so i was pissed the other day when i was doin my oil change cuz a while back i went to jiffy lube and they use oil filters that i cant get off. it had been on there thru like 3 different oil changes and i also just switched to synthetic so i figured it was time to replace it. so in all my fury i took it off by drilling holes all the way thru it and shoving a screw driver thru it to get some torque on that ******.
i guess i didnt really think about the consequences... when i was done a noticed i had gotten some oil all over everything in that general area (including where the upstream o2 sensor is connected) when i turned the car on the check engine light came on almost immediately which i figured was most likely an electrical failure somewhere. pulled the code and got 65 (secondary oxygen sensor heater circuit malfunction)

it would be easier to diagnose the problem but the oil change isnt the only thing i did while i was under the car. i thought i heard the exhaust leaking from somwhere so i decided to seal both sensor ports with exhaust sealant. not only does the exhaust still sound like its leaking (thinkin now its comin from the flex pipe) but i cant get the upstream sensor out... im a ****** genius in case u cant tell. i tried everything to get the bastard out cuz i thought some sealant might have gotten into the sensor or clogged one or more of the holes but it wont budge. the bolt started to strip so i gave up on that.

i also wasnt really sure which sensor it was tlaking about so i took out the back one too. i recently installed an MIL eliminator and thought that could be the problem but i rewired everything and used **** loads of electrical tape just to be safe. the light is still on tho and the other thing is that the eliminator had already been in for about 2 weeks before the oil change disaster and seemed to be working perfectly. i actually noticed a difference in power (im guessing cuz the ecu thought the exhaust was cleaner and allowed more fuel into the mixture) unfortunately all i have are guesses cuz i really didnt even work on cars till like 2 months ago when i put on a new header, muffler, and did some custom exhaust piping.

the last thing i checked was the coating on all of the wiring around the oil filter... everything on the o2 sensor wires seemed fine but seeing that i cant get the sensor out i couldnt get a good look. one thought is that oil might have gotten into the wiring harness it connects to. ..

there was one other set of green wires and orange striped black wires there that just looked like they attach to a piece of metal coming out of the frame. so im thinking those are grounding wires and arent really a big deal but i couldnt get that out for a closer look either cuz the other end seems to go all the way to the ecu.

if someone could give me some advice on where to go next id appreciate it. duno if anyone will actually take the time to read all of this but bein a complete noob with cars isnt helping me. seems like my approach to learning (******* with things till i break them then trying to fix it) isnt really working as well as it did with computers so thx in advance...

some other information that might be useful if someone feels like dealin wit my self-inflicted problems:
i didnt mention that i drilled out the cat cuz ppl only wana bitch at me and not give me advice. unfortunately theyre right tho cuz thats when everything started goin downhill...

also the car seems fastest right after i reset the ecu... after that it seems like it gradually slows down as the sensors adjust

even before i went nuts with that drill it seemed like i was gettin more and more lag in low range rpms and there wasnt much throttle response at all when id step on the gas.... seemed to pick up fine tho when i was above like 3000-3500 rpms

both of these thigns lead me to believe i need a new sensor anyways so im gonna get one off ebay i found for $45 and hopefully that will fix my problems... anyone have any experience with it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...%3AIT