Hi all,

So basically, I had an engine light on and got it checked out and it was like 4 codes relating to O2 sensor. It's the sensor on the exhaust part after the engine, not before. The problem is, the mechanic said that it requires sub-frame removal to replace the sensors and that they are £250 each from ford and that there are no aftermarket ones (because the leads are apparently longer than aftermarkets). He said to replace both as it's a split exhaust with 2 sensors. So I'm looking at £500 in sensors and 2 hours of labour for a small issue. The suggestion from the mechanic was to just drive with the engine light on and run it into the ground as £600+ is far too much to spend on a 2006 focus which isn't in a great condition.

 

Anyone know of any sneaky alternatives I could try before ultimately sending the car to scrap? 

My Suggestion is find another mechanic.😂

2 minutes ago, Papamack said:

My Suggestion is find another mechanic.😂

How come? It all seemed to check out and the fact he said just drive with the light on showed he wasnt interested in the money side.

 

 

no way would you remove the sub frame 

29 minutes ago, Papamack said:

My Suggestion is find another mechanic.😂

here here

This will be a 1.6 Ti-VCT with twin cats.  It's not as simple to change as a single cat.

Short answer is no, there aren't any cheap ways around it.

Never heard of needing to drop a subframe to get at a 02 sensor but that being said not familiar with these engines. Wasn’t really suggesting he was after making money more that mechanic’s can be lazy. Remember same hourly rate for a easy job as a difficult one. Not a great fan of aftermarket sensor’s  but if it kept my car on the road would buy two aftermarket sensor’s (wires can be lengthened) then pay the 2 hour’s labour? 

25 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

This will be a 1.6 Ti-VCT with twin cats.  It's not as simple to change as a single cat.

Short answer is no, there aren't any cheap ways around it.

That's the one. 

 

Here is the actual sensor: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393529922200?epid=25021978887&hash=item5ba0361298:g:2IAAAOSwyFthJR92&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsNITDHIv0u%2B7QDPhj9lfk8rJcsrJ42nu91%2FtbiteOM%2F%2FDLlPak6ADLKRzWXhQM7P7YwCJNpgSzVFAH%2FUYfiXqb8QgRHX5d7fHte%2BJmzwvX8src8aq6inLSIqdp6QkxLkZ9VOMBTg2%2B3yZs6Ed92mFAUj2DB9pyW6akMGKdZbGdF0PWHxFipbqlT2uWbxC9dqHO5lMoM86j2MvhYjUJ71GDFSwO63YPhIv5pAHwSsBFpL|tkp%3ABk9SR4Ld2_H6YA

 

 

6 minutes ago, Papamack said:

Never heard of needing to drop a subframe to get at a 02 sensor but that being said not familiar with these engines. Wasn’t really suggesting he was after making money more that mechanic’s can be lazy. Remember same hourly rate for a easy job as a difficult one. Not a great fan of aftermarket sensor’s  but if it kept my car on the road would buy two aftermarket sensor’s (wires can be lengthened) then pay the 2 hour’s labour? 

 

1 hour ago, dezwez said:

no way would you remove the sub frame 

I'm not sure. It's something I've never done before. But from this image, you can see the awkward location of the sensors and there's not enough space to reach them. So I think you have to drop the exhauxst by dropping the sub frame too or something. Again, not sure. 

Wow what a bit of design engineering that is.🤣 problem isn’t the labour charge for doing the job but the ridiculous price of the sensor’s I guess? Worth trying some cataclean? 

There is Bosch post cat sensor’s on eBay for £82.43p each that’s a big saving for a start.👍

Is it the sensor before or after cat? Does it need both or just one?  What were the codes? 

On 10/14/2022 at 4:54 PM, Papamack said:

Wow what a bit of design engineering that is.🤣 problem isn’t the labour charge for doing the job but the ridiculous price of the sensor’s I guess? Worth trying some cataclean? 

First time I used some cataclean it got rid of the engine light and ran smooth. 1 month later, it was shuddering and not running well again, so added another bottle but with less effect. That's like £15 a month on cleaning solution which would get pricy fast, with less results.

 

On 10/14/2022 at 5:01 PM, Papamack said:

There is Bosch post cat sensor’s on eBay for £82.43p each that’s a big saving for a start.👍

Nice, I believe I need 2 pre-cat sensors tho. Need to clarify this with the mechanic I guess.  

On 10/14/2022 at 3:04 PM, Papamack said:

My Suggestion is find another mechanic.😂

Absolutely

14 minutes ago, M.J. said:

Nice, I believe I need 2 pre-cat sensors tho. Need to clarify this with the mechanic I guess.  

There's only two sensors, pre cat and post cat

3 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

There's only two sensors, pre cat and post cat

The pic of the exhaust shows two cats, two precast sensors and two post cat sensors.  Assuming the pic shows the same exhaust that is actually on the car. 

7 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

There's only two sensors, pre cat and post cat

Split exhaust so there are 2 pre and 2 post I believe.

14 hours ago, isetta said:

The pic of the exhaust shows two cats, two precast sensors and two post cat sensors.  Assuming the pic shows the same exhaust that is actually on the car. 

OMG yes, just seen that.

All that extra money for 10BHP

Stick a single on

It sounds like it's coming to the end of its life:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ttB5jvjgsbidvS2Q6