I love my 2003 Nissan Maxima 3.5 but I've been having the worst luck finding a wiring harness that fits the knock sensor. I need the harness with a connector on each end. I had a bad oil leak and it's possible that the leaking oil damaged the harness wires and knock sensor. My mechanic cleaned my knock sensor and tried to re wire it and doing so, my car started and I have able to drive it home. My car is loud, feels as if it's gonna cut off, and makes a putt putt noise. If anyone has any suggestions or could help me in anyway I would appreciate it.

 

Those are not KS symptoms. Oil cannot leak onto any of it (unless you're spraying it LOL, nor would that even matter much). You make it sound as if it wouldn't run before... (totally unrelated if so)

Stick a 500K ohm resistor in the main harness to do a bypass. But, I doubt that will do anything.

Find someone that knows nissans.

 

After having my valve cover gaskets changed. There was the issue with my car not starting and I'm uncertain why. There was a lot of oil and it had been leaking for a while. The KS code has been coming up for a year or so. After cleaning it out once and re connecting it, everything was fine.

 

I'm looking for a knock sensor with the wiring harness compatible with a 2003 nissan maxima 3.5. I checked ebay and Amazon and those aren't compatible with my car. Has anyone ever tried another nissan model? Please help!

 

z1motorsports.com. for $35 it doesnt say maxima but states its for the 3.5l VQ35DE engine which is our maxima engine. Hope it all works for you

 

It's a one trip DTC. Your car won't hold a CEL if it detects it's bad.

 

Well the knock sensor grounds directly to the block?
If the block builds up dirt and grime/oil it could effect the ground causing a short?
Dirt/grime on the block can cause a voltage drop robbing the car of HP?
My KS went out. The new one has a metal bushing that has a through bolt that grounds the sensor.
I have been cleaning all around where this sensor mounts.
I can't find a harness anywhere either. The original harness crumbled.

 

Courtesy Nissan has it for $23, part # 24079-2Y000 - http://www.courtesyparts.com/oe-nissan/240792y000

 

Order placed

 

OK I received this harness now my question is about the tape on either side. There is a heat tube the wire runs through then just tape that covers the excess wire before it goes into the harness. For some reason I began removing the tape from the end that plugs into the sensor. I re wrapped the end heavily in electrical tape.
If there is a small amount of the wire from the harness to the heat tube exposed will the information being send be effected? I covered it heavily but I was just curious.

 

That tube is to protect the wires from physical damage, so the insulation doesn't get rubbed off on the metal engine block. I don't think the outer tube has anything to do with heat protection. Heat does not affect the electrical transmitting properties of the wire unless it melted the insulation off and allowed the wires to short. The only place that would be likely to happen is around the exhaust system.

 

It's the way to go to replace both harness and sensor!

 

also if you try to test it from the ECM, you may have to remove the engine ground bolt to get a sure reading.

The head of the bolt is usually so corroded you wont get anything near where your supposed to be.