Trying to replace a knock sensor..

Has anyone tried to do this while the engine was in the car? What did it take to get at it? this bugger is really far in and under the IM, I cant find any tool that will hit it right, I even tried a special plumbing tool called a Basin wrench, but it was too fat. I can just barely touch it with my fingers. Oh btw, the plastic plug is broken so im trying to remove just the metal bolt portion of it. I just want this last CEL to go the hell away..

dumb question, but have you tried to get it from the bottom?

If clearance is a problem undo the rear motor mount and tilt the motor forward.

Socket and extension.

go from under the car.

Tried to get it from under the car, it just seems that no matter what angle I try and get at it from, im either just out reach..cant get the right angle, or I can just barely touch it with a socket, but never get it on. I managed to get two fingers on it once, but there was no chance of turning it.

Tried to get it from under the car, it just seems that no matter what angle I try and get at it from, im either just out reach..cant get the right angle, or I can just barely touch it with a socket, but never get it on. I managed to get two fingers on it once, but there was no chance of turning it.

Remove the intake manifold. Not too much work.

^ah this is very true. is there a good reason u didn't try this first? hmmm

^ah this is very true. is there a good reason u didn't try this first? hmmm
shiit u telling me u wouldnt have tried getting to the sensor first without removing ur IM? never know he might have a nice hondata gasket and those aint cheap and i think getting to the lower manifold bolts are a bitch..but if u ran out of all options i guess ur gonna have to take that bad boy off

shiit u telling me u wouldnt have tried getting to the sensor first without removing ur IM? never know he might have a nice hondata gasket and those aint cheap and i think getting to the lower manifold bolts are a bitch..but if u ran out of all options i guess ur gonna have to take that bad boy off


Yeah man, I really hate removing components when I dont need to, and the gasket on the manifold is really nice. Hell, Ive removed my knuckles at least 5 times and never disconnected the brake lines just because I dont like doing more work than I have to. I wouldnt mind removing the manifold I suppose, but I dont really have the time to do it. School starts in a few days. When I think about it, the lower manifold bolts would be almost as bad, but theres more of them lol.

the lower manifold bolts are a pits. but when sacrifices need to be made. goodluck hope you can find a easy way to do it.

It pissing me off because I have been having to travel like 150 mi a day, about 4 times this week. The CEL is killing me.

It pissing me off because I have been having to travel like 150 mi a day, about 4 times this week. The CEL is killing me.

This is VERY ghetto and I wouldn't do it to my car, but if you are not worried about the cel, you could just plug in your new Knock sensor to the plug, and then just tape the hell out of it with electrical tape and secure it somewhere with a zip-tie for the time being. Voila, CEL fixed. But you're knock sensor won't be functional.
I would also recommend actually installing it when you get some time though.

Yeah I initially just hooked it up and put it on ym manifold lol, till that didnt work (I just wanted to see if it was good). I have seen people who do LSVTECs bolt it into the alternator bracket, just remove one bolt and thread it into there. I dunno.

Yeah I initially just hooked it up and put it on ym manifold lol, till that didnt work (I just wanted to see if it was good). I have seen people who do LSVTECs bolt it into the alternator bracket, just remove one bolt and thread it into there. I dunno.

That's where mine was. But, you can't just thread it in....it has to be tapped and rethreaded.

Well damn...