I have a 2011 S40 T5. I noticed today that the rear O2 oxygen cable is hanging low below the car. It looks like it got caught on something as the fiberglass fire sleeve is mostly ripped open and the cable's t-connector to the frame was not connected. I fixed the hanging issue, but would like to repair the fire sleeve. My options/questions are:

1. Buy a new fire sleeve, but then how to install it. The cable's electrical connector appear too large to slide the sleeve over it. I don't want to disconnect the O2 sensor from the catalytic converter.

2. Can I use Teflon or other high temperature tape to bind the frayed sleeve together? If so, what type of tape and how high of a temperature does it need to be rated for? The sleeve goes up to the O2 sensor in the catalytic converter, which can get very hot (600 F ??).

Thanks in advance,
Tom

 

Consider sliding the good part of the sleeve up toward the cat, and wrapping the rest of it with plain ol' electrical tape (assuming it's not REALLY close to the cat / exhaust system).

Another option would be to buy some heat shield material and roll your own. I used some for motor mount shields on my Mercedes GLK (the oil-filled motor mounts live an inch below the exhaust manifolds!). IIRC, it was about $10 for a square foot or so of the material. I did test it, and it WILL catch on fire when exposed to a propane torch, but doesn't seem to mind really high "normal temperatures".