Group: I have a check engine light. Went to AutoZone and they told me it was the knock sensor. Have any of the group had this problem?
I want to change it but have not found it in the Haynes book. Can you help me with directions on how to locate and change this sensor? I do almost all my own work on cars but since I cannot find it in the book, I'm wondering if this is a dealer thing...
Thanks in advance Dave
The knock sensor is documented in HAynes, at least mine ( 1993 to 2001 section 6-15. In addition to this, I copied below extremely useful info on the KN change procedure, I has saved from previous posts or other newsgroups.
Daniel montreal
Yep - managed to do it without cutting myself up or even having to stick my hand under the there. After using a "universal joint" type 3/8 ths drive with a 12 mm socket and a 10 inch extension to break the bolt loose, I used a claw-type pick up tool to retrieve the bolt. Used the same tool to place the bolt back in place back in place and then used gently used the 12 mm socket to tighten it back down.
It took me about an hour to do - but most of it was the struggle to crack the bolt loose - before a lightblub went off in my head and I used some WD-40 on it. After the bolt was cracked loose - the rest of the job took no longer than 15 minutes. Having my wife patiently hold the flashlight helped tremendously as well.
Just thought this info might help some of you guys looking to change the K/S in the future.
Oh, and thanks to everyone that replied quick to my other thread about the K/S bolt size.
____________________________________________________________________________ _____________
14 inch extension + 12mm swivel socket + cold engine= 10 minute Knock sensor swap.______________________________________________________________________-
Modifications to the Skippynet method
The article suggest using a 14" (or longer) ¼" socket extension to reach the KS retaining bolt. I found that using a 9" extension made it much easier to get the u-joint onto the KS bolt. To save money, I used two 3/8" drive extensions with a 3/8 to ¼ adapter, a ¼" drive u-joint and a ¼" 12mm socket (most of which I already had). Skippynet suggest using a 12mm flex socket, but being cheap I used a separate socket and u-joint so that I would have a more useful general purpose tool left over than the 12mm flex socket (better yet, I borrowed the u-joint and saved another $8). A 3/8" u-joint is a slightly bigger animal and in my opinion would make it hard to get the socket onto the bolt. It was not at all difficult to loosen the bolt using this setup. I had also borrowed a 16" extension and found it very difficult to get the socket onto the bolt head (I gave up after about 2 minutes, so it probably could have been done).
Once the bolt was out, I used a magnetic pickup to retrieve it (and eliminate the possibility of dropping it into the engine cavity where as you will find out soon, is not a very friendly place). With the bolt removed, you can pull the knock sensor out of the cavity by the harness and replace it. Next, I put the bolt into the new KS and used a small piece of tape to hold it in place while I stuffed it back into the engine cavity (again to eliminate the chance of dropping it in there).
Now the difficult part: I don't see how you can locate the bolt into the hole and tighten it without stuffing your hand under the manifold (and I mean stuff). If you have very large hands, you might try enlisting a girlfriend or you mom as others have done. I was able to get my hand in there and get the bolt hand tight, then it was just a matter of using the 9" extension/u-joint setup again to do the final tightening.
Your hands will get cut up a little doing this, but no worse than I am used to with other auto repairs. Go inside, clean up and put some disinfectant on your cuts.
I was able to replace the KS in both cars in less than 1 hour including test drives using this method. The real key is using the skippyney socket extension method to crack the bolt loose. Once you have jammed your hand into the engine cavity you will realize how difficult it would have been to get a wrench on the bolt and loosen it.
FYI - the knock sensor can also show bad due to other problems. You might want to test it to see if that's really the issue. It can also just be a bad contact and the sensor would show bad. Again, test if you can. I don't know if the Lames - 'scuse me, Haynes - manual has the test specs.
Bob
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.