Oxygen sensors

[radek at istar.ca]

Hi guys;

An interesting point came up during my conversations with a Mercedes  
tech from whom my son was buying his first Audi.  He maintained that  
the practice of splicing in a generic oxygen sensor to an old  
connector (something I've been doing for years) is not a good idea  
because it deprives the sensor from access to outside air, which is  
used for reference.

He said that modern sensors do not have an opening for sampling  
outside air but instead, get access to it through the wires.   
Consequently, soldering the wires and sealing the connection closes  
the opening and the sensor gets no access to outside air.

What do you guys make out of this?
Cheers;

Radek
91 V8Q 5-sp
88 90Q