I went to a shop today to change my engine and trans oil and I talked to one of the mechanics there about changing the knock sensor (apparently, although my car car is nor Calif. spec, the intake is and in order to change the KS the intake manifold needs to be taken off). He said that if I bring the car into the shop to take the intake off, why not change the whole intake (it would be the same labor/price) with a "regular" one. He said that the Calif. spec intake reduces the engine power.
He was going to do the same job for the same amount of money and he didn't have any intake for sale and because there's no interest from him, I tend to believe he might be right.

What do YOU think?

 

I don't know for sure about the Cali. intake reducing power. I didn't think the intakes were different...I thought it was more exhaust restrictions...

But about the knock sensor...
Some people don't have to remove the entire intake to change the knock sensor. If your hands are small enough, you should be able to reach it.

Here's a write-up about the knock sensor:
http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/507

David

 

This post will clarify my situation:

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...preciated.html

Pics included.

P.S. The mechanic told me the same thing: "99, non Cali, knock sensor - it shouldn't be a problem" we even made a bet about how easy is to change it. After 15 minutes he admitted he lost but I didn't take his money.

 

I just heard that the Cali spec is much harder.....you should be able to see it much clearer on the fed spec.As someone already said, get someone with small hands.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...nsor-97se.html

 

To make things clear:

1: ON MY CAR the intake manifold has to be taken off in order to change the knock sensor
2: A mechanic (almost) lost 100$ trying to prove me that changing the sensor doesn't require taking the intake off
3: The intake WILL BE TAKEN OFF in the foreseeable future

because of this, it looks like I have a Cali spec intake on my car so, the question is:

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CALI AND FED SPEC INTAKES REGARDING PERFORMANCE?

 

Swirl valves hinder airflow, if you have it off you might as well.

BTW, I show your VIN as being Cali-spec...

 

To find out whether your car is fed or cali, look in the stickys. It has to do with a metal plate located under your hood near firewall i believe. I think performance is the same (i think) and IIRC people have changed their KS with the intake on.

 

Since he posted his VIN in the other thread:




Looks cali spec to me

 

The answer seems to be that the performance PROBABLY is better with the regular intake because of the swirl valves. The last question is:
Should I change both intakes or only the upper intake manifold?

Thank you for all the answers!

 

The swirl valves are in the lower, not the upper.

No real reason to swap out for a different UIM, they should be about the same on all A32s.

 

I found some under 100$ and the labor is the same but you still think it's not worth it?

I forgot to mention that I also want to put in some intake spacers and it was in this context that that the idea of swapping intakes came up.