Should I bother to replug-in my oxygen sensor?

[majicwrench]

It certainly DOES do harm to leave it unplugged if it is functional. It WILL NOT cause a surge IF everything else is tunred properly. By unplugging it, the ECM does not switch to an (ideal) mixture, it switches to a failsafe mixture, which generally means a little richer. The ECM can also then run other things failsafe, like the timing. Running richer, the cat convertor now works too hard, and can fail.
If you want to remove your cat, and don't care about gas mileage, unplug it.
Keith

[RRoller123]

Well there you go, some helpful knowledge. Sounds like it should be plugged in.

[Jimb]

I've now talked with the PO and discovered the Volumex came with a plug in the manifold and no sensor. He installed the sensor to help tune the carb using a lambda meter.

Thanks again to everyone for chiming in.
Jim

[RRoller123]

If this was a trial, it would end with a hung jury.

[majicwrench]

Soo, is there a wiring connector there that the O2 plugs into??? This is all a bit fuzzy fishy.
Keith

[Jimb]

The manifold came stock with a plug in the manifold. The PO installed a sensor that he simply plugged directly into a lambda meter.

Jim

[bradartigue]

The manifold came stock with a plug in the manifold. The PO installed a sensor that he simply plugged directly into a lambda meter.

Jim

Neat setup. Definately not a motor that conformed to the USA EPA regs of the time! Most O2 sensors used in the way you've described will be toast by now, carburetors being unfriendly to the near-lean condition fuel injection systems maintain. The Porsche system described previously is a great example, most people just snipped the wire because the sensor would fail and the loop the ECU went into was more like a wave than a continuous fuel flow.