hey

i have a 97 legacy outback 2.5l with 182000 miles on it. i live in northern california but the car came from michigan. needless to say the exhaust is kinda rusted. can anyone speculate how hard it will be for me to replace my oxygen sensor. i have heard mixed stories. some of my mechanic friends tell me to take it somewhere others say i can do it. i have the part. any suggestions. it is the front sensor

 

jake

You'll probably be okay. Treat the connection with penetrating oil or PB Blaster a few times over a few days. Then make sure the exhaust is warmed up when you try to unscrew the sensor. Mine loosened with a crescent wrench so I didn't even need the fancy slotted socket.

 

Good luck.

Look at it this way, if you can't get it yourself then you can go have it fixed. If you are near San Mateo I can loan you a wrench.

I'd say give it a go... I've had mine in and out several times within the last couple weeks, trying to troubleshoot a bad heater circuit ECU code even after replacing the O2 sensor.

 

I used a good sized 1/2" drive breaker bar, and that fancy slotted offset O2 sensor socket. Probably spent $20 on those down at Advance Autoparts. It's kinda hard to get to the O2 sensor from below, so I went in from above. Take the air intake hose off, and it's fairly easy to get to. You gotta go by touch though, 'cause your view is blocked (by the axle, if I remember right). Try reaching down there while the engine's cold to get an idea of where you gotta be, then run the engine for a few minutes to heat the exhaust up, and have a go at it.

Just did both on my 97OB, which spent time in PA (according to Carfax). They came out easy w/my 7/8'' wrench. Toughest part was making sure I didn't cross-thread it on the install.