Lesson Learned
 

My neighbor has a 2003 Toyota Tundra. He does a lot of woodwork, so we exchange services. He had a CEL indicating Bank 1 Oxygen Sensor 1 was not functioning. He is building a sink cabinet for me and I agreed to purchase the parts and R&R his sensor.

I bought the channeled socket, had a propane torch, penetrating oil, and was set to do the job. I oiled it over the course of a couple of days to let it soak in. I heated it and attempted to break it free with the channeled socket and a 2 foot pipe extending the ratchet. I rounded the corners of the O2 sensor. I clipped the wires of the old one (it was trash anyway) and attempted the same process with a 22mm socket. No luck and I rounded the edges further. I ordered an extractor socket. I followed the same process of oil, heat, then brute strength. I broke a wrench and smacked my wrist and forearm on the undercarriage so hard I thought I broke them!

I decided to cut the head of the O2 sensor with a dremmel, which was not difficult. I then purchased a bolt extractor and broke out all of the ceramic in an attempted to have the extractor bit bite into the sensor. No luck.

I called a friend of mine who owns a shop because I was out of ideas and YouTube had no other solutions. My friend Tom suggested I take it to a muffler shop, have them cut out the bung hole and weld in a new one. I had not even considered that!

Off to the muffler shop I went with the truck and $60 later, the job was done.

I could have saved myself the money in the additional tools, my labor and pain, and the frustration over several days!

Lesson learned....again.

but education lasts forever!

Next time, skip the penetrating oil and use paraffin wax. Heat the threads up to a fairly high temperature and then apply wax from a normal candle. What you want to see is enough heat in the joint that the melted wax enters the joint and bubbles come out of it. Repeat it a few times and it should unscrew pretty easily.

Someone taught me that trick for rusty stuck hardware and it works great. The wax doesn’t evaporate in the hot part like penetrating fluid. It flows in and lubricates the threads. The “hot” wrench is my - go to - rather than brut force.

And if you're unsure of stripping, give it a 'tighten' tap of the impact wrench first, and hammer on the head, then try loosening it.

I appreciate the feedback. I saw the candle method on YouTube, but was unsure if it was credible. I'll try that next time, but if I have the same kind of problems it'll be off to the muffler shop again. I would rather spend the $60 than wreck my arms and wrist again.

Thanks!

Save the candle for the dinner table. You need to make that o2 bung glowing red with heat, almost transparent, then crack the sensor loose, then move it back and forth till you can wind it out. Sometimes , they are a bugger .
I personally like the crows foot style 02 sensor tool the best.

oxy-mapp, 10 minute job.

great thread, lots of good info!