Knock P0330 Knock sensor?

First time poster here, long time taco fan. I drive nothing but.

Vehicle- '99 xtra cab taco with trd supercharged v6, 5 spd, 4x4.

Issue- My truck throws a check engine light, codes P0330(knock sensor), and once the light is up, if I accelerate a little hard even, it cuts back and acts almost as if I have 2-3 cylinders running. Just no power at all.

If I clear the code, it runs normally until it codes again(takes 2-3 drive cycles to code again).

I took my truck to my mechanic, who is one of maybe 2 people I trust with my truck. He cleared the code, and couldn't get it to come back on or have the lack of power issue. I drove it and couldn't get it to act up as well. Then this morning, it codes, and does the same thing.

3 questions-
Is this normal behavior for these when the knock sensor or wiring goes out?

Will/Could this issue also cause slight pinging under heavy throttle(been an issue for a few months, changed gas, have some octane booster+injector cleaner I'm going to run thru it to see if it's reduced)?

How long will this take the normal driveway mechanic to fix/replace(with plenty of experience, just lack of air and specialty tools)? My mechanic mentioned having to pull the intake manifold off, (which I believe for me means the supercharger as well?) then replacing both sensors since it's so labor intense as well as the pig tails attatched to them.

Thanks for your help! I'm moving and can't afford $800-900 in repairs for my truck atm.... =(

 

Hi there
The way I understand it if u get a knock sensor error the computer goes into safe mode you loose power fuel economy and on my 06 Tacoma I also lost overdrive. Your problem may be a timing issue and the knock sensor is picking up the pinging of the pre-ignition. I think the computer is to adjust the timing when it picks up the pinging and if it doesn't go away you are getting the error. Im just a backyard wrench so don't take my word but ask around. I have the 4L V6 and it was about 3 hours to tear down and fix the wires the rodents had chewed and about 2hours to reassemble.

 

I have a taco 2006 4.0 and a code po330 knock sensor don't know if it's the sensor or the wiring but I couldn't find where the knock sensor is? What causes the knock sensor to go on?

 

Well it was proven RATS

 

The knock sensors on a 1st gen V6 are located in the valley, under the lower intake. They are attached to each cylinder head. You have to remove the intake to get to them. Common issues when one fails is lack of power, and/or noise on acceleration, or under load. I would suggest replacing both of them at the same time.