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Oxygen Sensor Purchase

3K views 33 replies 9 participants last post by  toronto1234 
#1 ·
Does anybody know where I can get "cheaper" oxygen sensors??? Lexus wants to charge I believe $310+tax for EACH ONE. I need the two that are in the engine bay.

BTW... I still want Denso. I just don't wanna pay $310+tax for them. :) I see places in the states selling them for the equivalent of less than CDN$200 after you consider taxes and duty and stuff. But I'm not sure how trustworthy each of these places are.
 
#3 ·
Ok... I just got O2 sensors from Partsource. The front one cost $191.38... and the rear one cost $238.57... these are for NGK. The Bosch ones cost $210.55 for the front... and $264.80 for the rear.

Toyota's O2 sensors are made by Denso. Lexus charges $310 for each one... while Toyota charges $298 for the front and $310 for the rear.

I didn't check the price of the "downstream" o2 sensor underneath the car. Hopefully I'll get my O2 sensors today... if they work well... I should save $216! :)
 
#5 ·
and once you do that, you will never need the code reader again!

Sounds like the codes are back!

Good luck, hope it fixes your problem

Digger08
 
#6 ·
Hmm... looks like I don't have enough luck.

So let's see... I just came back from outside.

1. I put my hand near the exhaust to see if it's cool. It is... so I proceed.

2. I go to take the engine cover off... 3 bolts come off easily... 1 seems to be coming out weirdly. I then realize when those bastards at Richmond Hill Lexus were rushing to fix my car after they got water in the spark plugs... they over tightened EVERYTHING! So on that fourth bolt... the nut was on so tight... it unscrewed the stud from the engine instead of having the nut unscrew from the stud.

3. I take off a piece of the air intake to have better access to the exhaust manifold. I realize that is over tightened as well! So I end up using a "robo-wrench" with a cloth (so I don't scratch anything) to hold onto the bracket... and a 10mm socket to loosen the clamps. Anyways... it comes off... so all is good... or so I thought.

4. Now all I had to do was unscrew the two O2 sensors that were throwing the CEL's... pop in the new ones and presto... all done! But nope... that didn't happen. Firstly I realized that while the O2 Sensor closest to the front is easy to get a wrench on... the one towards the back of the engine is not. There's a heat shield covering the top half of the part where you fit the wrench on. So I guess I should make a mental note that the last two O2 sensors are better to be removed from the bottom. So... I put the wrench on the first 02 sensor and start to turn... but nothing happens. So I pull even harder... nothing happens... I end up putting my whole body weight behind it... and nothing happens. My dad comes along... and even he can't get it to budge.

THE DAMN THING IS SEIZED!!! ARGH!!!!!!! :pissed:

So now what are my options???
 
#7 ·
It is not seized it is an o2 sensor.
They all are hard to take out.
Usually they are easier to take out from under a car on a hoist since you can get leverage.
Are you using a normal socket or a deep slotted socket made just for o2 sensors?
99 out of 100 times you will have to heat the sensor to get it out.
Also trying to remove it after driving the car when it is hot can make it easier just make sure you have long sleeves on.
 
#8 ·
Oh yah i forgot one more thing.
Do not buy Bosch o2 sensors.
On my club we were having a huge amount of failures caused by some o2 sensors being changed over and over again.
Basically the o2 sensors Bosch was selling were reboxed denso units but all of them where defective.
 
#9 ·
I'm gonna try and get the O2 socket sensor remover from Canadian Tire tommorrow. I'll use the torque wrench (it has a really long handle) and take one more shot at taking them out. If that doesn't work... I'll see if I can find a garage or dealer to install my own O2 sensors.

Is it possible to damage something on the exhaust manifold by turning too hard when trying to remove the old O2 sensor?
 
#11 ·
Using a torque wrench to remove an o2 is like threading a needle with a hammer.
I agree in using an extension but you will need heat as the sensor is practically welded on. Otherwise you may just end up destroying the threads.
 
#12 ·
To be honest... that's my fear... destroying the threads. A number of people have been telling me to use a penetrating oil... so I'll go that route.

The only reason I said torque wrench is because that's the only really long "socket wrench" I have here. But don't worry... it's one of those heavy duty ones... not the one that bends to show you the torque.
 
#13 ·
hey buddy, long time no see, be careful when you take off the sensor.
and spray as much as liquid wrench u can.
If you want the cheap o2 sensor, you can get it from www.oxygensensors.com
or you can buy the universal one to splice the wire.
If it still can't take if off, use lighter or any other thing to heat up the exhaust( i mean the area arround the o2 sensor) but dun burn the sensor.
and dun use the torque wrench to untighten the oxygen sensor, it is not good for the torque wrench, Please use johnson bar.
 
#14 ·
Crester, ya the bendy ones are garbage, I was talking about a click
style wrench.. I twisted the 1/2" stud for the socket right off
the wrench, twice! I am now on my third one ~ Thank gawd for life
time warranty.

I guess heat is your friend!

Toronto1234 --> Long time no see man! How are things? Still have
that carbon on your car??

j
 
#16 ·
Crester, as the others have said torque wrenches a calibrated instruments so don't use it to remove any fastner! Lots of Liquid Wrench, O2 socket, plumber's torch, a breaker bar with a long pipe and it will come off.
 
#17 ·
Sadly... the torque wrench is the only large wrench that I have. After using Liquid Wrench... the O2 sensor closest to the engine came off easily. The one at the back of the engine bay... I couldn't pull. I'm gonna need to go somewhere for a mechanic to pull it. Something that really pissed me off though is... I paid for OEM FIT NGK (NTK) O2 sensors. The plug on the O2 sensor was just slightly different so that I had to splice it with the old o2 sensor plug to make it work. That really pissed me off.
 
#19 ·
NGK is $191.38 for the front manifold sensor and $238.57 for the rear manifold sensor. But be forewarned... the plug does not match.

Bosch is $210 for the front... $264.80 for the rear. The generic one is $92.20... but you'll have to cut it to length and maybe splice your own plug.
 
#21 ·
The one I installed seems to work fine. I still need to change the one in the back of the engine bay though. No CEL's have returned however.

To be honest though... the car feels different now. The engine seems more powerful and more responsive.
 
#23 ·
Denso is OEM... so you can't go wrong with them. It's just that predictably... they are the most expensive ones.
 
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#25 ·
When I get home... I'll be able to tell you what that code is.

The codes I got that are related to the O2 sensors are...

P0130
P0133
P0150
P0153
 
#26 ·
Oh wait... I did a search on the net...

P0420 means... Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)
 
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