Oxygen sensors stuck?

[sabatosh]

How do you get these oxy sensors off, without using a torch to heat them. Looks like the oxygen sensors on this are the original. I put some rust remover on them and there wasn't any go there so far. I figure they are heat warped into the exhaust.

Also with the plug up top that connector, how in the world do you get that to come out. I had my hand out it after really stretching my arm in the most akward way, but still couldn't pull it out of the socket. I feel like I am missing something here with this repair, like it's setup to not be serviceable by myself or others without more involved proceedures for clearance.

 

[Eneurb]

You have to contort yourself to get at the connector, you can use a long screwdriver to press down on the lock tab, and pull on the wire. You'll likely need heat to get the sensors out... your knuckles will thank you!!

 

[sabatosh]

Thanks for confirming that problem, I didn't think I'd have any way at them. I don't really like the way Ford's are built, I'm european guy, I'd rather let someone else wrestle with this bear.

 

[gss]

Ford makes a special tool for the sensor. Try some PB Blaster penterate. Shucks/Wal-Mart carries it, about $4 a can. Works a lot better than anything else I have tried. Heat is the answer if you get to it safely.

 

[witchdoctor]

Actually, if you start the engine and let it run for a minute or two, the O2 sensors will come right out. Don't run it any longer than that or the exhaust will heat things up too much.

 

[sabatosh]

I have some PB Blaster and a special socket for it. I have rust remover on it also, I guess it probably cooled down from all the snow and everything by the time I got too it, it was running. I'll give a shot when the weather warms up a bit, but they are pretty hard to get at especially the passengers side one. The wires are major pain, I could barely get my hands on it, and even that was useless because I couldn't unplug it. Gonna have to try and get some vise grips or something on it...very bad location they could have let it hang down just a little more so you could have some room to play with it. dopes..

 

[Rhett]

If you're going to throw away the old O2s, one way to avoid worrying about the wire problem is to cut the wire at the O2. Do not cut it after the plug or you will have to replace all of the wire length--only cut before the plug, next to the O2.

Once you cut, there is no going back though, you have to get them out of there.

Once the wires are cut, open the hood and pull the wires up thru the engine bay. Then, casually unplug the old wire from the harness.

New O2 sensors will come with new wires. Easily plug them in at the hood, then fish them down thru the engine bay to the manifold pipes.

Then, you can get back underneath and wrestle with the O2s themselves. I feel your pain (figuratively, and real pain) regarding removing stuck O2 sensors on our 1st gen truck. They are a real pain to get to and get any leverage on them. I second the suggestions to use PB Blaster (great stuff) and also running the truck for 30 seconds or so to heat up the pipe a little. You don't have to wait for warmer weather--running the truck will heat it up enough to help.

 

[sabatosh]

Thing is I did cut the wire off and I pulled it up to help me locate the connector for it. The problem is that connector is way in the back a few inches down of the engine. If this isn't the worst place in the world to put it, I can't get any pliers in there and it won't pull off using one hand on the wires and the other on the actual plug holding down the catch lever, nothing. It's really stuck in there, and generally I use pliers to remove plug joints like this, but it's difficult to get in there, I put my whole arm thru a mess of hoses past the heater core hoses and brake cylinder cutting off my circulation just to get a handle on the receptacle.

It's quite rediculous.....if they had engineered another 4 inches of wire on the receptacle this wouldn't be such a problem. But obviously those engineers were boozed up at a business meeting and figured they'd cut costs on the wire itself apparently and make it unserviceable. So every old Ford suffers with bad gas mileage and the resale value goes down the gutter.

 

[Eneurb]

Try going through the wheel well.

 

[DeRocha]

Try going through the wheel well.

You beat me to it... I too thought the wire connector was very hard to access until I realized you remove the front wheel. With the wheel removed the connector is right in front of you.

 

[sabatosh]

Maybe on the passengers side you can get at that one that way(I haven't even figured out where that connector is), my connector is right in the middle of the engine block between the firewall and engine. The wheel well is a million miles away and you'd have to go thru a heck of a lot more concidering that route.

 

[Heavymentill]

Well if you are really desperate you can take the front seats and console out and pull the carpet back to expose the access panel. Take the 4 bolts out to remove. Then you'll be able to unhook the plug with you teeth.

 

[Eneurb]

Seems like you're making this job alot harder than it really is.

 

[97BlackX5.0]

its not fun to get to... i did mine in a parking lot during the summer... (hot asphalt) ... i ended up hugging the tranny and reaching around it with both hands.... i have the v8 so i have 4 sensors... you wanna know what really sucks.... i unplugged both of them and then went to plug them back in and realized that i couldnt see the plugs so i didnt know which one was which..... it took me longer to get them plugged in than unplugged.

 

[huskyfan23]

Are you buying factory sensors? I bought universal and just cut the wires by the y-pipe and wired that way.

 

[sabatosh]

yeah these are Bosch OEM sensors, I guess that's why the universal costs more. I seen a Walker universal sensor for like 70$ each..I think I paid like 46$ or something. Oh well I'll have a go at it when it's warm enuff my hands won't freeze. Like I said if they had designed it so that the connector was on just a little longer bit of wire it would save headaches.

 

[huskyfan23]

Wow.. My universals were $50 each. Schucks wanted $150 each for OEM

 

[sabatosh]

Well I finally got the drivers side oxy sensor off, the trick with these is to get some vice grips around the connector wire and stand on something to get a good view of it in the day time. Then if you pull on it you will break free the little plastic ties that are holding it in such a bad position. After that it's a piece of cake to replace it and then drop the o2 sensor down connected. Better yet have someone hold the wire in position while you screw the oxy sensor in.

Let the motor run for two minutes and I had put some rust remover gel to soak it a few days earlier, it popped right off with a small socket rachet and the special 7/8 O2 sensor socket. Putting the new one on was cake....it took me all of 15 minutes to do this repair and I saved myself 100$ or more. Now for the next one on maybe wednesday it will be warmer and I'll tackle that, it looks a lot less serviceable because of it's position, but hopefully I won't have much bad luck with it.

The car is running so much better now...it's like a new truck...much more responsive and the engine just seems more sporty like the thing wants to go when you hit the pedal.