Oxygen Sensor Agony Mother $#%@&*!

[ryan roopnarine]

i fergot a logical option for you......drive down to the ghetto and see if any bare-bones muffler shop can handle it for you, perhaps toward the end of the day. grandfather had a certain (cough) component cut off of a 1981 mazda (sundowner or b2k, i don't remember) pickup truck in 1996 for less than $15 by having the gentleman doing it on the down low....if you tell them you tried to take it off, you have the replacement, and that you just want them to heat it off and take it out (perhaps putting the new one in at yer house)...you might be able to get it done for cheaper than the cost of a torch.

[BennyM]

lol. Actually, that thought had crossed my mind. See, I live on the edge of the ghetto already and the exact shop you described is 3 blocks away. I can't say for sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but it just might work. I'd be sure to take everything out of the car before I brought it in there

Forgive me for my ignorance, but wouldn't heating this part simply reproduce the normal operation that got it stuck in the first place?

Also, yeah, I found out Autozone rented those sockets last night, after I had already bought one at Pepboys and beat it to crap. Learned my lesson there.

Finally, since I am more or less a novice, dropping the exhaust would take me quite a bit longer than it would for you expert guys. I was looking for a quick fix, and I don't have time now to go through all of that.

Thanks for your help guys. I'll let you know how it works out.

[ryan roopnarine]

the heat thing---if my understanding is correct.....by locally heating it to temperatures 1.5 to 2 times as much as operation, everything in the vicinity will expand....and when "everything" expands, it does some of the breaking for you...you might still have to torque it for all its worth. google= removing stuck oxygen sensor, and i'd bet money that there are at least a few references to using MAP or regular propane to get them out.

the ghetto suggestion is not me being facetious, all of the alternator/starter rebuild places worth their salt are usually in the less desirable parts of town...when i don't feel like f^^^^ng with an electric motor that's crapped out on me that i don't feel like lubing/rebuilding, there's usually a place in the ghetto that will deal with it for a nominal sum.

you don't have to remove the exhaust to drop it enough to get better access to the o2 sensor...alls you have to do is remove a few of the rear exhaust hangers/donuts and place a jack under the center exhaust piece, and lower it a little...shouldn't take you more than 30 mins the first time, even if crap is rusted. my car began its life in NY and its evident that its gotten to some of the hangers.