I bought a downstream O2 sensor for my non-CA 2000 on eBay, but it's different than what I was expecting. How important are the plastic retainer and rubber seal in the photo below? The new one was sold as a Bosch 13969, but it doesn't have these parts. The seller says I "should be able to use it without any issues."

 

The plastic and seal are of no importance at all to the function.
That part is designed for the wire to pass through a hole in the body. The four tabs would clip inside the hole while the rubber piece covered it.

Does the wire on your 00 pass through the body? I can't remember off hand what it looks like under there on a stock 00.

 

I was planning to have this work done by my local mechanic, so I haven't crawled under there to see how it's installed. If the retainer/seal are there to guide the wire through the body as you say, I would assume mine needs them. Maybe I should just send this back and order one from Rock Auto. What a PITA.

 

No, it's on there for other models. Almost every car uses the same sensors (and nissan definitely does with these connectors).

 

You have a talent for posting statements I can't make sense of. I read the above five times, but I still don't understand how it relates to the part I received. It's good? It's bad? It's a camshaft on the idler splines? Sheesh, help me out here guy.

 

Ignore the rubber part. If it throws a code, then it's a knock off (remember to clear after install).

 

OK, thanks. Just to be clear, does the rubber part serve any function at all? Like making sure the wires don't chafe against the body and short? I just don't want to do this twice, especially if I'm paying someone.

 

I'm pretty sure the wires don't pass through the body. You have nothing to worry about with that sensor.

Where did you get the pic of the one with the plastic and rubber? I've never seen one for these cars that had that. It's probably just a stock picture. Most retailers don't take a separate picture for every small part like this.

 

The correct sensor is a Bosch 13969. Photos everywhere online show it with the retainer and rubber grommet. The other O2 sensors for the car don't look like this in the photos. I should have paid more attention when I bought it. The seller claims it's a "bulk-packaged" 13969, and I assumed the grommet could be swapped. Bulk-packaged also means there's no factory box, so actually it doesn't say Bosch anywhere. It does look like Bosch construction (except the "nose" is a different style), and the connector is correct. The other sensors on the car appear to use a different connector, according to online photos. FWIW, pictures of the OEM Hitachi sensor at Rock Auto also show a retainer/grommet, and again, only for the downstream sensor. However, the Hitachi listing at Rock Auto says only through 06/2000. Maybe there was a mid-year change. I've searched for a photo of how this looks under the vehicle, but no luck. All I can find are line drawings from Nissan.

Something kinda funny, I went to the Advance Auto site and looked this up. There are two reviews under the 13969. One is a complaint that the sensor came with a rubber grommet that the original didn't have, so he was going to take it back. You just can't win...

 

I decided to do the work myself after all, but it was a real pain without the rubber grommet and plastic retainer on the cable. I used a box knife to split the old ones and put them on the new sensor. Once you do that, they don't fit the hole in the body very well, so then I had to seal it up with RTV. Much more trouble than it was worth to save $30 off the cost of the right part. Who said "ignore the rubber part"? Bad advice.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed this fixes the SES light.

 

I see, they wired it like 4th gen maxima. The sensor is after the cat LOL. Where are these fed spec cars hiding?

Any grommet will do.

 

No, any grommet will NOT do. Unless you split it, the hole in the grommet has to be large enough to pass the connector. That won't keep water out of the body, and there's insulation just above the hole that will get soaking wet if water splashes in there. The only solution without the right part is to slather it with RTV like some hillbilly mechanic.

I bought this car cheap enough so two or three years of use gets my money out of it, and one or two backyard repairs won't sour the deal. That's not an excuse though for crap advice from people who don't know what they're talking about.

 

I told you right in the beginning what the rubber piece was and that I wasn't sure if it passed through the body or not.

All you had to do was crawl under there and look for your self.

 

There's nothing wrong with using silicone. Its purpose is to seal. The whole body has sealed joints full of it. It's just painted over so you don't see it.