MOT failure
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Discussion

tuscan_thunder

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

277 months

Friday 27th January 2006
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Car failed MOT on Lambda yesterday. Everything else was fine so it's a right pain. Wasn't much over. We made sure it was warm and left it running for ages but still didn't come down enough.

New sensor I guess?

Is it the standard Rover K-series part?

How much does a new sensor cost and is it easy to fit?

>> Edited by tuscan_thunder on Friday 27th January 10:57

MJK 24

5,679 posts

267 months

Friday 27th January 2006
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Sensors are quite dear - about £70.

Eliseparts stock them and will post next day. If you cut the wires off your old one, you can put a socket over it - makes it easier to remove.

Esprit

6,373 posts

314 months

Friday 27th January 2006
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tuscan_thunder said:
New sensor I guess?

Is it the standard Rover K-series part?

How much does a new sensor cost and is it easy to fit?


It's not the easiest to fit because the old one will be seized in there.... take off the engine tray and get under tthere and soak it for a day or two in WD40 or similar..... I actually used an angle grinder to grind the guts of my old one off so that just the hex-boss remained so that I could get a socket and breaker bar over it.... it came out ok then.... some come out easier than others.... look at it this way, if you ever wanted to do a 4-2-1, then now's a good time to do it

As for a new sensor, DON'T get the K-Series one from Rover. Go to your local fuel injection/engine management specialist and get a "BOSCH LS-6 UNIVERSAL LAMBDA SENSOR" kit. This kit is EXACTLY the same as the OEM Rover/Lotus one, only you have to wire your own plug from your old Lambda sensor onto the end (comes with a wiring kit and full instructions, you'll just need a good wire-stripper and about 10 minutes) Once you've wired your old plug onto the end, the LS-6 is exactly the same as the Rover OEM part. I got my LS-6 for about $NZ80, which is about 30 quid direct exchange.... better than paying more than twice that for the OEM unit.

DSS123

351 posts

267 months

Friday 27th January 2006
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As others have said - not a technically difficult job but bloody awkward!

Took me best part of a day to do mine last year!!

Everything seized in - they get bloody hot in use so not suprising.

Like Esprit I ended cutting mine down to the "nut" and using a socket. By the way, they have a ceramic core which is seriously tough - took ages to get through, oh yeh, the core spins inside the outer case after a while which makes it even more difficult!

So, no skin left on knuckles, eyes full of rust and WD40, but saved myself a few bob.

Not a job I want to repeat in a hurry though!


Dunc

tuscan_thunder

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

277 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
ok guys. My mate's a mechanic so he's going to do it for me. He's very good plus if it's on the ramps it'll be easier I imagine. He's ordered a sensor from the motor factor so I imagine it'll be the standard Rover one - oh well, as long as it works and isn't majorly expensive.

Esprit

6,373 posts

314 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
tuscan_thunder said:
ok guys. My mate's a mechanic so he's going to do it for me. He's very good plus if it's on the ramps it'll be easier I imagine. He's ordered a sensor from the motor factor so I imagine it'll be the standard Rover one - oh well, as long as it works and isn't majorly expensive.


Nice... get some other poor sod to do it.... job's a good'un

It is a prick of a job, but it's doable I was fortunate with mine in that I was fitting a 4-2-1 when I did mine, so the old one I could attack out of the car.... in the car would have been tougher for sure.

alan.bennett

120 posts

262 months

Friday 27th January 2006
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A wee tip when things seize solid...

(i learned this one a few years ago while separating 2 bits of a mountain bike which had been stuck together for 6 years and had already snapped a spanner and stripped the thread of a crank extractor)

Soak the seized bits in coke!

it sounds mad, but there's NOTHING better for separating seized metal. - so when WD40 doesn't work, reach for the coke, then leave it for a couple of hours!

no s**t! - honestly!

A.

tuscan_thunder

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

277 months

Tuesday 31st January 2006
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::update::

The old sensor was seized. (surprise!) The garage tried a lot to get it out but now the manifold is out. The old sensor was taken out but, in doing so, the threads on the boss for the sensor are stripped. So new boss will have to be welded in.

I feel a large labour bill coming in. All for a sensor.

Hope one it's fixed I get a sunny, dry day (like it is today except not minus 9 like it is today) so I can remind myself what its all about.

>> Edited by tuscan_thunder on Tuesday 31st January 15:20

cej

961 posts

253 months

Tuesday 31st January 2006
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now is the time to get this www.eliseparts.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=118&products_id=392

and scrap the old header. Then put a new sensor in and you won't have problems in the future

tuscan_thunder

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

277 months

Tuesday 31st January 2006
quotequote all
I know that is very tempting! But I'll have enough to do paying the garage bill already without adding £500 onto it!

Hopefully the new sensor will last a fair while.

DSS123

351 posts

267 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
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Unlucky Tuscan - seems about par for the course though.

Stripping the manifold boss though, that's a nightmare, reckon I might have got away lighty with mine after all!

Hope she's back on the roads soon.

Dunc

DSS123

351 posts

267 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
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Unlucky Tuscan - seems about par for the course though.

Stripping the manifold boss though, that's a nightmare, reckon I might have got away lighty with mine after all!

Hope she's back on the roads soon.

Dunc