O2 sensor won't budge.

[souske]

I found that 3/8 rotator to be a blessing for the rear bumper horns. That top bolt is a tight fit

 

[Ecomike]

I found that 3/8 rotator to be a blessing for the rear bumper horns. That top bolt is a tight fit

I found it helpful doing various tight spot bolts on accessories around the engine where there is little space to move the arm back and forth.

 

[5-90]

Reminds me of a sign I saw in a friends shop:

Shop Rate
$20/hr standard
$30/hr if you already tried to fix it
$40/hr if you want to watch
$60/hr if you want to help

:jester:

The one on my wall says: "Cheap, fast, or good. Pick two."

 

[5-90]

Eco, that tool looks like one of those tools you need once a year, but when you need it, you'd be willing to pay $300 for it to end your misery.
Besides the CPS, do you remember the times it saved you? Amazon sells it for $27 shipped. Walmart for $22.
http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-89-962-8-Inch-Rotator-Ratchet/dp/B000HEKV1W
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stanley-Rotator-Ratchet-3-8/14146071

I've also used a $5 thumb wheel ratchet for times where you don't need the torque of the 3/8" handle.

I once found a 36"x3/8" socket wrench extension bar (three feet of reach, not handle.)

Bought it - it was ten bucks.

Between that and notching the CKP bracket, my record for changing a CKP is something like four minutes...

 

[dcampbell98XJ]

My offer still stands, 500 bucks and ill take the heep off your hands.

 

[Vanimal]

Those bolts usually don't break, they generally just rust to the point that a socket won't fit them. That's why you brace yourself against the exhaust with one hand while using the wrench with the other so that you aren't putting any significant force on the exhaust system itself.

I like 5-90's hoseclamp on the socket idea, going to have to remember that one.

tried the hose clamp trick back in the day when i lived in CT, be careful. there's still enough stretch in the band to round off the hex if it's really stuck. always had better luck with a wrench or real socket.
little different out here where exhausts can last 20 plus years (yea, had to rub it in a little )

 

[heyhar]

My offer still stands, 500 bucks and ill take the heep off your hands.

You only want $500? I'd do it for $495.

This thread has been ammmmmmazzzzzzing! I look forward to seeing new posts every day!

 

[FlexdXJ]

I wouldn't own one. Heard the O2 sensors are a bitch to change and you need special tools. Steer clear of it.

We have the technology, we can rebuild him!!one1!111

Friend of mine across town has one, a 91 M42 E30 in Brilliant Rot / "arrest me red". And a 2 door 95 XJ in "arrest me red" that I convinced him to get. I had to do an IP check on this guy to make sure it wasn't my buddy messing with me a few days ago :laugh2:

Nice! That would be hilarious!

OMG, NOOOOO!!! I never had this much fun trying to talk an O2 sensor into changing itself!!!:laugh3:

:roflmao:

 

[jro780]

Holy crap, I just wasted 20 minutes of my life. Reading this post was an emotional roller coaster starting with confusion, followed by curiosity, amusement, doubt, awe, anger, rage, pity, and now I'm back at confusion with a touch of rage.

 

[bimmerjeeper]

an emotional roller coaster starting with confusion, followed by curiosity, amusement, doubt, awe, anger, rage, pity, and now I'm back at confusion with a touch of rage.

If this were describing a movie, you'd say it was one of the best you've ever seen.

My saga continues. I borrowed an adjustable wrench and will see if the direct torque will work on the O2 sensor.

 

[bigalpha]

If this were describing a movie, you'd say it was one of the best you've ever seen.

My saga continues. I borrowed an adjustable wrench and will see if the direct torque will work on the O2 sensor.

You should buy your own set of mexican toolboxes, they're mightily useful.

