Like I said in a recent thread, I just installed Hotshot headers on my 02 Maxima. I bolted up the oxygen sensor to the front manifold before I bolted the manifold to the car. While the manifold was loose I saw that the sensor was going to be close to the AC compressor but I got under the car and forgot about, and like an idiot I tightened the manifold to the car and in the process bent the o2 sensor and basically jammed it against the compressor.

Now my car is having a starting issue where when the car is hot, the gas must be applied during the initial rpm drop that occurs after a normal start, but mine tries to drop all the way to zero. If I hold the rpms at a 1000 for even just a second after starting, the car is fine and idles okay all other times.

Now I don't know if this is related to my front primary o2 sensor being bent but I was thinking I might need to come up with a solution for this anyway b/c these sensors don't last forever and some AC condensation runoff is running right near the bent tip of the sensor where the wires come out so that may expedite the life of the sensor too.

I have come up with a couple possible solutions. The easiest would probably be finding an aftermarket o2 sensor that is about a half inch to an inch shorter than the stock Bosch one and probably remove my AC compressor, take the old sensor out, and put the shorter one on and then bolt the compressor back on. Are there any shorter o2 sensors out there?

Also, I guess I could have the old sensor location plugged and a new one drilled in but could that be done while the manifold is on the car?

Any ideas are welcome. What do you think might be causing my hot start issue? Thanks.

 

slightly misleading title may be discouraging readers