AR-Trvlr

I'm in the process of rebuilding a blown motor, but the knock sensor was destroyed when the motor was pulled out. Looking at replacements on ebay they're showing two pins, but looking at what's left of the one on the motor looks like just one. Any advice?

Steve83

Skip it - it doesn't actually help the engine anyway, and the EEC can't tell if it's disconnected/missing/connected & working perfectly.

But if you're determined, just look at the truck wiring - are there 2 wires, or 1? These suggest there are 2:


(phone app link)


(phone app link)

raski

It will be known missing should his engine start pinging for some reason.

AR-Trvlr

Unfortunately I have no idea which plug in the engine bay goes to the knock sensor. I didn't pull the motor out, and it's a mess of wires. Once I get the new motor built my next puzzle will be figuring out what plug goes where...

Steve83

No, it won't. The EEC won't know that it's pinging because the KS won't be there to tell it. And even when it's there, the EEC can't detect the KS.Did you look at the diagrams I posted?

raski

You want the EEC to know its pinging so it will back off the timing if it is pinging, that's why the sensor is there in the first place.

AR-Trvlr

I did. And I agree, based on the diagram, it appears that it should be a 2-pin sensor. Unfortunately, what remains of the old knock sensor appears to have had only a single pin in the center. So my plan is to wait until I install the motor and can figure out the correct plug, and go from there.

Steve83

Good theory, but it doesn't actually work that way. Even when these engines were new, they made so much mechanical noise that the hypersensitive KS was constantly signalling the EEC that it was knocking. After this many years, with this many miles, it'll be even worse. So it's just not worth the trouble of repairing such a useless sensor. Have you noticed that Ford deleted that sensor in '96?

raski

Perhaps you should head the whole engineering department at Ford. You seem to be smarter than they are by putting unnecessary sensors here and there.

Steve83

They didn't know it when they designed these early EECs & KSs. But they found out later, which is why they stopped using a KS. I found out from one of them, and I'm passing that info along. It doesn't make me smarter than them - just better-informed than you.