A clump of dirt tore out the connector to the oxygen sensor behind the cat converter on the driver's side of my LS400 '96. They want $350 to replace it.

I have been to the web looking for replacement parts. The parts range from $35 - $135

My question is--is there any reason why someone shouldn't do this himself? I have the .pdf service manual and it LOOKS pretty easy.

Is there any reason why I cannot buy one that just needs to be spliced in?
Does anyone have a brand recommendation?

 

http://www.oxygensensors.com/catalog...6&pkey=1187513
for the denso OEM sensors..good quality

reason its $350 is because you have to go under the carpet to take the connector off...well at least thats how it is in the 1LS.

 

your source for parts seems better than mine. The mechanic was going to charge me $216 for the part.

I believe I will try this myself. Time to find out how difficult it is to pull up the carpet, etc. I have a neighbor who is fun to fix cars with.

Wish me luck.

Thanks again

 

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/EFI/suboxygensensor.html

 

On oxygensensors.com if you say you are a maxima.org memeber you get a 10% discount ;D. I used to own a maxima, heh

 

One aspect I have been pondering is why most don't like the splice-in types? A good splice with a quality sensor shouldn't be a problem.

 

I mean, if you just replace the working end, you don't have to buy the whole long cable AND you don't have to pull up the carpet, etc.

That seems like a bunch of money and effort to avoid a simple soldering job.

Am I missing something here?

 

because some people "think" they can solder, but instead goof it up causing a high resistance splice that will change the way the sensor functions, making the ecu get wrong information....

 

dont need to solder....just some heat shrink..some electrical tape and u good. the tuts given from lexls.com are using the universal o2 sensors. but i heard from a mechanic that the universals go out faster than the reg oem ones. i dunno if thats true but im still trying to figure out how to get my o2 sensors out because their striped . maybe ill give it to a professional and hope they get it out perfectly fine.

 

The difference between the universal replacement ($40) and the one with the assembled cable ($100) is the cable. This makes sense--it is the cable that requires the extra layer of expensive inventory control.

This means the business end of the sensor is probably identical. My guess is that the difference in failure rates between OEM and Universal is trivial.

 

so agree
I spliced mine in a few weeks ago and they are not majorly important as it tells the ecu how the cats are working and nothing else.
Mine went bad because the heater on one side kept failing on start up. I changed it and realised one black heater wire had some corrosion inside the sheath . Since they are universal denso's that i used i will have to replace more of that wire to find the defect.

Splice after cat ones but not the primary ones before a cat.

Also they make weather proof splice connections to crimp and they are one piece with heat shrink on them already so it works perfect.

 

So is this why even though I destroyed my left post-cat oxygen sensor, I still have not seen the engine check light?

 

destroyed as in ?