replacing post cat lambda. Can I remove it for a day?

londonTiger

Got under the car today, to look for the post cat lambda. It's right in the centre of the floor pan. Never been so deep under the car before and was !!!!ing scary.

I intend to remove the lambda. take it in, rewire it to a new lambda and then plug it back in. Was wondering if it's safe to leave the exhaust exposed without a lambda for a few hours/day?

Don't intend to drive at all. But suppose I needed to drive to a motor factors to swap parts would it be OK to do that?

chrisw

Perfectly safe to leave the exhaust exposed without a lambda sensor fitted. It wouldn't be advisable to drive the car without it. It wold be like having a hole in the exhaust - very loud, possibly fumes in the car or damage to nearby items from the hot gases and illegal.

vaio

as above, it will be fine to leave it standing but if you drive it you will essentially have an exhaust leak with all the problems that brings.

You could either screw the old one back in or get a suitably sized spark plug to use as a temporary plug.

Remember the ecu could well log a fault if it sees the engine running without seeing sensible values from the lambda sensor

Gloomendoom

Good luck getting it out.

londonTiger

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Good luck getting it out.

should be fine, have good access, and can get leverage from a breaker bar. I think the problem is likely to be with the lambda connection clip which are almost impossible to unclip

colino

Sorry Op, but I think you are underestimating how strongly lambdas weld themselves to their ports. Normal approach is to put it on the ramp, use heat straight away and, with a proper lambda socket, heave it out. they very rarely just come out.
Best of luck.

londonTiger

colino wrote: »

Sorry Op, but I think you are underestimating how strongly lambdas weld themselves to their ports. Normal approach is to put it on the ramp, use heat straight away and, with a proper lambda socket, heave it out. they very rarely just come out.
Best of luck.

oh ok, too many tools required and too daunting to get all the way under the car. will leave this to the pros

atrixblue.-MFR-.

not had any problems with lambda's welding themselves ive got a long spanner (no need for special socket IMHO) good leverage and its easily removed, no issues with being under the car as long as it secured the right way with sturdy axel stands and level ground and hand brake applied strongly.

londonTiger

i dont use axle stands i use ramps4cars ramps. they ae really heavy and look strong though

TrickyWicky

londonTiger wrote: »

should be fine, have good access, and can get leverage from a breaker bar

You misunderstand, lambda sensors really do weld themselves right in. It's like one piece of metal. I had to replace a downpipe a few years ago with a lambda sensor in it, my mate ended up stood on a pair of stillsons to get enough grip on it to break it free. He must be 17-18 stone and we still struggled with all his weight.

londonTiger wrote: »

too daunting to get all the way under the car.

Wimp lol.

I used to be like that but after having left the car on top of axle stands for several weeks at a time I realised that they were not going to suddenly collapse even with my rotten luck. Now I'll wriggle around under the car without a second thought. Not exactly a hobby doing so but at least I can get bits done now without worrying about it.

londonTiger wrote: »

i dont use axle stands i use ramps4cars ramps. they ae really heavy and look strong though

Very nice I've seen those before and often thought they'd make my life a lot easier. Even with ramps though, I'd still have a pair of stands positioned under the car as backup. While I've never known a set of ramps collapse, they can slip and slide. Axle stands don't do that but they do concentrate the force vertically in one spot on the chassis and the ground so you have to be careful where you put them or the entire thing could come down on you - unlike ramps which spread the weight. Like I said, use stands for backup if you want to be extra safe but NEVER get under a car supported only by a jack. A mate of mine used to say he trusted his jack with his life and was always under his car while it was held by a jack. One day he crawled out from under it and within seconds the jack collapsed and he had a brown trouser moment.

londonTiger

the ramps4cars ramps are really strong and it's a real workout getting them out of the shed and taking them out front becdause they're so heavy. Must weigh at least 40kg each. It is good as gold and I have the longer version and requested extra bracing on the stand portion. But I'm slightly claustrophobic under the car and don't like spending any more time than i need to.

I'm getting a bit better though. The first time I got under I shat myself. I was bricking it so much that I did place jack stands under it as backup.

But now I do spend some time doing some slightly more involved work. But to get to the lambda I will have to go all the way in from the front which is quite scary.

I think it's probably best to have the mechanic do it because I'm not sure if my tools will cut it. I might need some lambda dedicated sockets to get it out or use a blow torch which is extra purchase for tools that I will probably never use again.