O2 sensor plugs don't match up

Bearcat

Bearcat

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Replacing O2 upstream sensors on a 05 rubicon unlimited. All the brands (3) that I’ve put my hands on don’t mate up with my harness plugs . I don’t want to convert my old plugs over to the new ones and have thought about customizing my harness plugs by removing some of the nubs . I’m not hip on that because it’s part of my harness. WHATS UP ???
 
First, never use any O2 sensors other than NGK / NTK or you'll likely live to regret it. This is well documented.

Second, I've heard this about plugs not matching up and you may not have a way around it. I would just swap the plugs over. It really wouldn't be that hard especially if you have one of these tools:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LFZ36XM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Those are cheap and a must have IMHO. They work very, very well.
 
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Chris said:
First, never use any O2 sensors other than NGK / NTK or you'll likely live to regret it. This is well documented.

Second, I've heard this about plugs not matching up and you may not have a way around it. I would just swap the plugs over. It really wouldn't be that hard especially if you have one of these tools:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LFZ36XM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Those are cheap and a must have IMHO. They work very, very well.
Click to expand...

I’ll check that out . Yes on the sensors, ended up w NTKs . Thnx Jerry
 
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The connectors are keyed so you can’t install the wrong sensor in the wrong spot.
 
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If you have to, don't cut your harness, cut the pigtails off of your old sensors to match your harness.
 
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Chris said:
First, never use any O2 sensors other than NGK / NTK or you'll likely live to regret it. This is well documented.

Second, I've heard this about plugs not matching up and you may not have a way around it. I would just swap the plugs over. It really wouldn't be that hard especially if you have one of these tools:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LFZ36XM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Those are cheap and a must have IMHO. They work very, very well.
Click to expand...

My issue with those tools is that I pretty much never have any idea which of the 400 options I'm supposed to use to de-pin the connector. Is there some way to know, aside from old age & experience?
 
hear said:
My issue with those tools is that I pretty much never have any idea which of the 400 options I'm supposed to use to de-pin the connector. Is there some way to know, aside from old age & experience?
Click to expand...

I have the scaled down version of these (which is far fewer tools) and I'll tell you that I never know which one to use, I just look at the connectors and try a few to see which ones fit in the holes. It's never taken me more than a minute or two to figure out (even with trying a number of them at a time) and just like that the connector slides right off and you've got the wire and female / male connector exposed. It certainly makes automotive wiring projects a lot easier.
 
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Chris said:
I have the scaled down version of these (which is far fewer tools) and I'll tell you that I never know which one to use, I just look at the connectors and try a few to see which ones fit in the holes. It's never taken me more than a minute or two to figure out (even with trying a number of them at a time) and just like that the connector slides right off and you've got the wire and female / male connector exposed. It certainly makes automotive wiring projects a lot easier.
Click to expand...

I also have a smaller set, maybe 10-15 on a ring, and I've literally never been able to get a single connector de-pinned. Agree it would make life much easier, although what would make life easier still is a set of uncrimped terminals for all these different connectors. Too often I've had to splice too close to the terminal to be able to re-use all the bits.
 
hear said:
I also have a smaller set, maybe 10-15 on a ring, and I've literally never been able to get a single connector de-pinned. Agree it would make life much easier, although what would make life easier still is a set of uncrimped terminals for all these different connectors. Too often I've had to splice too close to the terminal to be able to re-use all the bits.
Click to expand...

Interesting! I've never had a problem getting any connector de-pinned believe it or not. Of course I still don't have a way of knowing which one works for which connector. Maybe I've just been lucky in that I always seem to get it right after 2-3 tries.
 
hear said:
I also have a smaller set, maybe 10-15 on a ring, and I've literally never been able to get a single connector de-pinned. Agree it would make life much easier, although what would make life easier still is a set of uncrimped terminals for all these different connectors. Too often I've had to splice too close to the terminal to be able to re-use all the bits.
Click to expand...
Try this the next time you want to de-pin a connector. Push the connector pin's wire into the connector as far as possible. That will push the pin outward slightly which can help release its locking barb from the connector's plastic shell it often digs itself into. Then shove the de-pinner all the way down the pin which squeezes the barb inward allowing the pin's removal.
 
It took me two tries to order the correct O2 sensor, then I discovered that I was looking at the wrong sensor, and the first one would work after all.

Then I tried to replace a second sensor, and I'm fairly sure I ordered the correct one after having learned my lesson, but the connector didn't match up AGAIN. Luckily, it turned out that the first one was the only one that needed replacing.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Try this the next time you want to de-pin a connector. Push the connector pin's wire into the connector as far as possible. That will push the pin outward slightly which can help release its locking barb from the connector's plastic shell it often digs itself into. Then shove the de-pinner all the way down the pin which squeezes the barb inward allowing the pin's removal.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I've tried that sort of thing. Still seems to require some knowledge of which de-pinner to use. I watched a video somewhere where they did a super quick demo of a bunch of connectors being de-pinned. What I took away from that was that sometimes it's hard to tell what style the pin is while it's in the connector, and that unless you had some sort of chart mapping pins to de-pinners you would end up where I seem to be at already.

I specifically recall pulling my hair out on one of those monster connectors under the dash, where the harness comes through the firewall. I really needed to remove one of those, but I couldn't figure it out. Replacing that wire would've been tremendously easier if I could've removed it from the mess.
 
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txbemis69 said:
have used a paper clip before. it worked but, weren’t no fun.
Click to expand...
I usually used something like one of my jeweler's screwdrivers to push the barb in to release the pin. I rarely looked for my de-pinner tool, I rarely needed it and then only for the rare double-barbed pin.
 
Bearcat said:
Replacing O2 upstream sensors on a 05 rubicon unlimited. All the brands (3) that I’ve put my hands on don’t mate up with my harness plugs . I don’t want to convert my old plugs over to the new ones and have thought about customizing my harness plugs by removing some of the nubs . I’m not hip on that because it’s part of my harness. WHATS UP ???
Click to expand...

I do not think you should splice the o2 sensor wires. I always make an extension or an adapter harness. They is one of the wires that has insulation that is loose around one of the wires. I found this reply on a turbo forums and this is what I remember. I was a ford master mechanic for many years so most of my experience is on Fords but I don’t see why Jeep would not be the same.

“Absolutely not! The sensor wires are how the sensor gets its comparitive O2. Simply put, air travels down between insulation and copper, any cutting or soldering of this path causes the O2 to show lean all the time.”
 
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