 

[souske]

Out here they are called a "mexican socket set"

 

[heyhar]

All you're going to do with an adjustable wrench is round off the flats and points of the sensor. I have a long handle combination wrench that works perfectly for this. But, putting the box end of the wrench onto the sensor requires the removal of the connector to slip it over the wire, so if you snip it off, there's no turning back. I position the wrench so that the handle hangs just so that if I get under the car, feet first, from the right, one quick shot with a foot is all it takes to snap it loose. If/when you do get it out, get a thread chaser and clean up the threads before you install a new one.

Or, like has been stated numerous times throughout this thread, take it to a muffler shop and have them do it. I'm sure they've got all the mad crazy blue collar skills, and many of the highly technical tools needed, to perform what should be a five minute, minimal cost procedure.

 

[bimmerjeeper]

I just realized that I haven't seen a muffler shop in forever. Do they still exist? Just like how all the junkyards closed down also, and now there's luxury condos. Most people here pretty much do not even buy used cars, for the most part. It's the dealer to buy a car, and the dealer for 100% of the servicing. People look at me funny when I say I went to some guy's house to buy a used car. Times certainly have changed. I'm glad I had some exposure to some of this stuff back in the 1980s.

Since I have to wait a few days for the local mechanic appointment to torch my O2, I thought I'd try the wrench trick, since I had no idea Oxygen Sensor sockets do not really work for XJ's. Since I dislike buying tools that I will use once and never use again, I was trying to borrow a 22mm from the only person I know who owns real tools. The super of a large apartment complex. He does not own a 22mm wrench, so I thought his adjustable wrench would function the same as any normal wrench, but I guess you're saying you only should use the enclosed box end of a wrench. I guess this spreads out the force along all 6 points of the bolt, and not just 2. Is that why open ended and adjustable wrenches are more likely to strip? Is there ever a situation where you actually use the open ended wrench and not the box wrench?

 

[Vanimal]

i don't know how many times you need to be told it's 7/8"

 

[bimmerjeeper]

i don't know how many times you need to be told it's 7/8"

There was no reference to 7/8" anywhere in this thread, only 22mm.

I've read this whole thread, name calling and all, and have a suggestion, spend 10-20 dollars on a 22mm wrench, as good a quality as you can find,

 

[kastein]

who cares if it is a tool you will use once, it is a freakin $20 tool and you claim shop rate is like 10 times that.

Stop trolling and use that five percenter brain.

 

[birchlakeXJ]

Forums are meant to advise and point you in the right direction. Not to spoon feed you.

Then you take it from there with some common sense, some elbow grease and what Clint Eastwood said in the movie Magnum Force...."A man's got to know his limitations". .

If I hadn't read this entire thread, I would absolutely not believe it. All for an oxygen sensor?

 

[Vanimal]

There was no reference to 7/8" anywhere in this thread, only 22mm.

there was, but maybe you couldn't see it through your tears.

 

[Ecomike]

so I thought his adjustable wrench would function the same as any normal wrench, but I guess you're saying you only should use the enclosed box end of a wrench. I guess this spreads out the force along all 6 points of the bolt, and not just 2. Is that why open ended and adjustable wrenches are more likely to strip?

Yes, they will slip and round off the corners on the nut or bolt head.

Is there ever a situation where you actually use the open ended wrench and not the box wrench?

Once the part is loose, the open end can be used, and sometimes can save time. In some cases there is just no way to use a box or socket, no way to access the part from the top, only from the side. The worm gear in the adjustable wrench has a lot of slop in them, that it why they slip.

I got a huge massive set of the large sockets and 3/4" ratchet, breaker bar recently for chump change at Harbor Freight recently for just 34.95 (But I checked and it did not have the 22 mm, it starts at 24 or 26 MM). That tool set at Snap on or Sears would be $200 I think, but for the few times we use these tools they are perfect.

But if you need 22 mm get this one for just 19.95, the entire set.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog/product/view/id/8661/category/427/


Store locations in NY.
http://www.harborfreight.com/storelocator/location/map#ny