casm Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Question regarding the clocking of the sensor: looking at the one on my '99 Forester S (EJ25, N/A) from the front of the engine, the electrical connector is set at about the 10 o'clock position. From the photos earlier in the thread of the EJ22, it looks to be somewhere around 4 o'clock - or roughly 180 degrees opposite where mine is. Is the orientation on mine correct, or should it be set at some other position? The new sensor is shipping out tomorrow, and I'd really rather not screw this up when I do the replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Installation pictures were taken with the front of the engine (belts) at 12 o'clock, rear of the engine (bellhousing) at 6 o'clock. Looking from the front the wire should be clocked at about 10:30. The "safe" area is fairly obvious once the old sensor is removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casm Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Installation pictures were taken with the front of the engine (belts) at 12 o'clock, rear of the engine (bellhousing) at 6 o'clock. Looking from the front the wire should be clocked at about 10:30. The "safe" area is fairly obvious once the old sensor is removed. Awesome, and thanks. That jives with what I'm looking at from the front, so good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnTreader Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Bravo-- great initial post-- thank you. Cautionary tale though: I'm here because before I bought my MY01 Forester a shop replaced the knock sensor, and incidentally put it back in that alternative hole higher on the block and closer to the driver's side. I'd been wondering what had been removed from the obvious clean spot lower on the block. While there was no CEL, the car always had a detonation on upshifts and hesitation at low revs in 1st and 2nd gear. I thought it was just part of its personality. Dealer pointed out the sensor position anomaly, and since I've moved it back down the pinging is gone and it runs MUCH smoother. I conclude for whatever reason the sensor wasn't detecting the knocks properly in the higher up position, even though they'd cleaned the hole and block surface well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Great to hear some feedback about the alternative mounting of the sensor. How long did you have the car before taking it to the dealer? Had it been pinging the entire time? Was there another issue that prompted the dealer visit? A check engine light or some other condition which would require the ECU to be reset or the battery to be unhooked? How long has it been since the dealer visit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubino Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I've been experiencing problems with my '98 OBS, code for knock sensor came up, replaced it, nothing. The car sometimes runs as a new car, then for no reason at all, starts misfiring, bucking, etc. I am stumped. Nice write up here, I followed the directions to the T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00baru Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Hi there. Very informative thread. This is my first post to the forum. My mother has a 2000 Outback Limited sedan and she got a CEL on and off for six months or so, she took it to the dealer and they recommended a new knock sensor and want to charge her $380 for the pleasure. I've been trying to save her money and do some stuff for her and this seems like a fairly easy fix but one thing intimidates me and that is getting the orientation of the wire correct. I look at the original post and I'm still a bit confused. Any tips on ways to get the angle and orientation exactly correct? I really don't want to screw up anything. ALSO, are the sensors available on ebay just as good as the OEM? The parts dept at the dealer wants $118 for the sensor and I see they are $10 on ebay. Quite a difference. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Hi there. Very informative thread. This is my first post to the forum. My mother has a 2000 Outback Limited sedan and she got a CEL on and off for six months or so, she took it to the dealer and they recommended a new knock sensor and want to charge her $380 for the pleasure. I've been trying to save her money and do some stuff for her and this seems like a fairly easy fix but one thing intimidates me and that is getting the orientation of the wire correct. I look at the original post and I'm still a bit confused. Any tips on ways to get the angle and orientation exactly correct? I really don't want to screw up anything. ALSO, are the sensors available on ebay just as good as the OEM? The parts dept at the dealer wants $118 for the sensor and I see they are $10 on ebay. Quite a difference. Thanks in advance. The dealer probably wants to pull the intake manifold to do the job or something... I don't know if the ebay sensors are "just as good" as OEM but in my experience they are "good enough". I've got a $15 ebay sensor in my car and I've probably put 10,000km on it by now with no troubles. As with many things I made a little video about the replacement process. Part of the video is a discussion about the orientation of the sensor, maybe it will help you out: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00baru Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Hey fishy. I actually watched your video the other day. I found it on youtube before I joined the forum. Thanks for making it! I guess I'm just a very literal person and the wire coming off the sensor is what I can't quite understand. I'll take lots of pics of how it's on there now and just try to match it up the best I can. