Oxygen Sensor - 2000 NL Escape 3.5 L engine

[date]

G'day all:
A plea for help....

Last Saturday, I replaced the Oxygen sensor in my wife's Magna TF. Apart from being awkward (I am an arthritic geriatric), it was a relatively simple job and initial results seem to show that the car ran slightly better but used a lot less fuel.

So I now look under the Pajero NL to see how hard it is to get to the O2 sensor. You can actually see it in this one, but the cable disappears up on top of the gearbox - totally inaccessible.

It is a manual transmission. I looked at the possibility of undoing the gearbox mounts and lowering the assembly down a bit to get access, but I think that the rear chassis crossmember (welded in place) will stop me from doing this.

Has anyone replaced their O2 sensor? If so, how did you do it?

[Biovore]

G'day mate,

Replaced mine on my 98 NL. The cable you speak of runs into a plug just tucked up near the gear box, you may have to cut a few cable ties/holders. Well thats how mine went. Hope this helps.

[date]

Biovore:
Thanks for yuor prompt reply. I felt something like a plug up on top of the gearbox, but there is no way in hell that I could get my hand up there to uncouple the plug. How did you do it? DId you simply pull it down to get access? If so, how did you secure it back in place?

[Biovore]

It has its own metal mount that the sensor end of the plug slides into. After I pulled that off, I found there was enough lead to pull it out a bit and unplug it and replug it back in, mine was on there pretty tightly. Then I re-cable tied the sensor wire in place.

[date]

Thanks Biovore. I'll have another look at the plug. Knowing that it is indeed the plug, I may be able to give it a bit of a pull and see how it comes out.

On my wife's Magna, I used a Bosch universal sensor. This meant using their adaptor plug to join onto the original plug end. Did you use this or the original fitment ie with the correct plug? If so, how much and where did you get it?

[Biovore]

I got an aftermarket replacement complete with plug from Repco a month or 2 ago. It was a clearance item and cost ~40 bucks was ~120.

[date]

Biovore:
Thanks for your help. OK, Houdini - I know that I am an obese, hypertensive, arthritic geriatric (with only one eye working to boot!), but even you must have had a hard time getting to the plug to disconnect it. It looks impossible.

At least I have found it, and then only by your help. I lowered the gearbox crossmember (only about 13 mm), but that gave me enough visibility to actually see what I was looking for. Mind you, my hoist (2 chassis stands and a trolley jack) doesn't help either.

Now, I have taken some pills to get the blood pressure down again, and can see what I need to buy. Then, I have to get to the plug, disconnect it and feed it back so I can remove the sensor. wow!

Repco quoted me $130 for a Bosch universal sensor, and the cheapest I could find on Ebay was about $65 plus $20 postage. I bought one for my Wife's Magna from another store for $94.50, but that was a universal. I am not sure if I could fit the adaptor plug up there, so I may have to go for the one with the proper plug. As Malcolm Fraser said once "Life wasn't meant to be easy", but does it have to be this hard?

Again, thanks for your help. It is much appreciated.