Went to the dealer to have the minivan transmission looked at. $1600
later I have a rebuilt tranny. I was also informed that the O2 sensors,
all 4, need to be replaced. The dealer did not have the parts and said
they could order them and pay $300 just for the parts. I picked up some
down the street for a lot less and replaced them myself. The two up
stream were no problem. The two down stream of the two cats were stuck.
One with a little persuasion can free, but the one inches away from the
catalyst would not budge. Instead the weld on the boss gave way. It is
a thick heavy ring and for the life of me, I cannot free it from the old
sensor.
Apparently, no one will weld the boss back in for fear of the EPA, if I
could free it from the old sensor. A new cat, actually two cats and
piping, will cost over $1000. Inspection shows the cats are fine
inside. I don't have a welder or the skills to weld it back in myself.
I have a few thoughts, the bailing wire approach is to use J-B Weld to
epoxy it in but I don't think it would hold under the heat. I also am
leery of poisoning the cat. I search the web all day to see if I could
find a stainless steel blind threaded insert that would take fill the
1-1/16" hole and take the sensor thread. The third option is to buy an
after market cat but for the same price I can buy a MIG. SWMBO said "NO!".
Any ideas?
Peter Thomas
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