Well I finally got to the point where I could take my car for a drive, and after while got a PO332. After some troubleshooting I took off the intake and found this:


It's clearly been over torqued, but now I have to figure out what to do about it. It appears to be an insert, but I don't know that it helps any if it is. As I see it my options are to either try to have it welded, or replace it though I don't know where I'd get another one or how I'd install it. Or relocate the knock sensor which isn't a great option either.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

P0332 is knock sensor voltage low, rear... That crack wouldn't necessarily cause that. It's still going to be grounded. That's a VOLTAGE, not a knock issue. I literally just went through this, and here's my thread where I FINALLY got it resolved.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...s-harness.html

And I have to ask, what oil are you running, and how often is it changed? That area inside the valley is NASTY

 

You must have been relieved to find that bad wire! Right now I'd be happy to find something that simple. As I look at the mounting boss I can see a hairline crack on the other side.

 

Ohm that KS and see if it's 99.xx

If so, it's good.

Hook up the harness to them both, leaving them screwed into the block. There's 2 pins in the harness, obviously. Put the negative of the multi-meter on the battery ground, and use the positive to probe each pin on the harness. It should be the same 99.xx reading.

If not, it's the KS harness that's bad or has a break somewhere. If it's good, then there's a problem with the wire between the PCM and the pigtail connector.

Hope that helps. OHM those sensors!!

 

I sure will, at least that problem has an obvious solution. I wish the mounting boss was that easy to fix.

 

I'm thinking I can just have this welded. It only has to be strong enough to have a knock sensor tightened to 15 ft/lbs. I'm going to cover the valley area with a welding blanket and v-cut the cracks, then I'll screw in an M10 1.5 bolt to protect the threads, and have it welded. Then I can remove the bolt and put the valley back in, put the knock sensor back in and go on with my life.

 

If you could find a piece of thin-wall (0.035") tubing with the right ID, just tap it over the boss. If the motor's out, welding would prolly be best...

 

I just had a look at the knock sensor bosses in my block. If this was my problem, I'd wrap the boss with some kind of clamp like a hose clamp and call it a day.

 

Check the OD of both the cracked and the good boss w/ a mic. [See if the cracked boss is way out of spec, and use that to determine the ID of the sleeve.] Have someone make a steel sleeve that's a couple thou smaller on the ID.
Clean the boss, put some loc tite on it, warm the sleeve up, drive it on, and wait til it cools.
It'll be "tighter than a bull's *** in fly time"!

WHOOPS! Russ beat me to it!

 

Something like this?

http://www.grainger.com/product/Tubing-5LVT6?s_pp=false

 

That's pretty good advice, the thin walled tubing wouldn't be an exact fit even if I could find it in the right approximate size which I can't. A custom made bushing or sleeve of this sort wouldn't be cheap, but whatever.

 

There have been developments, I was looking through leftover parts from previous builds and found a tube nut that was about the same size as the sensor boss. I used a 3/4 hole saw to open the inside up to the same size and cut a little bit off the bottom so that it'd be the right length. I figured I could put the valley cover on, put a stud in the cracked boss hole and put the nut over the top. Then remove the stud, install the knock sensor and the sensor holds the tube nut in place while the tube nut holds the boss together. Here's the tube nut:

I carefully trial fit the tube nut then began to clean the cracked boss when the cracked part of the boss broke off and jumped down the adjacent hole like a rabbit jumping into it's burrow.

So I dropped the oil pan and windage tray and found it


My plan now is to put the broken piece back in with jb weld with the stud in place, and wait a day then put the valley cover back on, put the tube nut on, remove the stud, and install the knock sensor. When that's done I'll reinstall the oil pan. What a strange trip this has been so far.

 

In can imagine the thoughts in your mind when it dropped in the hole! Is this engine on a stand and it was easy to drop the pan?

I think I'd go with the epoxy but get a clamp around the outside. They a little epoxy on that too.

You'll need a bottoming tap to get the epoxy that oozed into the threads out.

 

I was horrified to see it drop in there! I immediately had visions of pulling the engine out for pan access.But the only thing in the way of dropping the pan was the center link. I'm definitely going to clamp it, and there will be a bolt in the threads to minimize seepage but I'm going to run a tap through afterwards.

 

"and there will be a bolt in the threads to minimize seepage"
So, there's a bit of "seepage" as you call it. Now, how do you get the bolt out??

 

I just removed it with needle nose vice grips. I left a bolt in while the JB Weld was drying and that was easy to remove. Then I ran a tap through it and screwed in the stud before installing the valley pan. Then I drove the tube nut over the boss and removed the stud.

 

Great! U lucked out, and didn't "weld" the bolt in w/ the JB!

 

I was pretty careful with the JB, I only put some on the cracks, and I put a spray of graphite lube on the bolt when I put it in.