oxygen sensor
 

When I bought my 1981 SC 3.0 the previous owner advised that a mechanic at the Oklahoma City Porsche dealership had somehow disconnected the oxygen sensor, which saved the money of dealing with it going out. What effect does this have on the cars performance? The car runs great. It is not as powerful as I would have thought. Could this have some effect on that?

Common thing to do on the SC's. A quick search will bring up a couple of threads on the subject.

OK, Thanks Kurt.

Chris,
If you have now searched this subject I am sure that you have uncovered a plethora of information regarding the Oxygen Sensor being connected/unconnected. In my particular case, the Oxygen Sensor was disconnected and grounding off to itself when I purchased the car (it is a shielded wire - ie., one wire encased in another wire separated by insulation). The problem I was experiencing was really crappy fuel consumption during normal (highway) driving - averaging out to 17.5 mpg. After reconnecting the lead with a soldering iron my mileage went back up to a much more respectable 21.44 mpg - a 22.5% improvement. My recommendation would to reconnect the sensor after you have gathered some baseline information regarding the fuel consumption and associated performance and compare this to the what you experience with the Oxygen Sensor connected back up replacing the Oxygen Sensor if necessary. Many folks here swear by leaving them disconnected. Do the test yourself and see for yourself. New sensors can be had pretty cheap as long as you do not require the special connector at the end - $20.68 (trust me, you don't require the special end).

http://www.oxygensensorwholesale.com/porsche_1981_911_sc.html