oxygen sensor

[balasi]

03 explorer 4.0 flex, 161K miles, owned since 2005 w 40K miles. never replaced O2 sensor so i thought might as well do it now.

amazon has Bosch w part numbers:
15718 DOWNSTREAM RIGHT - ALTERNATIVE FIT $24
15716 DOWNSTREAM LEFT - EXACT FIT $27
15717 UPSTREAM - ALTERNATIVE FIT $27

so im guessing get 2 (15717) and one each of the different downstream. do u guys recommend a different maker i.e. motorcraft or denso

question
1. what does the right and left mean? is it left for driver side and right passenger side? or the opposite like im standing facing front of the car?

2. why the difference on the downstream sensor? i understand there are 1 each for the 2 cat conv but i dont understand why they have to be different.

3. do i need a special socket or tool. or can i use regular regular sockets and wrenches (box and open ends)


any answer, comment or suggestion will be very appreciated.

thanks

 

[Number4]

Left is always drivers side right is passenger. You have upstream and down stream sensors which gauge whether the Cat is working properly on cars.

Always go with OE style, whether it be Bosch or Denso (most common.). Don't waste your time with universal etc.. Different sensors have to do with the wire connector length etc.

There is a special socket available in everyone's 'cheap tool' isle that has a slot on it to allow the wire to fit through.

Edit: the 15717 has a 15" wire the 15716 has an 11" wire. Not sure if both were an option. Obviously if you have a 15", the 11" won't fit, but you'd be fine the other way around. Looks like the sensor itself is the same.

 

[fritz24]

Would have been better if you told him bank1 passenger side bank2 driver side. I believe motorcraft is the OEM PART and not those two you mentioned. Just sayin'

 

[Number4]

Bosch oxygen sensors are the original equipment oxygen sensors. If you open a Motorcraft oxygen sensor box, the oxygen sensor itself will be Bosch.

 

[fritz24]

Oh right my bad.. which one? Left or right????? Lol

 

[balasi]

thanks for the clarification.

today autozone told me i can use ngk 15717 (15 inch harness) for all four sensors. mentioned that the sensors are all the same with same electrical connection just different harness length.

any thoughts on this?

i am tempted to go motorcraft but they are about $10 more than the bosch

another thing? what do u guys recommend for spark plugs and wireset

 

[Number4]

Actually, your Ex being an '03 and flex, I show NTK being OE.

NTK (NGK)
Front: 22060
Rear: 22500

I'd go with OE and use the proper numbers. I also don't know that you should replace them. If you aren't getting any codes, I'd leave them alone.

 

[balasi]

ntk is ngk right? just making sure

 

[Number4]

NTK is NGK's oxygen sensor line.

 

[balasi]

read in some article and post that says replace O2 sensor about 100K miles then others life of the vehicle

so mine has no codes and mileage is about the same since i got it 10 years ago with about 40K

 

[Number4]

I've got 160k on the original.

Not saying you can't, just that you probably don't need too is all.

Nothing wrong with new parts.

 

[balasi]

yeah shall wait ... thanks