ive heard this claim but it just doesn't make sense. can someone explain this?

 

If that was true none of the in-tank fuel pumps that use locking spade power connectors would work. Not sure where you heard the claim about the O2 sensors, but unless the oil has attracted so much dirt and grime as to compromise the electrical connection I call BS.

 

Click on this link and scroll down to the second paragraph in the How It Works section.

What the Home Mechanic Needs to Know about O2 Sensors

 

holy crap! breathes between the wire and it's insulation? that is hard to believe.....

 

actually I cut the top off a bosch sensor to see what was inside. right under where the wires pass thru the cap, the insulation is removed and the wires are connected to solid wires. anyway I think what actually happens is the sensor depends on O2 getting around the gap between the wire's insulation and the feed thru rubber "gasket". it does not depend on O2 getting between the wires' insulation and the wire

 

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I had valve cover gasketS temporarily leak oil to some degree, at one point, with a bit of oil going down onto the oxy sensor, which threw up fault codes repeatedly, for oxy sensor problem. I corrected the valve cover leaks, and bought a can of spray engine cleaner, and sprayed the hell out of that whole oxy sensor area, including the oxy sensors; let it all dry, before starting again. PROBLEM SOLVED. Now have hundreds of miles without another oxy sensor fault code or any other problem. WORKED FOR ME.

 

I can believe it if oil got on to the sensor or was on the wires right where they lead into the sensor. in my case I don't see oil there. I do see it in the connector....about 10 inches away

 

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Oxy sensors create minute voltages when heated, which are sent to one of the onboard computers, so if/when you get oil on them, the oil conducts to some degree, altering the voltage signals to the computer, throwing off fault codes.