AnAngryJelly
Test Drive
- Location
- Washington
My knock sensor started throwing codes and eventually went out/faulty.
Now, after recently getting my timing belt, water pump, thermostat, drive belts, tensioners, coolant, cam and crank seals all done for a hefty fee. As well as having my fuel pump fail (didn't qualify for the recall due to it had already been replaced once) as well as the fuel sending unit and fuel relay fail. You can probably understand why I wanted to find an alternative to paying someone to do my knock sensor.
Now, I lurked around the internet to find a way to do it. Most people were tearing apart their engine and now I would say I am pretty comfortable working on my car, but this was a daunting task that needed to be done. I also didn't want to destroy my Xterra.
So I set out to find an alternative and decided to cut the wiring to my old knock sensor and replace it in a new location.
I chose to relocate it mainly because if you do the bypass then you end up not having a knock sensor, which means you lose the protection that it offers.
Now as you might know, this job is very labor intensive if you go the traditional route, which can lead you to getting quote anywhere from 500 to 1000 dollars. That is because the knock sensor is located.... well here just watch this.
[video=youtube;IGc1CPtCdvg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGc1CPtCdvg[/video]
Getting to the good stuff now.
Now, I did it myself for under $50 dollars without taking apart my engine.
I tested it with this Bluetooth OBDII Car Diagnostic Scanner.
As well as this app on android called Torque.
Part's List
Knock Sensor
Wiring Harness didn't fit perfectly into the sensor i linked above, but it was on Amazon Prime and was cheap. Being as impatient as I am I made it work by cutting the plastic around the harness to make it fit into the knock sensor.
I owned all of these below, if you don't this could drive the cost up.
Multimeter, but could probably make due without it.
Wire Cutters
Wire Strippers
Extra Wiring
Electrical Tape
Tubing to go around the wiring.
Butt Connectors that were heat shrinkable
Lighter
Guides's
You can follow this guide for a supercharged engine.
You can follow this guide for a non-supercharged engine.
You can follow this wiring diagram as well.
Now between those two guides and the wiring diagram, you should be set to wire your knock sensor and relocate it.
I followed the supercharged guide even though my Xterra isn't. I felt it was a little more detailed and easier to follow, but I relocated my knock sensor to the same place as the guy did in the non-supercharged guide.
If your comfortable doing this job you can save yourself tons of money! I am 19 and felt confident doing this. It took me about three hours in total. I worked slowly and if i felt overwhelmed or thought I was doing something wrong I stopped, took a break to look at the guides above.
TL;DR - Magically moved my knock sensor to a new location without tearing apart my engine.
I hope this post was helpful to anyone that stumbles upon it, as well as save everyone some time now that this can all be found in this post.
If you have any question, just throw a comment below and I will answer it to the best of my ability or try and direct you to something that may help!
Now, after recently getting my timing belt, water pump, thermostat, drive belts, tensioners, coolant, cam and crank seals all done for a hefty fee. As well as having my fuel pump fail (didn't qualify for the recall due to it had already been replaced once) as well as the fuel sending unit and fuel relay fail. You can probably understand why I wanted to find an alternative to paying someone to do my knock sensor.
Now, I lurked around the internet to find a way to do it. Most people were tearing apart their engine and now I would say I am pretty comfortable working on my car, but this was a daunting task that needed to be done. I also didn't want to destroy my Xterra.
So I set out to find an alternative and decided to cut the wiring to my old knock sensor and replace it in a new location.
I chose to relocate it mainly because if you do the bypass then you end up not having a knock sensor, which means you lose the protection that it offers.
Now as you might know, this job is very labor intensive if you go the traditional route, which can lead you to getting quote anywhere from 500 to 1000 dollars. That is because the knock sensor is located.... well here just watch this.
[video=youtube;IGc1CPtCdvg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGc1CPtCdvg[/video]
Getting to the good stuff now.
Now, I did it myself for under $50 dollars without taking apart my engine.
I tested it with this Bluetooth OBDII Car Diagnostic Scanner.
As well as this app on android called Torque.
Part's List
Knock Sensor
Wiring Harness didn't fit perfectly into the sensor i linked above, but it was on Amazon Prime and was cheap. Being as impatient as I am I made it work by cutting the plastic around the harness to make it fit into the knock sensor.
I owned all of these below, if you don't this could drive the cost up.
Multimeter, but could probably make due without it.
Wire Cutters
Wire Strippers
Extra Wiring
Electrical Tape
Tubing to go around the wiring.
Butt Connectors that were heat shrinkable
Lighter
Guides's
You can follow this guide for a supercharged engine.
You can follow this guide for a non-supercharged engine.
You can follow this wiring diagram as well.
Now between those two guides and the wiring diagram, you should be set to wire your knock sensor and relocate it.
I followed the supercharged guide even though my Xterra isn't. I felt it was a little more detailed and easier to follow, but I relocated my knock sensor to the same place as the guy did in the non-supercharged guide.
If your comfortable doing this job you can save yourself tons of money! I am 19 and felt confident doing this. It took me about three hours in total. I worked slowly and if i felt overwhelmed or thought I was doing something wrong I stopped, took a break to look at the guides above.
TL;DR - Magically moved my knock sensor to a new location without tearing apart my engine.
I hope this post was helpful to anyone that stumbles upon it, as well as save everyone some time now that this can all be found in this post.
If you have any question, just throw a comment below and I will answer it to the best of my ability or try and direct you to something that may help!
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