BTDT. Mine crumbled, i stuck it back in, eventually the wire got frayed and stopped making a good connection. Car ran like crap with hte lambda computer swinging the mixture slowly and too far each way. i cut and spliced in a new standard water resistant connector, bingo. car started running right again.
Here's a thread that details what we are talking about, including an excerpt form an article written by lee Rice (smart cookie) on the subject.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=182054&highlight=sensor