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my 2005 ls430 was jumping from inside air to outside air also, I did the smog sensor cleaning. The cleaning of the filter with dawn soap and warm water did the job. This is a for sure maintenance job. Everyone should clean their smog sensor filter, it is a easy fix. Thanks for the info., Slvr surfr great write-up.
I love this forum, I had no idea this even existed until I ran across this thread. I had noticed for awhile now that exhaust fumes intruded whenever I got behind a diesel or someone with a engine that is burning oil, but wasn't sure how to fix it. My car is a 03 so the sensor was on the right side sort of tucked behind the rightmost horn. One 10mm bolt and the sensor assembly came right out. I was able to remove the harness by pressing firmly upon the center tab and wiggling the whole connector side to side until it popped off. Took it inside and opened it up, I have 237K miles so it was quite dirty. Cleaned it up with some soap and water and it looks almost new!
Just did mine at 212k miles, unknown if it will work better now since I was not particularly having issues before but I figured it should be cleaned. Thanks for the info on the fact this can be done
Bumping this old thread, just in case you missed it. My '05 smog sensor filter looked like it had never been cleaned before after 130K miles, and was really dirty. Good as new now. Takes just a few minutes. I just cleaned it with water, no soap or chemicals.