Oxygen sensor?

[lcheng@watson.ibm.com]

>I am wondering if anyone has had any similar experience or advice.  I
>have a 1990 80 Quattro, and was driving from Hudson, NY to Baltimore,
>MD on sunday afternoon/evening through a lot of slush and snow.  about
>18 miles from Delaware bridge on 295 in NJ when the engine stopped.
...
>in the computer, and couldn't figure anything out.  they checked the
>CO output, etc. and determined that the O2 sensor was giving bad
>information to the engine computer.  thus, the computer would lean the
...
>Laurel, MD, where I normally have it serviced, and they tried to
>re-create the problem by reconnecting the O2 sensor.  They drove it 31
>miles, and it runs fine.  according to them, the O2 sensor is working
>as it should.  They said they would replace the sensor if I wanted,

Odd!  I have a similar problem with my '88 90 Quattro: when driving
through snow and/or slush, the engine check light will sometimes
come on.  I first noticed this problem years ago when I was
playing (i.e. 4-wheel drifting ;-) ) in the snow.  Nothing
seems wrong, and the light clears either by revving the engine
or by restarting.

I've ignored the warning but would like to know why it happens.

- Lawrence Cheng
  lcheng@watson.ibm.com