Stuck O2 sensor
Stuck O2 sensor
My engine hesitates and idles roughly, pulled the code and says it needs a new O2 sensor. Ok, got a new sensor, got the right socket, sprayed the old one with WD40 and went at it. The thing didnt move and I managed to round off some of the edges of the nut. Anyone have any suggestions or should I give up and bring it to a garage?
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C-Kwik
- Moderator
- Posts: 8070
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2002 9:28 pm
- Car: 2013 Chevy Volt, 1991 Honda CRX DX
WD40 is probably the worst thing you can use to try and free up stock bolt or nut. It essentially does nothing. Use a good penetrating oil. PB Blaster gets mentioned a lot. I've never tried it myself. I use a product that came with my friend's Duralube additive set. It works incredibly. But it's probably not much different than a good 3 in 1 oil. Smells about the same. I've thrown out any WD40 we had in the garage when I got this stuff.
Also, get yourself a good O2 sensor socket. It will look like a deep socket but with a slit in the side for the wire. It should allow you to get a much better grip on it then a crescent wrench or open end wrench.
Also, get yourself a good O2 sensor socket. It will look like a deep socket but with a slit in the side for the wire. It should allow you to get a much better grip on it then a crescent wrench or open end wrench.
removing the heatshield should give you alittle more working room. mine was on there for a long long time with no antiseize.... wound up using a set of vise-grips on it due to no spark plug socket avail. It looked like hell after I got it off... definately dont reuse it if you go that route to get it off!
After driving my car, putting a good penetrating oil on AND using a hammer on my ratchet, I finally got it off. Put in the new one, connected it and reconnected the battery. The check engine light is still on though, is it going to take some time to go off on its own or is this something I should be worried about?
if your car is 96 or newer it will not reset the light by disconnecting the battery. That is an obdII requirement. Just drive the car after 3 warm up cycles,if the problem is fixed, the light will go out on its own. If its not fixed the light will remain on. It has to test itself 2 or 3 times consecutivly passing to shut out the light. You could go to the link above and perform the reset procedure as he mentioned as well.