UPDATED : 01/29/07

The sears tool in the link below worked beautifully ! New 02 sensor installed and working fine !

I have my nice new Desno 02 sensor fro urdusa.com at a great price.

Trouble is, the one that is fitted has badly corroded nuts securing it. I picked up new nuts at the stealer from experience and they are 12mm. The ones on the truck take a 12mm wrench but I get no purchase at all.... wrench spins nearly 30 degress before it grips and I just know it will slide off.

I tried a variety of imperial wrenches and nothing will grip the nut. Access is awful as the nuts are between the top side of the pipe and the transmission tunnel.

I can't use too much force as the studs in the downpipe only come with the pipe so I have to be really carefull ot to shear the studs.

I am PB blasting them every day...any one have any success with these nut removal deallys from Sears ???

Thanks

David

 

I'm in the same boat.....got a P0141 code today and sure enough when I hooked up the Auterra OBD reader, the rear sensor voltage output was toast.

I haven't gone to try mine yet because I'm not too thrilled about changing it in the middle of winter, nasty rusted parts and all. Best thing is to get the truck hot and then soak the nuts with PB blaster and repeat several times per week before going and trying to remove them (let the stuff soak overnight each time). Then get a nut extractor set like this:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

......a little prayer doesn't hurt either.

 

If you can get a Dremel in there try a small cutoff wheel. Just cut throught the nut until you almost reach the threads on the stud and then pry it open with a screwdriver.

 

I am worried about snapping the studs on mine so I may go for the dremel right away instead.
.....only trouble is they are very hard to work on without taking the exhaust down.

 

I had to use PB Blaster and vise grips to get mine off.

A trick I've been wanting to try on stubborn nuts is heating the stud and nut, and touching a wax candle to it. Apparently, the wax wicks into the threads and makes it easy to remove rusted on nuts. I'm curious to see whether or not this works.

Dremel trick will always work as long as you have enough room to work.

 

I have to do mine so I'll give it a try and report back.
Any candle wax in particular works best or just use any old candle wax?

I also found an article saying that synthetic engine oil (like Mobil-1) works similarly.

.....too bad that trick won't work on fuel filters though.

 

If u can get a set of vice grips on it use them. If not then craftsman bolt out sets are nice. both the type for stripped heads and the ones that u drill out if u snap the head off.

 

reminds me i gotta go get new bolts for my sensor,
I just used a lot of PB, but IIRC the nuts on mine where 10mm not 12mm....
I was worried about breakin then off to but i just tapped lightly and it slowly started to come off...

 

All of the above will work or they won't. I've freed lots of frozen exhaust nut/bolts with PB blaster, candle wax, a mix of paraffin, lacquer thinner and trans fluid (Gibbs) and heating 'em up. If all else fails, then use the cut-the-nut.

Trick with any penetrent is to tap the bolt several times to set up a vibration to allow the stuff to wick into the threads... Then wait. Overnight is best.

Good luck...

 

Thanks all....

I have used the dremel trick a lot but access is very tight.

I will garage it again tonight and PB blaster the heck out of it.

The nuts are 12mm as I have the new ones....that and only a 12mm will go over them, an 11mm won't fit.

When I finally try this again, I think I will get the nuts hot with a butane torch (I have a tiny one) and start with the vice grips.

David

 

UPDATE !

The nut removers from Sears worked a treat. I picked up a set of the compact ones which are about half as tall as the regular ones.
In fact, I have the exact set listed in Jamie's link.

This allowed me to use a 19 mm angled wrench on the removal tool and both nuts were off instantly.

New 02 sensor installed and truck running fine with no current or pending codes.

Total cost :

02 sensor $83 (Denso)
Tools $33

Total $116

I think that is less than an OEM part and I have the tools for future use.

Thanks all,

David