Hey Scotty, I have a 2019 honda civic lx cvt 2.0 liter with 39,700 miles, I want to clean the oxygen sensor but I am wondering if I need a scan tool to do this because I don’t wanna be stuck with a vehicle that won’t start because I removed the oxygen sensor and I don’t have a scan tool to reset anything. Will any lights come on if I clean the oxygen sensor? Also, do I need to use antiseize on the oxygen sensor bolt? And what cleaner do I use for the oxygen sensor? Also, what size socket do I need to remove it?
I can't think of a reason in the world why you would want to clean your O2 sensor especially on a 3 year old car with less than 40,000 miles on it.
Even if the engine was running rich causing it to get carboned up, or burning oil causing it to get coated in oil, or if antifreeze was getting into the combustion chambers, you'd want to address the underlying cause before your catalytic converter was damaged.
But those things are really, really, unlikely on a 3 year old Honda.
I wouldn't mess with it
What about cleaning the throttle body? Also I hear this slight whistle-like sound coming from near what seems like the serpentine belt but I’m not too sure if it’s the belt or not but wondering if this is normal?
one question per post please
There is a way to clean O2 sensors. You (very carefully) cut off the protective cap and then soak the actual sensitive element (not the whole sensor) in orthophosphoric (or similar) acid, eventually (in bad cases) even with some brushing, then rinse with distilled water, then weld the protective cap back on. This is a pretty labor-intensive or even dangerous (acids may be hazardous) process requiring some skill, and the bad thing is that it is not guaranteed to help - even after somewhat successful cleaning the readings may still be off. So I would opt for replacing the faulty sensor with a new (or 100% working old) one - indeed, after (as other valued contributors already mentioned) the root cause of its getting dirty has been taken care of.
Yes you have to use anti-seize, and a very special (and expensive) one, since it has to withstand high temperatures. Using regular anti-seize will only make things worse.
I am not familiar with your car, but all the O2 sensors I have seen required 22mm (7/8") wrenches, if I remember correctly.
