Can someone give me tips on replacing oxygen sensors on a 96' C5?. I live in vermont and each year when I go for my state inspection the scan tool indicates that the O2 oxygen heater is not functioning. 2 GUYS GARAGE on television is now airing tuneup procedures for a 350 C5 and suggest replacing the sensors along with may other checks. Also, I have a set of 1998 factory service manuals and in the index it lists "oxygen senor replacement" but there is no page listing of where it is! Weird! Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Jerry1298

 

No offense but you're all over the place. What do you have?


First, you're posting in the C6 Forum.

A '96 is not a C5, it's a C4.

1998 service manuals may or may not work with other year C5's but definitely not with a '96 or any other year C4.

SO, you need to make sure you post in the correct place and state accurately what you have. Good luck.

 

That would be because replacing O2 sensors is considered so basic a job that they are only mentioned in passing during other operations, such as replacing the catalytic converters (at least that's the case my '04's manual, for example at the exhaust system component replacement instructions at the end of section 6, circa page 6-1020).

The only tips (besides the manual's caution P-10 to handle heated O2 sensros carefully to prevent breakage), is that all four O2 sensors are torqued to 30 ft-lb (42 Nm) when reinstalled, and whatever you do DON'T screw up and hook up the wrong connector to the wrong rear O2 sensor!! Label, color code -- do whatever you have to, as it's not immediately obvious the wires cross. The reason is that the computer will read the right sensor's output and applying to the left bank of cylinders and vice-versa, and attempt to correct the mixtures in each bank -- usually in the wrong direction and screwing up how the engine is running and possibly throwing codes. Easy to fix, but annoying to have to go back in and redo the wiring when you could have done it right the first time!

If you are under the car, they are easily located -- one in front of the cat and one downstream in the mid-pipe in each of the left and right banks.

The mid-pipe ones are a minor pita just because of where they are located -- pointing diagonally upward toward the center of the car.

 

ttt

C-6 Year 2006

Can anyone advise if you need to use a special socket made to use with a torque wrench (1/2 inch drive) for this replacement due to the electrical wire? Torque is 30 Ft Lbs (size 22 mm). If so, any suggestions where to buy one. Can one use a torque wrench without disassembling other pipes, etc? In accordance with the "Excessive Force" warnings should I run the engine to have the pipe hot or can I do it on a cold exhaust an treat it with WD-40 before removal of the HO2 sensor?

I understand that a new replacement HO2 Sensor threads are pretreated with an anti-seize compound, can you confirm that to be true?

Thanks for any help.

 

Cold pipes for this! Won't get burned and more importantly, the metals aren't expanded from the heat. I bought my O2 tool from pep boys or advanced auto.

Elmer

 

You can probably also get an O2 tool at Harbor Freight. I bought mine from Amazon.