Have you ever been afflicted by the DIY disease, one of the most common and notorious diseases around? Before you start to panic and check the newspaper for any news if there has been any widespread contamination in your area or medical manuals for any type of cure, relax. DIY stands for Do-It-Yourself and the symptom that manifests from an “infected” person is that he or she just wants to do things on their own. It’s actually not as fatal as you think, but of course, it depends largely on what you want to do by yourself (if it involves disarming a bomb, that counts as fatal. Leave the bomb alone and run). Simple car repairs like changing your car’s tires or changing your oil or putting gas in your car can actually fall under the DIY category of car maintenance. However, if it involves changing an intricate part of your car’s engine, let’s say your car’s oxygen sensor, it would be best to leave it to the professionals. Here’s why.

To replace a vehicle’s oxygen sensor, auto shops make use of a ramp or a jack stand which is used to elevate the vehicle in order for their mechanics to see the section underneath the car. They then make use of a special wrench and a torch with a temperature greater than that of the sun to remove the auto part. Both specialized equipments are needed since the sensor is screwed into the exhaust pipe and these tools allow the mechanics to loosen the sensor before removing it. Extra care is needed in removing and replacing the oxygen sensor since it could destroy the car’s engine computer or disrupt the valve train in the event that it’s accidentally shorted out. Also, most vehicles have two oxygen sensors, an upstream and a downstream sensor. So before removing a faulty one, the mechanic handling the repair determines first which between the two sensors is the one malfunctioning.

That in a nutshell is how an oxygen sensor is replaced. Given the complexity of replacing one and the specialized equipment needed, if you have no experience in replacing an oxygen sensor then you’d be better off paying a professional to do it for you. There’s no sense in going through the hassle of “doing it yourself” if you’ll end up wreaking more havoc to your car.

Source: Wicked Local

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Oxygen Sensor News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.