upon purchasing my car i had a long list of codes and things needed to correct on 1995 nissan maxima. oxygen sensors.. misfire. (new spark plugs and replace 3 bad coils) new water pump and timing chain..full tune up ..Now i am down to the last thing the knock sensor. However i have replace the knock sensor and its still pulling the same code. I was curious to know if maybe the previous owner tampered with the knock sensor. I only can find 1 wire going to my knock sensor and it was tapped up. I untaped it and it seems like it was spliced. So my question is how many wires go to the knock sensor and if possible can someone send me some pictures and maybe a detail description of how it should be hooked up. Is there any way to totally do away with the knock sensor and make the computer read as if it has one??

 

Your KS harness was not tampered with. The harness has one wire to the sensor and the other is a "shield". The original Nissan part even has electrical tape. You can see in this photo, there are two wires, yellow and black at the harness end, and one transparent yellowish wire at the sensor end. Did you fixyour O2 sensors and everything else first, sometimes other issues will set a bogus KS code.


Also, Look up KS resistor mod. I have been running like this for a year now. You NEED to run premium gas though. This was my mod, using a 470K (470,000) Ohm resistor from radio shack. You can also unplug the sub harness, and just plug the resistor straight into the vehicle harness.

 

hey i appreicate your reply.. but my problem is not the subharnes.. but the harness coming from the car.. do you have any pictures of what the wire is supposed to be like before it gets to the ks sensor and sub harness.. is that still a single wire i have to wires. 1 black wire and i yellow clearish wire (kind of looks like speaker wire)...

 

That black wire coming from the sub harness connector is a grounded wire shielding the yellow wire. With a mulitimeter test to see if that black wire is grounded. Also check the yellow wire for continuity from the sub-harness connector to the ECM.

 

So the vehicle harness should be the same construction as the sub harness. Still sounds normal from your description in that case. jholley is on the right track, I dont know about spe4cs but those two continuity tests will tell you if you have a bad connection.

 

using a multimeter how do you check for continuity?

 

Use the ohms (horseshoe symbol). probe at #2 terminal and body, lower number equals lower resistance. 0 is open (broken wire). Test from #1 terminal to #64 at ECM. Bckprobe ECM connecter with a straight pin (tailors pin).

 

Some multimeters have a continuity function that applies 9v across the leads. Mine is a cheapo from Lowe's and has it. If you use that setting, it may have a audible beep to let you know you have continuity, rather than an ohm reading. On mine, the continuity setting has a diode symbol.

 

I just replaced my KS over the weekend on my 95 GLE. Mine was setting the KS code and performance was sluggish. After replacement, the performance was vastly improved. It will be interesting to see how mileage is affected.
I have big hands so I really buggered up my right hand trying to get the wrench on the KS. I finally had my wife to put the wrench on the bolt, then I could tighten it.
While I was at it, I installed new coils I got off Ebay (from a 99, hanshins) and cleaned the IAC. The IAC was a piece of cake.
So, a good weekend for the Black Max. IAC and KS codes cleared and still off.
Thanks to all for the good info in the forum stickys and on the other threads.

One more thing, the KS on my car was the original (212kmi) and it had only one wire going to the sensor. The braided shield was taped with electrical tape and not grounded to anything. Although there are two terminals on the KS, one of them on the back side of the connector has a little, blue rubber plug in it from the factory so I know only one wire as going to the KS. The active wire went to the left hand terminal on the KS.

 

The knock sensor was a breeze. My hands way too large, but with this tool http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-to...het-66434.html and my 9 year olds hand it only took me 15 minutes. Thought I would share...

 

that's pretty interesting. i was contemplating selling my '96 max because aside from needed a clutch and possible tranny, i have had check engine lights on for the last 1.5 years and with emissions due end of summer i don't know if i want to spend another $500+ that my mechanic quoted me for the knock sensor replacement and evap valve issue/charcoal canister. but looking at that tool makes me think maybe i can actually try it myself

 

Everyone on here says that KS will set a code but will not, by itself, turn on CEL. So if you fix evap issue, KS code by itself should not fail emmisions. I have evap issue also (P0446) - will be looking to see how you solve yours.