any suggestions for keeping the O2 sensor in place?

[Eldorado]

car rattled like a son-of-a-b.....

hoisted it up, tapped around, and realized it wasn't the heat shield (cuz there wasn't one on this car) but it was the O2 sensor that was rattling in place...

I tightened it down, and the car purred again and sounded less like a coffee can of bolts and nuts in a paint shaker...

but 10 mins ago, a friend of mine had an emergency with a friend of hers so me and the P-Car came to the rescue... I drove 'er hard (the car.. come on people ) and when I stopped next to a curb - the dreaded rattling was back...

any sugestions on keeping that little bugger seated?

[Jet wrench]

Replace the sensor. The threads on the sensor are probably worn.

[Eldorado]

if the sensor still works - why replace it?
cant I just coat the threads with something? nothing permanent, just enough so the vibes dont shake it loose...

[944 Ecology]

Like the guy said, replace the sensor... they're cheap (if you buy the generic one and splice in the harness).

If the threads are worn, it's quite likely that the sensor is not working properly now... they have a life of about 50K miles.

gb

[speedracing944]

I bought a Bosch universal O2 sensor from a local auto parts store for $15. You will have to splice it but remember not to solder it. Use the crimp on connector which comes with the sensor.

Speedy

[speedracing944]

One more thing which may cause it to back out would be the wire is twisted. If the person who installed it hooked the sensor up first and then threaded the sensor into the bung it twists the wire some 15 turns or so. This puts some twisting force on the sensor making it want to back out. Couple this with the heating and cooling of the exhaust and it may cause your problem. I would check to see if the wire is twisted. If it is, untwist it then torque the sensor down and take it for a drive. Bring it back into the garage and retighten the sensor while it is still hot.

[lm6y]

I had the same problem, and I used red (or was it blue?) loc-tite. just on the threads though. Don't get any on the sensor bulb.

[Zero10]

I had the same issue. I made sure to give the wire a few extra twists before installing the sensor, so that it kept a little bit of tension on it, keeping it threaded in. Prior to this, it worked it's way loose 3 times, in less than a week each time. However, I only drove it for 1 week after I fixed this, before it burned, so I cannot tell you how well it works.

In my case, it was a new O2 sensor, I think it may have been the threads on the exhaust pipe that were bad.

[Granite 944]

My suggestion would be to remove the O-2 sensor, chase out the treads with the proper sized tap ( not sure of size right at the moment ), or brush the inner threads out using a small wire brush, make sure it has a good sealing washer on the O-2 (looks just like the ones on a spark plug), put a little dab of anti-seize on the threads, and put it in at 30 ft. lbs of torque. I wouldn't use locktite on the O-2 threads, unless you REALLY want to fight it out the next time (depending on which "type" of locktite used). Thats what the sealing washer and proper torque are for. Good luck.

[Verruckt]

Amazing the rattle that can come from the O2 sensor isn't it. I thought my car was going to fall apart. Locktite blue worked for me. Red requires a torch or a large monkey to get it off.

[Zero10]

It's amazing the racket that stupid sensor can make. Really made me worry the first time it came loose. Doesn't loctite loosen with heat? I recall hearing somewhere that directly in a propane torch flame, even red loctite is almost liquid. The exhaust should get pretty warm. I guess if you used loctite on the O2 sensor, you could just remove it from the hot exhaust?