4 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHO2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Reported or suspected cause
further upstream
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Identified cause
1
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0
Reported fixes
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that suspect a cause
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Suspected cause
Finally - if sensors test OK, then they are ok and your issue is further upstream.
O2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Read full discussion summary
Leading evidence: 'further upstream' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'further upstream' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Repair bill than needed' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
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0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
O2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Replace before cat sensors
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
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Suggestion · Original poster
The tech at a local shop suggested to purchase 2 sensors, replace the before cat sensors with new ones and transfer the ones removed to the after cat position.
O2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Test actual sensor and look
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Grab a multi-meter and test actual sensor and look for wire issues while there.
O2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Test heater circuit
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
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0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Testing the heater circuit for continuity may work if you know the sensor connector pinout details.
O2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Replace before cat sensors
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion · Original poster
The tech at a local shop suggested to purchase 2 sensors, replace the before cat sensors with new ones and transfer the ones removed to the after cat position.
O2 sensor - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Coverage and how to read this overview
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
4 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
986Forum: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T191851Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I experienced a CEL for after cat sensor heater circuit . The tech at a local shop suggested to purchase 2 sensors, replace the before cat sensors with new ones and transfer the ones removed to the after cat position. Pelican parts shows different part numbers for the before and after applications. Are the connectors different, I am not interested in getting involved with soldering connections.
First - are you certain the sensor is bad? A CEL for a sensor
ONLY
means the value being returned by sensor is out of range. Period - end of story. Grab a multi-meter and test actual sensor and look for wire issues while there.
Next - sensors rarely if ever go bad simultaneously in pairs or series; unless there is a known upstream issue fouling them (this is different than them returning faults in pairs or series). So, again, before replacing, test the sensor(s) returning a value outside of norm (fault). If it tests bad, replace that sensor and only that sensor. They are not cheap $15 wear item parts like wipers. Further, don't monkey around w/ moving them. Just replace the one (or in the very unlikely event ones) which tests bad.
Finally - if sensors test OK, then they are ok and your issue is further upstream. For instance, one will get a CEL showing two or possibly all four (2 pre, 2 post cat) O2 sensors are bad. They (or an unqualified mechanic) will end up throwing $100+ each plus labor at sensors only to have CEL still active. Finally they will check and realize MAF is bad and now need to put some nice coin towards that too. Basically, double the repair bill than needed...
Good luck
Since O2 sensors don't go bad often its more cost and time effective to take the sensor from the other good side and swap sides to see if the code comes back on the other bank.
If the code does repeat but on the other bank then the O2 sensor replacement is warranted otherwise its most likely to be something else, like a wiring or dirty connector issue.
The before and after cat O2 sensors are definitely different so don't make substitutions if you want your codes to be resolved.
Testing the heater circuit for continuity may work if you know the sensor connector pinout details.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
