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CamryForums.com is the leading Toyota Camry resource for technical, DIY guides. Is your Camry’s oxygen sensor giving you trouble? For the complete guide on this how-to, please visit http://www.camryforums.com/how-tos/a/toyota-camry-2007-2011-how-to-replace-oxygen-sensor-397074.
Your vehicle’s oxygen sensor measures the oxygen content in the exhaust, and adjusts engine parameters like the air-to-fuel ratio to keep it running at its best. However, exhaust gasses are hot and dirty, so the sensor can wear out with time. A lifespan of 100,000 miles can generally be expected from the sensors before failing. Therefore, as your vehicle ages, it is increasingly common that an oxygen sensor will go bad on your vehicle. Since a faulty sensor can affect your fuel efficiency by between fifteen percent and twenty-five percent, you should replace your sensor when it fails.

Checking and replacing the oxygen sensor will take about ten to twenty minutes. It’s an easy task, and will cost you just half of what a professional would charge.

The tools you’ll need are: a new oxygen sensor, and a 22 millimeter wrench. Optional tools are a multimeter and thick gloves.

Step 1 – Prep for the Job

Let your car cool for a couple of hours before replacing your oxygen sensor. The area of your engine where you’ll be working heats up quickly, and stays hot long after you’ve turned off your engine. The longer you let the engine cool before replacing your oxygen sensor, the less likely you are to accidentally burn yourself.

Step 2 – Locate the Sensor

Open the hood and use the hood support rod to fix in place.
Identify the catalytic converter, and then look for the two sensors; they look like thick black wires that are connected to it. There is one sensor in front of the catalytic converter, and a second located behind and beneath the catalytic converter. To make sure you replace the correct sensor, consider testing each sensor with a multimeter. Set the multimeter to 200 ohms to see if the sensor is live or not.

Step 3 – Disconnect the oxygen sensor

Follow the wire from the oxygen sensor to the connector. At the connector, stick one or two fingers behind the connector and push on the tab. Simultaneously, pull up on the connector. It should easily pop out of place.

Step 4 – Remove the Oxygen Sensor

Use the 22 millimeter socket to remove the oxygen sensor. To do so, slide the “wire” into the slot on the socket and then push the socket down. Once it comes off, attach the ratchet to the oxygen sensor and use it to remove the sensor. If your engine is warm, wear a welder’s glove on one hand to keep from hurting yourself. Then use that hand to actually remove the sensor once you’ve gotten it nearly off with the 22 millimeter wrench.

Step 5 – Apply anti-seize to the threads

Rub a little anti-seize, likely included with your new oxygen sensor, on the threads. This will help you easily remove it in the future.

Step 6 – Replace the Oxygen Sensor
Replacing the oxygen sensor is the reverse of removal:
Position the oxygen sensor, thread into the hole, and tighten by hand until you cannot tighten it farther.
Use the 22 millimeter wrench to tighten it into place.
Reconnect the oxygen sensor to the connector by snapping it into place. Finally, close the hood.

Replacing a faulty oxygen sensor is not a difficult project. As long as you always take the appropriate precautions to safety, this should be a cut and dry task.