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I need to splice the pigtail connectors from my old O2 sensors onto the new O2 sensors since the new connectors have a different shape.

As the sensor is right behind the engine and will experience high temperatures, I want to know whether regular 60/40 solder will hold up.

Zaid
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4 Answers4

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It should hold up. It melts at around twice the temperature where water boils, which I don't think you'll ever experience in the engine bay (unless it's touching the exhaust). But the greasiness in the engine may make for a poor adhesion.

BTW: I am one of those people who would rather crimp than solder.

Captain Kenpachi
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Solder (60/40) or any other lead-based sort has little mechanical strength. And it decreases as heat goes up. Furthermore, some of the wires used in various places don't work very well with field soldering (such as Litz wire). On the other hand many of them don't work well with mechanical fastening, ie, crimping. Depending on the wires you're working with, I'd prefer to crimp, solder, and maybe even use a heat resistant wire nut on top of it all. And I would be certain to strain relief the join, so vibration won't cause a mechanical stress or strain and pull the joint apart.

Sometimes it makes sense to (more or less) braze a connection in the case of something whose environment is quite hot (ie, near exhaust manifolds).

But you haven't said which sort of engine you have -- I'm merely assuming it's some sort of gasoline automotive engine.

Zaid
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user9378
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Yes it will be fine...if you correctly solder it. If you dont know how to solder then i would suggest a crimp.

user9386
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Always crimp.

In fact, the O2 sensor relies on a small amount of air (O2) passing down the wires in between the gaps in the individual copper strands to allow proper operation of the electrochemical cell.

If you solder, flux may block off this path to the cell, and cause the O2 sensor to stop working. It will not be damaged, but will not operate correctly. Normal operation can be resumed by unblocking the gas path down the wire. (O2)

All kits will be provided with crimps for this reason.

Dead thread, I know, but this is important for future searchers.

ethereal
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