LarryD

Well this sucks.. All together and ready to try it.. Last thing to do was to hook up the knock sensor... NOT... The starter solenoid hits the connector on the knock sensor... It appears the 3.4 block hole for the knock sensor is about a 1/2 inch lower than the 3.1 block.. Anybody got any ideas as I am dead in the water right now.. Nothing in the 3.1 to 3.4 swap tech notes on this other.....

project89

iTrader: (1)

45* brass 1/8 npt male to 1/8th female npt fitting should swing it out of the way

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

^^this

LarryD

Great, thanks for the info... I won't get to it this weekend but will give that a try... Which direction does it need to point.??. 45 up towards top of the engine or to the front or rear?

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

In the direction it clears.

LarryD

Ok, thanks.. I had thought about a 90 with an extension tube but don't want to get it too far away from being right in the block water jacket.. Also thought about putting it somewhere else on the block but don't see a better place looking at it with it in the car now... BTW, I think you meant 3/8 x 3/8 on the fitting but will take the old knock sensor in to find the correct fitting size.. Looks like it will be the 19th before I can try it and then see if the whole thing starts and runs...

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Yes, 3/8" NPT, I missed that typo above...

58mark

iTrader: (3)

can you post a pic of how this looks when it's done?

project89

iTrader: (1)

good catch sorry about that , i was working on some oil feeds lines before i posted that and had 1/8th inch npt on the brain

LarryD

Will try to post some pics after I get it done. I am living in Colorado right now and my car is in Washington so won't get back there until the 19th. I had gone up last week to try and get the engine swap done. Almost made it but ran out of time with the long drive that it would take to get back to Denver.

LarryD

Now I am really confused... I forgot to bring the old knock sensor with me.. I measured the diameter of the threads on the old one and it was about 1/2 inch.. Looking at the new one on Oreilly's and Autozone, they both say the thread size is 1/4-18... Trying to order the correct 45 degree fitting on Grainger and almost ordered the 3/8 fitting earlier today.. Can't find a spec on the Grainger part to see what the diameter is... Anybody know for sure what size the block hole is, that is, is it a 3/8-18 hole or a 1/4-18 hole?

caffeine

iTrader: (2)

1/4" npt sounds right.

LarryD

Unfortunately, the only place I can find them is at Grainger.. $26 for a bag of 10... So, if I order both sizes, $50...

UPDATE: Just found where to order the fittings. Thought I would add that since I couldn't find them locally and others may have the same trouble.

MSC Industrial Supply Company (www.mscdirect.com)

1/4 inch 45 degree black pipe -- #36997906
3/8 inch 45 degree black pipe -- #36997914
1/4 inch 45 degree brass -- #09724113
3/8 inch 45 degree brass -- #09724121

They run from $3 to $6 each and ship out of Nevada.

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Any hardware store should have multitudes of NPT fittings. Also many Autoparts stores have NPT fittings as well.

LarryD

That's what I thought too.. Must be the Boulder/Denver Colorado area.. Been to Lowe's, Home Depot, local hardware stores, Ferguson Plumbing Supply ($25 a fitting there plus shipping as special order), O'Reilly, and Autozone with no luck at all....

Anyway, I ordered one of each from MSC and they have free upgrade to next day service from Nevada to Colorado.. They are due in tomorrow.. Once they get here, its back to Southwest Washington to work on the car again on the 19th.....

willexoIX

This.

Every last npt fitting used on my turbo swap came from True Value. Should be with the compression and flare fittings for future reference.

LarryD

So, the knock sensor picks up sound vibrations by being screwed into the block. The only reason for it sitting in the water jacket appears to be for convenience of having a hole there to mount it. All that said, I wonder which is better the steel 45deg fitting or the brass 45deg fitting. Seems like the steel would be a better conductor of the vibrations but I don't know how sensitive the knock sensor is and if it would know the difference between the two fittings. The steel looks bigger so not sure if it will clear the starter solenoid until I try it (currently scheduled to be back to work on the car on the 19th).

Any thoughts on this?? Thanks...

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I've been scratching my head trying to visualize this, and then I realized tonight. my car doesn't even have a knock sensor! (1989 2.8)

LarryD

Ok, so here is the end result...... I used the steel pipe fitting.. With the 45 degrees straight up, it didn't quite clear the solenoid wire stud on the starter so I rotated it towards the front of the engine about 45 degrees.. That gave good clearance on the front of the solenoid so I could get the solenoid engage wire on with good clearance.. So, I used the NPT 1/4 inch 45 degree black pipe -- #36997906. I used Teflon pipe thread sealer and tightened it into the block until the 45 degrees angle was up in the vertical plane (towards the top of the engine). I then rotated it another 45 degrees tighter and screwed in the knock sensor. Put the starter in and it seems to be fine.. I have some pictures but not sure how to post them here...

58mark

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the information. I have 2.8, but I'm going to go ahead and get the pipe you mentioned and put the knock sensor in place just in case I ever want to swap to the 3.1 system and use the sensor
https://m.mscdirect.com/mobileweb/pr...tedParts=false