A month ago I had noever heard of the kinock sensor. Now I know that it is a valuable tool that everyone should be aware of.
My 99 obw taught me about it through a code P0325, knock sensor ckt problem. I kicked that one upstairs to my faithful mechanic Dave, who replaced the sensor, and off I went on a 1000 mile round trip visit.
To my surprise by the end of that trip I was getting 28 mpg again (75 mph hwy), just like when the car was almost new. It had degraded down to about 24 mpg in the last year. This was on 10% ethanol. I am eager to see what I now can get on 85% ethanol (E85) when the price of gasoline goes back up.
Now I can see better what the knock sensor will do for a high octane fuel like E85. It advances the spark up to the knocking point and backs off a little. That explains why the mpg penalty for E85 is only
15% instead of the energy density penalty of 30%. (Last year at the peak of gas prices, E85 was 25% lower in price, giving me a miles-per- dollar savings.) It also helps explain the higher performance I get on E85.Maybe I am not the only one who didn't kinow about the knock sensor!
Uncle Ben