COUPLE OF O2 SENSORS.

Fixed that for you. ^^^^^

We have all done silly things, it's best to own up to it and move on. Forgive me if I took you for a penny pincher, most of us are always looking for a shortcut. Hopefully the plugs are the end of it.

[This message has been edited by WBailey1041 (edited 02-06-2017).]

quote Originally posted by Stubby79: That's more or less how we used to do it. "Give it a drink"...tech would pull a small vacuum hose and let it suck in a cup of water slowly(note slowly...you don't want to hydro-lock the engine). I stuck with spraying a mist, as I didn't care to find out where the line is... Haven't bothered in years...gas seems to be better these days around here. They almost all claim to have cleaner additives. I just go for a hard run up the mountain/highway if I feel the need to clean her out.

Gas today has ethanol that collects moisture in the air..(water) that cleans out the carbon..
huge problem with direct injection engines is the carbon build up on valves back faces..
as no fuel is passing it to clean it.. only the burnt h/c from the valve overlap