1996 Nissan Pathfinder Knock sensor

1996 NISSAN PATHFINDER
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SCOTT JASH
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Engine Performance problem
1996 Nissan Pathfinder 6 cyl Four Wheel Drive Automatic

Hello,
Recently I took my 96 Nissan Pathfinder into Nissan for service and they told me I had a bad knock sensor. I didnt want to pay them $1000 to do it so I did it myself. When I finally tore the engine down and tested the sensor, It measured good according to the Haynes manual. I did notice breaks in the wire insulation on the wire of the connector cable. Is it possible that the wire caused the code to come up or is a bad knock sensor just testing good with the engine not running?
Mar 30, 2009 at 8:11 PM
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JAMES W.
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It's ENTIRELY possible that it was the harness and not the sensor. On Nissans, we get more bad harness connections than we do bad sensors
Mar 30, 2009 at 10:39 PM
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SCOTT JASH
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Thanks for the quick response. One more question before I put it back together. There is only one wire on the connector for the knock sensor. Is this correct?
Mar 31, 2009 at 7:27 AM
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JAMES W.
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Yes, just a single wire. The sensor reads voltage to ground when detonation occurs. You can check the sensor with an analog voltmeter set on the 2 volt scale. hook the meter up between the sensor and the connector and tap close to the sensor. The meter should "jump" .
Mar 31, 2009 at 12:35 PM