[DavidP]

Check engine light is on. I determined that it is one of the fuel/ air sensors, the heater circuit is open.
I ordered the wrong one, right left, why can't they identify them as driver side or passenger side?
In any case, the leads are too short, and the plug is different. Can I cut wires and solder the correct plug from the old sensor onto the new sensor? Seems to me that the elements would be identical, same purpose in essentially the same location.
2001 Rav4, 2 liter, gasoline engine

 

[mike.s]

why can't they identify them as driver side or passenger side?

You're in the US, which unfortunately explains the parochial attitude. RAV4s are sold worldwide, in both right-hand and left-hand drive versions. Driver side/passenger side is ambiguous, right/left is not (on cars, it always refers to the side when facing forward).

 

[FixIt]

I would not alter the sensor. I have heard some sensors get their reference air through the wiring and insulation, and using a butt connector or soldering could alter this.
Buy the right DENSO sensor.


If you can't return the sensor, keep it for when it is needed.

 

[DavidP]

I believe that you are thinking of the perforated tube which lives where the wires enter the top of the sensor, not the wires themselves. My splice would be done far away from this. In any case, I have ordered the correct sensor. Oddly enough, the seller of the one I just ordered identified its position as "front, right." But, he was kind enough to show a diagram of its location on the exhaust manifold.
I still don't understand why two, otherwise identical, parts would have different connectors. Standardization of parts has long been recognized as cutting production and maintenance costs as well as simplifying storage.
In my former life as a motorcycle mechanic I was amazed by how much information one needed just to order a simple turn-signal flasher for a Japanese bike. Make, model, sub variant, year, sometimes even month of manufacture. They all had different units, with different connectors, all made to fire the same lamps at the same rate. Crazy

 

[MNRAV4]

I still don't understand why two, otherwise identical, parts would have different connectors.

one has a longer distance to travel, and is longer

if you ever have to do major work that requires removal of the wiring harness, you will appreciate that everything has a different connector

 

[DavidP]

one has a longer distance to travel, and is longer

In this case, 2". Not significant. The Japanese have no concept of strain relief, every wire is cut as short as it possibly can be. A design flaw as far as I'm concerned.

if you ever have to do major work that requires removal of the wiring harness, you will appreciate that everything has a different connector

I have built complete wiring harnesses, and repaired quite a few. However, those were British or German. Those folks conform to a uniform color code from source to load. The Japanese tend to change colors at every multi-pin connector. My favorite mystery is in the factory Yamaha diagrams, still trying to guess what a "DC Consent" might be. A relay, perhaps?