Hey guys, I'm going to be replacing my knock sensors this weekend. Do I need to drain my coolant beforehand? This will be up there with one of the more extensive repairs I've done, but I'm confident. If theres any other tricks please let me know. This is what I understand as the process. Disconnect battery, Remove intake, throttle body, trottle cables, remove and neatly mark all electronic connections to the IM, drain coolant?, remove anythingthing else im forgetting, loosen IM bolts 1/4 turn at a time, remove IM.

Any tips will help!

 

No need to drain coolant. All the connections are pretty easy to remember. You might need a new knock sensor wire harness. I did. It was 50 bucks from the dealer. Just relief the pressure from the fuel line, disconnect the fuel injectors wire harnesses, pop up the fuel injectors, loosen intake manifold bolts, take manifold off, remove old knock sensor in back which is the one that always builds up water around it. You will see it is very rusted! When you put the new one, get some orange RTV silicone and make a bead around the edge and then put down the rubber grommet and seal it everywhere. This will guarantee it wont happen again. Do both also. Then reinstall and your good! You will notice the performance increases cuz the computer kept retarding your timing by default to prevent pre detonation. Since it couldnt read the knock sensor it would just retard the timing to make sure the engine wouldn't have a chance to knock.

 

Thanks for the help! Where do I release the fuel line pressure at? Also, did you torque the knock sensors and IM bolts? If so to how much? Yeah I have the harness on my list as well as the IM gasket and RTV. You say to put the RTV down before the sensor and grommet? I have been running in f**king "limp home mode" for about half a year and had no idea until it started affecting my tranny. It runs so rich and has no ***** at all. I thought the tranny shifting wierd was a seperate problem and had the hardest time figuring it out. Then I read about "limp home mode" and also read that engine sensors going bad can send bad messages to the transmission control module. Now I'm stuck in second gear! Thanks again!!

 

Definitely get the harness.

Also check your manifold gaskets for any hairline cracks. If there's anything that looks suspicious, replace them....better than having to rip into it again.

 

There is a valve similar to tire valve to put air on the passenger side fule rail. Take the cap off and stick a screwdriver in the middle where the core is and slowly push. Be careful cuz its got bout 50 PSI and will shoot out quickly and may get into your eyes. So use a rag to cover it while you do it. It will only take a couple seconds to relieve the pressure. After screwing in the new knock sensor, you will see how the rubber grommet slides down the wire to cap the hole where the sensor goes. Before putting the rubber grommet down, put a bead of RTV around the edge where the grommet will sit. Then slide down the grommet on top of the RTV bead. Put some in the hole where the wire and grommet meet. Do both sensors this way.