Knock Sensor Replacement

I'll add about to this story/information. I've got an '06 PreRunner with 211,000 miles and was recently wiring in a 7 way plug and brake controller (previous monkey jacked the factory harness up). I had to stop for the night as I was short on wire and the next morning, my cel popped on and she wouldn't shift into OD. I dropped yet off at the shop across the street for my office to have them check it out and do an oil change I hadn't made time for.

P0333 was all they could pull up and recommended I took it to a transmission shop. (Fast forward a week of bad fuel mileage). Yesterday I finally got it by a shop at lunch and their better scanner had several codes but all pointed to wiring.

So I went digging for information and found this post (after learning it was 1300+ from the shop to replace the sensor IF it was bad or 216 for the sensor and gasket set from a parts store).

After I got home last night, I started tearing into it and using an endoscopic camera to look for the wiring. a pesky rodent had climbed under the intake Wednesday night after I'd called it quits and taken liberties with the wiring. Luckily one of the local parts stores had ONE connector in stock for ~$10. Quick trip to town and back, bit of solder and some shrink wrap then it was time to button her back up. Oh, but it's also helpful to have someone with smaller hands (my wife) who can more easily reach under the coming pipe to unhook/hook up the connector.


When you're removing the fuel rail, be mindful of dirt/debris sitting around them. I had pine needles and dirt dobber nests that I vacuumed up. Also be careful that you don't damage the injectors. You can set the whole assembly to one side after only removing the 2 bolts and unplugging the left side. Also if you're using an endoscope to check the wiring, look from the front rather than the rear. The plug ends on the sensors should be visible from the front.

In all, it took just over 5 hours, $10 ($12 with tax) replacement connector, and my wifes smaller hands to get it fixed. I did use 2.5 cans of brake cleaner on the lower intake manifold as it was so filthy and I DID reuse the gaskets. Yes I know I should have replaced them but the lower 2 were still in excellent shape and came off clean and unwarped and the upper was still pliable.

 

Revival! Threw a P0332 tonite. Why do all these posts seem to be rodents chewing these hard to reach wires and no other wires? For shits and giggles I added good gas since it was on empty and reset with my Ultragage ( thanks secret Santa from 2 years ago) CEL hadn't been back on in 25 mi. Could this ve caused by bad gas/moisture etc from not driving the truck often?

 

It will come back. Mine would only come back after a hot restart. Cold start would never throw a light. Tested my sensor cold showed good. Hot it would not ohm right. Good luck.

 

We see it a lot at the dealership one of our mechanics is really good at fishing the connector out and fixing it.

By the book to replace the knock sensor the heads are supposed to come off

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grandpa-Gu...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

This stuff is supposed to work great to help prevent them from chewing.

 

Had the P0332 code come up this morning.

Didn't really notice any loss in power, however after I reset the code, when my truck is under load it sounds like a diesel engine. Not sure if it's just a coincidence. Hopefully it was just a nuisance code and does not come back up... looks like a labor intensive job.

 

Does anyone know how to file a claim on this issue? Engine maintenance is not covered under Comp/Collision and Erie is saying they won't cover it. But, so many people here have said they got it covered...anyone know how to go about filing that claim?

 

It IS TOTALLY possible to replace the knock sensor without removing the heads or even the pipe. I did it almost 2 years ago, with no problems since. Having said that, I re-soldered my broken wire. If you plan to go ahead and replace the entire wire harness, then this may not apply to you.

Here's the post where I discussed how I did it.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/knock-sensor-questions.456772/page-2#post-14361081

 

Just adding another data point.

Truck sat parked for four days while the family was away on vacation. Came back to a P0333. Reset it with my Scangauge, came straight back. Dealership confirmed rats had chewed the knock sensor harness. Filed a claim with USAA under Comprehensive.

The dealer quoted me about $940 for my 2015, apparently there’s a pigtail harness for the knock sensors at least in the later years. I was tempted to tear into it myself but with a $250 deductible and rental coverage, I opted to let the dealer deal with it while I keep working.

 

I didn't do anything special. I called my insurance and stated my problem and where the truck was. The dealer and insurance worked on it from there with me bouncing some info back and forth between the two.

 

To be specific.

If the knock sensor went bad, that isn’t a Comprehensive insurance issue.

If a critter chewed on your wiring, I would think that’s insurance worthy, unless they can point to some limiter in the policy that says otherwise.

You need to get your mechanic to determine if rodent intrusion/destroyed wiring is the root of the problem, or simply a failed sensor.

 

Does anyone have the ECU connector/ pin locations for the knock sensors? I've replaced the drivers side sensor because I didn't see any chewed up wiring with a boroscope. I still got the code, P0333, coming back.
Thanks

 

I've got this. Page 6. (#83 on the page)

https://www.customtacos.com/tech.ol...6toyewd/06toypdf/ewd/2006/tacoma/h/em01d3.pdf

 

Thank you sir!

 

In other news, I doused a bit of cloth in peppermint oil and secured it under my battery tiedown, hoping that prevents the furry little SOB’s from coming back.

What has everyone else done to prevent a repeat?

 

Trapped and relocated over 4 dozen chipmunks. Need to do it again since the population has rebounded.

 

Oh yay! This is my next job. Kind of excited! Lol

 

Hey Larzzzz ........ were you able to use your boroscope/endoscope? to check out all the knock sensor wiring without removing anything on top of the engine?

my 2006 sat for 6 years but it's now running again and got the P0333 code. Might not be plastic hungry rodents?

 

Any input of what can be done to prevent rodents from chewing these knock sensor wires? Someone previously posted an eBay link saying ‘use this stuff’, but link is broken & no explanation of what stuff is. Can you wrap the harness with aluminum tape up to the sensor? Or something else to prevent this from reoccurring?