As some of you may have read I had a code 26. I brought the 80 to my mechanic to trouble shoot it. He was a huge pain and argued with me when I asked him to disconnect the O2 sensors and see if it idled better. With an attitude and telling me it'll just make the truck worse he unhooked them and told me to take it for a test drive and screw it up more. I was pretty pissed. Took it for a short drive and it drove fine. He told me take for a longer drive and I told him no I didn't need to screw anything up that I brought it to him to figure it out. He then wanted to take it for a drive. He asked me to go with him. We took it for a long drive and he finally admitted that it was probably the 02 sensors and that I should purchase new ones. I ordered oem ones from Dan. They arrived today. The reason for this post is because the mechanic said he guaranteed that one or more bolt would break when trying to take the O2 sensors off and that I should let him do it. As anyone had issues breaking bolts taking the 02 sensors off?
Removing 02 sensors
- Thread starter sbrodacz
- Start date
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If the studs and the nuts are rusted then your mech may be right about the breaking and depending on how bad they are there is nothing that either of you can do to take them off without breaking a stud.
If, however, there is little to no rust then either of you could manage without drama.
Post up pictures of the studs for a more scientific wild assed guess.
If, however, there is little to no rust then either of you could manage without drama.
Post up pictures of the studs for a more scientific wild assed guess.
Heat, penetrating oil, and patients are good things to try.
If it breaks, left handed drill bits and a steady hand or have a muffler shop cut and weld you a new set of mounts.
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The nuts on mine (notice I didn't say my nuts) were so rusted and deteriorated that they were hardly hexagonal anymore. I used the
Irwin Industrial Tools 394002 Bolt-Grip Bolt Extractor Base Set, 5-Piece which is $25 on Amazon and they were able to get the rusted, eroded nuts right off. I would say if going in you think you might have problems, pick up this set. They are fantastic. Harbor Freight has a set which I checked out. They don't look to be nearly the quality of the Irwin one.
I also think your mechanic sounds less than friendly and very pessimistic. I don't like him.
Irwin Industrial Tools 394002 Bolt-Grip Bolt Extractor Base Set, 5-Piece which is $25 on Amazon and they were able to get the rusted, eroded nuts right off. I would say if going in you think you might have problems, pick up this set. They are fantastic. Harbor Freight has a set which I checked out. They don't look to be nearly the quality of the Irwin one.
I also think your mechanic sounds less than friendly and very pessimistic. I don't like him.
There is something that I would try and just know that it sounds stupid and it looks stupid but I have had success many times with similar situations.
Flame suit on
using a wire brush or wire wheel clean up the threads and nut as best you can. Then take a good box end wrench and a small hammer. Put the wrench on the nut and tap with the hammer a few times in the direction of tightening then in the direction of removal. Do not give in to the temptation to get a bigger hammer or swing for the fences. Just go in knowing that you are going to tap tap tap tap tap for 10 minutes. Little taps can break things loose big taps can break things.
Flame away!
Flame suit on
using a wire brush or wire wheel clean up the threads and nut as best you can. Then take a good box end wrench and a small hammer. Put the wrench on the nut and tap with the hammer a few times in the direction of tightening then in the direction of removal. Do not give in to the temptation to get a bigger hammer or swing for the fences. Just go in knowing that you are going to tap tap tap tap tap for 10 minutes. Little taps can break things loose big taps can break things.
Flame away!
I agree with the Irwin Industrial tools rec above. I tried craftsman first and failed miserably. The nuts were completely rounded off. It took me a few days to get them off but eventually succeeded. I also used a pair of Irwin needle nose vise grips that helped a bit too. It was a combination of heat, taping switching between vise grips and bolt extractors, acetone/transmission fluid penetrating oil etc. The studs were fine at the end of it. If I recall the studs welded into part of the exhaust system and am not sure how serviceable they are if they break.
One of the things i found that may help you AFTER you remove the factory original nuts is to replace them with Brass nuts. In the future when you have to remove the O2 sensor you'll have no problem removing the brass nuts since they won't rust fast to to the stud. I use to do this to all my customers exhaust systems when they brought them into my shop for work. In the long run it saved both me, and the customer time and money, by not having to drill, tap, thread, or weld to repair broken or striped steel studs, not to mention the cost to remove a head, to remove a broken exhaust stud. McMaster Carr has a really good selection of all different thread sizes for brass studs and nuts.
Seriously? Cut the f*ckers off and weld in a new section of exhaust.
My mechanic did it for a touch over $100 and I consider it money well spent.
My mechanic did it for a touch over $100 and I consider it money well spent.
BakerFJ
Benny Bodangus
have a code 25 and 26, might try these bad boys out as I know mine are seized on
have a code 25 and 26, might try these bad boys out as I know mine are seized on
Those look interesting where do you get them from?
BakerFJ
Benny Bodangus
dunno, online I suppose. I keep getting advertisements for them. Those damn government hoohahs know more about me than I would like 
They do break off. I’ve got a broken one now. The O2 sensor is held on with one nut and stud. You can get new studs, but I haven’t had any luck getting the old stud off. I’ll probably take it to a muffler shop at some point.
These look amazingly useful. Need to find them.have a code 25 and 26, might try these bad boys out as I know mine are seized on
BakerFJ
Benny Bodangus
BakerFJ
Benny Bodangus
bought the small PT Nut Splitter, and tested it on a spare nut/bolt outside of the car. seems to just crush the nut into the bolt, rendering it impossible to get off unless you go all the way through, in which case you risk damaging the threads of the bolt itself. Might be useful to get a bite on the nut to break it loose though, might try a different brand and see how that goes. Mine seemed cheaply made
update: cutting sockets work perfect.
update: cutting sockets work perfect.
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