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Welcome aboard n00baru! Don't obsess over getting "the proper angle." The reason is simply to get the sensor sitting flush and flat on the engine block. Put the new sensor down there at approximately the correct angle then turn it slightly side-to-side--you should be able to feel when it's sitting flat. Re-read Fairtax's first post--he explains it very well. And as he said, don't overtighten it or you can easily crack the new one. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 Any tips on ways to get the angle and orientation exactly correct? I really don't want to screw up anything. ALSO, are the sensors available on ebay just as good as the OEM? The angle doesn't have to be exactly exact. It'll make more sense when you get under the hood and look at it. Just note the orientation of the original sensor and try to get close to that with the new sensor. Are the eBay sensors AS good? Probably not, but they're good enough. And for the cost, you can order 8 or 9 of them for less than 1 dealer part. If an eBay sensor lasts two years, and even if you get a dud, you're covered for 12,14, maybe 18 years, and you're still spending less than getting 1 from a dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00baru Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Thank you, Olnick and Fairtax4me. That gives me some more confidence. And as long as the cheapo ebay sensor doesn't hurt the performance of the car then I'll be very happy; And with the money I save I can totally justify buying a torque wrench, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Of course you can. You have our permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Thank you, Olnick and Fairtax4me. That gives me some more confidence. And as long as the cheapo ebay sensor doesn't hurt the performance of the car then I'll be very happy; And with the money I save I can totally justify buying a torque wrench, right? Any kind of tools are always a justified purchase! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macnore Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I have 2005 outback with a SOHC with 100,000 miles. The timing belt was changed (DIY) 3500 miles ago. Now just recently there is a odd noise on cold startups which goes away after a couple of minutes. The frequency does NOT seem to match the speed of the idle. Sounds like something bouncing around inside near the front of the engine. Could this be a injector going bad and when the engine warms up a little the fuel can ignite more fully? Or could this be a knock sensor? Could it be that simple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Could be rattling heat-shields (on the exhaust). The rattle sometimes goes away when the exhaust heats up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Agreed, most likely heat shields. You can tap on them with your hand (when they're cool) and see if they rattle similar to the rattle you hear. But, since you just did a timing job, make sure the crankshaft bolt is tight and give the front end a check over for any loose parts. Did you replace all of the idlers and the tensioner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 "Sounds like something bouncing around inside near the front of the engine." Could it be the timing belt tensioner? I understand the "new design" is much less hardy than the "old" one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Resistance check of the sensor will give you some info on it's condition. I've pulled the air intake and sometimes the throttle body for more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbatman Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 (edited) Disconnected knock sensor and the pinging stopped? I have a 2006 Impreza EJ201 that has been pinging under load and up hill once it has warmed up. Been running 98 octane fuel and performed upper engine clean but still pings. Disconnected knock sensor and all pinging has stopped. Does this mean the knock sensor was faulty and making my car ping? Edited April 6, 2017 by Greenbatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 No. Unplugging the knock sensor puts the ECU into a "Limp mode" of sorts. It defaults to a preset ignition timing pattern that is not advanced enough to allow pinging to occur. On some vehicles it may also cause the A/F ratio to go rich, but I'm not sure if Subaru does that. If the sensor is faulty it may not react to the pinging that may be occurring, but that is not the cause of the pinging. The sensor only tells the ECU if the engine is pinging, the ECU makes changes in the timing advance to try to prevent the ping. Inspect the knock sensor for cracks in the casing and corrosion underneath. If the sensor is cracked replace it. Be sure to clean any corrosion away from the mounting surface on the block. Lots of things can cause pinging. intake air leaks, faulty O2 sensor, dirty or faulty MAF sensor, bad ECT sensor, etc. Ideally pinging should not occur ever on a properly operating engine, but there are environmental and conditional factors that can or will cause pinging even when the engine is operating properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbatman Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Thanks for your advice. I'll give that a try. Very frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbatman Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 (edited) . Edited April 6, 2017 by Greenbatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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