Installing New O2 Sensors

chromebumpers

chromebumpers

solid fixture here in the forum
Staff member
I noticed on Asian brand cars, Toyota specifically, theses sensors are not accessible under the car. Quite often you must take off everything with the wiper assembly, the cowl and wire harness(s) attached to the cowl too. Then you can see down behind the engine and see the exhaust manifold and the (up stream) sensor After you remove the heat shield.

The real problem begins with a little metal cup on the sensor. I assume it’s a another heat shield but there’s no way to attach any of the several O2 removal/install sockets as there is not enough space for the tool to slip in between to remove. Unless there is some other tool I’m missing, it appears that this shield has to be cut off. The new O2 sensors don’t come with new shields. Is it imperative that this shield be on there again? How or what can be used if you don’t have a shield to use?
 
It's why I recommend Honda Japanese import cars to Economy Daily Commuters.
The Engineers are much Smarter planned for service.

A modern day Mechanic climbs up into the engine bay balances himself on his 2 kneecaps.
Then lays down on his stomach and chest on the engine.
You Reach down with both hands with yours tools in your hands to begin with.
Work away.
If you can see it's to your Benifit.
If You can not your Working blind and using your Sense of touch and visual pictures in your mind solely.
You need to be to in Stellar Shape.
Immense Physical strength.
Immune to all pain and physical injuries.
Have no Health insurance so can not die on the job.
If you have a bad heart, bad knees, bad back, diabetes you can not do it .
Why no one wants to be a Mechanic today.
 
Snap On makes all the special tools.
Just can not find anywhere else.
Sucks.
Priced so high it will scare all but the Mechanics that need them
 
I know this is not what you want to hear,
but thats one reason I no longer work on the Asian cars,
in fact I try hard to avoid all newer front wheel drive cars for similar issues,
it became all too obvious that the manufactures did not want cars to be easily repaired,
they want the car to last a couple years past the time it takes the original purchaser,
to pay it off, then force you or any other person to buy a new replacement
many no longer sell service manuals, or have parts in inventory for cars past about 10 years old
index.php
 
Last edited:
I still take off brand wrenches, custom bend then heating with Map gas or Acetylene torch.
Cut them.
Even if you have old Snap On Wrenches, Mac, Matco you don't want to modify them because they are now $40-80 each,
Cheep wrenches perfect to custom modify.
You might have drop the Exhaust manifold assembly.
Dont remember on a Preuis.
Been at home too long working on my own, With Eddie on Street drag cars, and 4x4 trucks for friends local.
 
1st Gen Honda CRV is so well designed.
2nd Gen CRV A little harder but 100 times better than all others.
Volkswagen, Merceres Benz, BMW Some of the hardest. Working blind.
 
Last Job if it was Super Hard the Entire engine and transmission I dropped out of the vehicle on the subframe cradle.
It was normal procedures.
 
I rebuilt the engine on my wife's Pontiac Sunfire 2 liter that she blew up the cost for parts were crazy expensive so I didn't put in a new starter like I wanted to and you had to drop the motor for access and it needed an exhaust I priced the parts and it was almost 300.00 for the starter and exhaust there was a new garage that opened down the road so I had her take it down there for an estimate and he quoted 300.00 to change the starter and fix the exhaust I paid him when I dropped the car off and its the first and only time that I have ever paid to have my car fixed when I picked the car up I asked the mechanic how did he like working on that car and he told me that he will never touch another one he is the Stihl dealer now and every time I see the guy he busts my a$$ about screwing him on that car LOL
 
You all raise good points, I went car shopping at the worst time. I wasn’t paying attention to the kids needing transportation to and from school every day with different schedules. Toyota always has great professional reviews and tops in reliability, only Lexus beats them. I didn’t think the Avalon would need necessary repairs right away. I knew it needed a O2 sensor but of the half dozen times, none were this difficult. YouTube showing repairs are turning out to be extremely unreliable while showing the wrong cars with completely different parts. And to top everything off the Prius has to have that same sensor and it’s even tighter. No other way to do this sensor and again, the clowns on the YouTube videos skip the real parts and say everything is easy. I must have pent 30 minutes last night trying to separate an electrical connection blindly with 2 fingers and everything sharp cutting into me. I’ll repeat, I don’t know how you guys do this work everyday.
I gladly turn over this work to the shop but I’d spend more than the car is worth. The shop wants $650 for parts and labor for the O2 job.
Pulled the original Denso Iridium spark plugs last night, I thought I put in E3 years ago. This was the easiest plugs ever to replace, why any shop charges $295 is crazy!

Do you think I’ll get problems if I put this back together without that little heat shield? Otherwise I’m gonna have to get out my Bubba tools, probably use channel locks and see if I can twist it off and rig some other kind of shield to cover the sensor.
 
The Modern Lithium Ion battery powered electric Ratchets are so handy.
If you dont have one I recommend going out and buying one.
DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee, and a few others make them.
I have the Original Milwaukee M12 3/8" and M12 Fuel Electric Ratchets.
M12 Fuel I use most of the time on small Fasteners.
Use my Snap On FAR Air Ratchet only when I work in a shop for Heavy rusted up suspension work, still most powerful ever made but I dont take on that crap work here at home.
 
And what really gets me, this guy makes it look so easy to disconnect the plug. It’s under the brake fluid and fastened to the side of the block. You have to have hands like “Chucky” to get in there!
 
chromebumpers said:
And what really gets me, this guy makes it look so easy to disconnect the plug. It’s under the brake fluid and fastened to the side of the block. You have to have hands like “Chucky” to get in there!
Click to expand...
Use along pick tool if you can to undo the electrical connector.
 
The good part, while I have the cowl torn apart I can now get to the top bolts on the struts.
Question: What’s the difference between a strut and a coil-over shocks?
 
Pick tool is just what it took in the end. Still hard to use pick and pull at the same time when just one hand is near impossible to get in there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top