O2 Sensor Relocation

fpearson · Sep 14, 2008

All,

I recently purchased a 96 2.3L reg cab ranger. The downstream O2 sensor was broken such that the threaded portion is still in place with part of the internals. The 22mm hex are rounded off and I have not been able to remove it to replace the O2 sensor. Lately I have been thinking of making a sleeve with a piece of round bar welded to it and drilling and tapping a hole that will accept the new sensor. This would allow me to leave the old sensor body in the pipe. Is it critical that the bulb protrudes a certain distance into the exhaust stream?

Additionally, does anyone know the hierarchy of the O2 sensors? In closed loop operation, does the computer "listen" to both the upstream and downstream sensor when metering the AFR or does it just compare the signals and throw a Catalytic convertor code when they fall outside of established limits (indicating that the cat is not doing its job)?

Thanks, any info is appreciated (I did a search for O2 sensor posts but didn't find anything, hopefully I'm not duplicating here).

Frank Pearson

TireIron · Sep 14, 2008

ok, your best thing to do, for about 8 dollars you can order a new O2 sensor bung from www.summitracing.com, then drill a 7/8th hole in the exhaust pipe and weld the new bung into it close to the old one so that you can still run the wire to the correct spot without it being pulled or stretched. Then just install a new sensor and plug it in.

and for the ECU it uses the front O2 sensor to run the truck, the rear sensor ONLY monitors the catalyst efficiency and tells the computer when it is not working properly.

scotts90ranger · Sep 15, 2008

yep, exactly, the only thing I have to add is orient the body of the sensor so that it is at least 10* above the horizontal plane, that'll keep moisture from gathering in the sensor and killing it...

you could probably get one of those bungs from an exhaust shop easier

another thing, the reason it doesn't want to come out is because the steel bonded to the steel, use some antiseize compound on the threads before you install tne new sensor, new sensors come with it , but if this has been used, it won't be there

fpearson · Sep 17, 2008

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the reply, I will attain a bung and weld it above the horizontal plane using anti-seize liberally on the threads. I've got some things to do before I even worry about emissions. I failed safety based on passenger side ball joints and some minutiae (wipers, gas cap etc) so I've got to replace the passenger upper and lower and whatever else is convenient while I've got the spindle off. I'll probably do the O2 immediately following.

Thanks again.

Frank Pearson

yellowoctupus · Sep 17, 2008

Fyi, instead of waiting for an order to come in, most auto parts stores carry them for like $2/3 dollars. ( I think I got my last one at Carquest, but I'd imagine others would stock a common part like that too.)

TireIron · Sep 17, 2008

oh and the anti-seize is good, just be certain NOT to get any on the sensor tip itself or it will kill the sensor.

O2 Sensor Relocation

fpearson

15+ Year Member

TireIron

15+ Year Member

scotts90ranger

25+ Year Member

fpearson

15+ Year Member

yellowoctupus

15+ Year Member

TireIron

15+ Year Member

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