the cat's hanging by half a bolt. I know i have to deal with this O2 sensor though. how the heck do you get it off? the only places on it that i see to grab are round.

i'm gonna grab a beer. either write back here or IM me......IMaddictboy.

thanks guys!!

 

use a o2 socket or vice grip or a open ended wrench i think its like a 24m or something

 

NO NO NO!!! I HATE O2 sensor sockets. They don't fricking work. Go to sears and buy a 7/8" line wrench (or 22mm if they carry them). It looks like a standard open wrench with little tabs on the top, or a box wrench with the top cut off. I say Sears because you can get a craftsman and I've broken several cheap line wrenches. That 's the only tool that I was able to use to get my sensor off. And it works on both O2 sensors- the one on the headers can't be reached easily with a sensor socket.
You may also need some penetrating oil (I recommend "Blaster" it's avail almost everywhere) to break up the rust that's welding the sensor to the cat. It will also help if you get the sensor hot. The easiest way is to reconnect the cat, run your engine for a few, spray with the oil and then use the line wrench. Keeping the cat on will also give you an opportunity to use both hands on the wrench.

Good luck
Which test pipe are you installing?

 

its all choice i did it with a breaker bar and socket for both header and tp but you can do either or

 

rrm test pipe.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

yeah, do what engineerboy said, put the original cat back on and then pull the sensor out. and reverse it when you put the new pipe on. put the pipe on, then put on the sensor

 

one word of advice .. don't pull to far on the wire, as the o2 wire leads up into a plug-in inside the metal, which is fking hard to plug back in.

 

if you tug on the wire that goes into your car a little bit, you can unclip the O2 sensor and bring the whole cat+sensor out from under your car. at that point i used a crescent wrench and a rubber mallet with some WD40 came right off like a cherry.

 

I just put my RRM test pipe on yesterday and I used P Blaster on the o2 and the bolts and used an o2 socket and it worked perfectly! The pipe really opened the exhaust and made it wicked loud with my buschur!

 

O2 sensor socket and a breaker bar for me. Took me all of two seconds to bust it loose.

 

Take cat off flip it upside down and half arsed re attach it now you have unabated access to the O2 sensor cuz it is pointed straight down and the cat is attached to something that isnt going to move and you can pull the hell out of your wrench/02 socket. RRM thoughtfully put the 02 nut on their pipe at an angle where you can actually work on it so you don't have to have the cat on upside down to get to the sensor

 

i was thinking about the flip it over and remount method. i took a break. will go looking for an o2 socket today.

thanks guys!!

 

Should be $10 at any parts store.

 

I had the same trouble as you. I held the wrench in one hand and held the Cat with my other hand. And with all 150 lbs of pure muscle, it finally came off. =)

 

question.........while the car is up on jack stands cooling down right now...

clockwise or counter to get the o2 sensor off?

i spent almost 15 minutes last night tightening one of the bolts before i realized i was turning it the wrong way. after that they all came off easy!!