Rear o2 sensor shield replacement

Yo, new member here. LOVE THIS FORUM! Its helped me with all my newbie mechanic needs for servicing my truck so far! I just did my first valve cover resealing a few weekends ago and that was super fun.

So, I had to remove my rear downstream o2 sensor shield in order to get access to the nuts of the o2 sensor and in the process I destroyed the shield. sigh. I thought i was rounding off the nuts so in a desperate attempt I decided i just had to forcefully remove the shield out of the way. Once I did this though i realized the nuts were not rounding off.. they were just ... loosening really easily! UGH. whats done is done though.

My question is, is the shield a requirement? Like, do I need to work on getting a replacement shield installed or no? If so, does anyone know what the best course of action would be? I know a pick'n'pull place would be a start but looking at online inventories for local places i never see any tacoma's heh. I was hoping someone had a good idea for off the shelf remediation. Some ideas i had were having something welded together but im not really familiar with how all that works as far as having something designed and fitted for what i need. Does anyone happen to maybe possibly have an extra shield available?(long shot i know).

(I dont off road, the truck will likely only see dirt roads at most if ever. its meant for city driving and it never rains here in AZ).

 

I am not sure what your talking about .

I can only guess one of the heat shields for the exhaust which seem to get removed and never put back on.

pictures would be a big help

 

My truck doesn't have a shield but I wouldn't worry about it. Long as the sensor is working and the wires are secured.

 

ok cool thanks

 

Not a problem man. Welcome to the forums, excellent info here!

 

Thanks dude, and ya lots of great info. I pretty much know that I can search juuuust about anything and ill see a google hit for "tacoma world" and 99% of the time is someone having the EXACT situation as me and a ton of cool peeps responding with very useful info. I come from the IT field and its not usually as straight forward as working on trucks has been

 

I'm fairly new here myself. Couple months but found lots of useful info.

 

Mine was long gone till I bought the truck .

Only if the heat above the Cat bothers you would I even think of replacing it

 

Ya my main concern was that A) it was factory installed for a reason likely and B) that it was mostly for keeping the sensor clean from debris.

Now that i think about it though, i still have the bottom plate portion of the shield so im thinking maybe i can have someone weld a piece of sheet metal to it and then id be back in biz. but it sounds like its not a huge issue either way.

 

The prior owner of my truck trashed it long before I bought it. Actually, the last two Tacomas I owned were missing this. It was on my 1997 and 2000 models though, and I had no problem replacing the O2 sensors on either without cutting it off, or whatever it is some mechanics do to it. But the '03 is fine without it, and I can sleep at night with no problem.

 

I destroyed mine too. Guess like me you will need to avoid driving throuogh heavy brush unless you want to drop $80 for a new one.

 

Is there even a part number for the part?

 

mine doesn't have the O2 sensor cover either. i think you'll be fine without it.

 

Im getting frustrated with that shield . Can anyone tell me what size nut is on it.? I can see enough and its slightly rusty . Im just trying not to destrsy the shield.

 

How did you get around the metal piece to replace the sensor?

 

Boy, that was a while ago. I do remember reading at the time that many did cut it off. But I also remember looking at it and seeing that there was enough room to get at it, and gave it a try. I'm too stubborn to give up on an idea once I start. I don't remember the exact method I used, but I probably tried a number of tools until one worked. Afterwards, I thought cutting the shield was an extreme measure not necessary. This was ten years ago.

 

I am trying to replace my O2 sensor on my 2003 Tacoma and the nuts are stripped so I am probably going to have to cut off the heat shield to get to them. Sounds like I may not need to replace it but did anyone ever find a part number for it or a place to obtain one?

 

It's 89437-60030.

 

Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks.