While changing my plugs I snapped this sensor on the passengers side, its the one that is sort of near the # 8 cylinder .

What is this? Its not the oxygen sensor is it? Someone help pls, cause I really need to get this fixed.

The car fires up and runs fine (worse gas mileage ) actually but I would assume that this is needed.

Usually I would do a search ..but

 

The picture sucks but it sounds like the 02 sensor.

 

cant tell from the pic, but if its on the block and is white, then it is the coolant temp sensor. tells the computer when to turn on the fan.

 

Can't tell for sure, but it's probably the secondary fan switch. It's temp sensitive, when it reaches a certain temp, grounds the secondary fan relay, turning on the fan.

 

knock sensor plug maybe?

 

Well your o2 sensor is mounted in the exhaust so I think we can rule that out. If it is in the block it is the knock sensor. If it is mounted in the head it is the secondary fan switch as stated earlier. Knock sensor is a little more durable than the fan switch so my money is on the fan switch. Hope this helps.

 

THe peice I have in my hand is peice still connected to the wire, the actual sensor is still in the block.

Is it the o2 sensor then, Or is the o2 sensor on the drivers side?

And btw, thanks for the ultra fast responses

 

THe peice I have in my hand is peice still connected to the wire, the actual sensor is still in the block.

Is it the o2 sensor then, Or is the o2 sensor on the drivers side?

And btw, thanks for the ultra fast responses

and here I added a bigger picture that is brighter

 

The O2 sensor is plumbed into the exhaust so if it didn't break off of the exhaust it is not the O2. Did it come from the exhaust? By the way is this am 89 TPI Trans Am if so I have the same car.

 

looks like the knock sensor.

 

It's the fan switch.

The coolant temp sensor is in the water outlet; the gauge sender is in the othe rhead. The O2 sensor is in the exhaust pipe on the other side. The knock sensor is down low in the block not the head, almost behind the starter, about an inch from the oil pan.

If you don't know the real answer, don't just guess and confuse the poor guy... at this rate he'll be told it's every single part on the car before an hour has gone by.

 

Now with the bigger picture I think he's right. Looks like a flat copper terminal broke off into the plug. If so then it's the fan switch like he said.... pretty cheap to replace.

 

RB83L69 raised a good point about not posting without knowing the answer. Not that we are all knowing gurus but giving incorrect information is not helping anyone. As stated earlier the knock sensor is in the block and the fan switch is in the head. If you broke it off of the block it is the knock sensor. If you broke it off of the head then it is the fan switch.

 

on the passenger side about the only sensor you could break while changing plugs is the fan switch, especially if it is near the number 8 plug.

 

same thing happened to me, Fan Switch

 

I didn't just guess, he said in his post the sensor was still in block. The only sensor in the block that I know of is the knock sensor.

 

Is the sensor in the head or in the block?

 

THIS IS THE FAN/COOLANT SENSOR I KNOW THIS BECOUSE ALL DATA SAYS SO... my friend had the same problem and we used all data and it is the only plug on that part of the block/heads.....

 

Is this what you broke?




That would be the knock sensor correct?

 

You could fix it.. if only you had some nintendo wires..

 

Ill put my money on the fan switch as well, that plug gets REALLY brittle being subjected to the manifold temps. Ive replaced it twice to have it break off both times. Finally just hard wired (grounded the wire out) it until I can find a better setup. Fan runs all the time but hey, Im in FL. runs all the time anyway ....

 

I believe it is your knock sensor

 

It's not the knock sensor.

 

Yep I would definately say knock sensor.

I just wanted to double check myself so seeing how I have my block sitting on a stand in my garage I went and looked.
About half way on the block right above the oil pan is a sensor about as big as round as a silver dollar and it has like a white plastic ball type fitting on the end of it.

and since this is the only sensor on the block on the pass side it must be a knock sensor

 

Nope. It's not the knock sensor. How could you break that changing spark plugs? The sensor he broke is in the cylinder head. It has to be the fan switch.

 

:hail:

 

If he says it is in the block it would have to be the knock sensor.....he said it is in the block.....

If it is in the head it could be the fan switch.

But if you look closely at the pic it sure looks like the white plastic end of a knock sensor still attached to the plug.
Besides if you change plugs from underneath on the passenger side I would think it would be very easy to break a brittle sensor since you have to go over it form under the car to get to the plugs.

whatever I was just trying to help not get in a pissing contest.

Go buy a fan switch then

 

lol @ irocthe5.7l

 

Wow we need some feedback we are all dying to know what it ended up being.

 

When I said it was "in the block" I diddent nessacarly mean that it was actually in the block.

I went ahead and poped a New PROM in the car with a really low fan on temp, like 150. I got the car up to 150, sure enough no fan comes on.

I think its the fan sensor, it was also very brittle like a few people said.

Oh and also...again me not tpiung exactly what I mean..I wasent changing plugs, I was changing plug wires....From the top. When I was trying to cram my hand around the header to get to #8 is when I broke it.

 

I say Fan switch (not sending unit or sensor - SWITCH).

FYI, if the fans don't come on at the temp commanded in the PROM, you have other problems than that connector being toast. Like the PROM didn't get calibrated properly, the CTS circuit has some problems, or the fan circuit(s) have some issues (like say a dead fan relay).

Some ideas.......

 

I remember that thread!!!! I would find it if search worked!!

 

i hear ya on the search prob......

 

Guys, I really didn't use nintendo wires to fix my fans-lol

 

Suuuuuure

 

That plug is for the fan switch, it plugs into the sensor which is mounted in the passenger side head. I did the same thing, just buy the new sensor if you broke that, else rig a way to get it to stay plugged into the sensor if you broke the actual plug.

Later,
Ben

 

"""badazz86z Yep I would definately say knock sensor. I just wanted to double check myself so seeing how I have my block sitting on a stand in my garage I went and looked.
About half way on the block right above the oil pan is a sensor about as big as round as a silver dollar and it has like a white plastic ball type fitting on the end of it.and since this is the only sensor on the block on the pass side it must be a knock sensor "

Now how the f*ck could it be the only sensor when there are 2 going in on that side of the motor??????

make up you mind...

"If it is in the head it could be the fan switch. "

 

It's the fan switch.

It's in the head, next to the #8 spark plug, is what he posted at the very start of this. It's not down at the bottom of the block next to the starter or the oil pan, centered between the #4 and #6 cylinders but about a foot below them. The guy is standing there in his pic reaching through his exhaust holding the wire; you can't do that with a knock sensor. It isn't the knock sensor, and it isn't in the block; it's near the #8 cylinder.

Can't we just let this thread die now that the guy finally has the right answer, and just let the poor knock sensor be???? It doesn't matter what kind of lame excuse for mis-identifying the fan switch as the knock sensor that you happen to have, you're wrong.

 

 

.

 

well, i think that we really need to hear back from the guy. although, how do we know that he knows the difference between the block and the head, i mean, he thought that the o2 sensor was in the block. i aslo keep thinking that the knock sensor was towards the front of the engine block....

 

How did you manage to "blowed up" your engine?

The knock sensor is definitely towards the rear of the engine. It's right above the starter, as you can see in IROCThe5.7L's picture. The fan switch and guage sender are both between the two left cylinders spark plugs, depending on the side. That would be 1, 3 and 6,8 on the drivers(guage sender) and passenger side(fan switch), respectively.

 

After looking at this picture of the passenger side there should be no doubt which one it is.

 

first off, it's my tranny not my engine and second, have you ever seen that one war movie (came out in late 70's early 80's) and the gi is all like "blowed up sir!" well, that's where i got that from. i don't really know what's wrong with the tranny other than it left several 200+ foot strips of tranny fluid on the road on my way home from school wednesday. i have built and rebuilt this engine/tranny combination so many times that i am tired of it. i can build a non emissions small block for same or less then what it will cost to fix this. i don't have a knock sensor in my motor and so i appologize for this mis-information.

 

AFAIK, the prom only controls one of the fans if you are running a stock dual fan setup. The second fan is controlled by the fan switch in the pass side head.

On a single fan setup, the fan is controlled by the Fan Switch in the pass side head and the A/C Controls if you have A/C.

If you want the fan(s) to come on at a cooler temp, then you have to get a different Fan switch, like the Hypertch or Jet 160* switch.

 

Looks like the fan switch to me as well. The knock sensor or sensors (some cars have 2) are in the block, not the head. And the O2 sensor is in the manifold or header, and its lower down than that. Also, It can't be the temp sending unit for the gauge, because thats in the drivers side head.

 

Just to clear a few things up:

-Fan Switch

in passenger side head, near the #8 plug. Its used to trigger the secondary fan while the primary fan is turned on/off by the setting in the PROM

-Knock Sensor

passenger side of the actual block, just above the oil pan and in front of the starter.

-O2 or oxygen sensor

in the crossover pipe if a stock setup on the driver side. If you have headers it is usually in the collector on the driver side

-Coolant temp sensor

It is in the intake manifold, measures the temp of the coolant to perform certain calucations in the tables inside the PROM. On a TPI setup....its right under the throttlebody above the timing chain cover

-Sender for your temp gauge in your cluster

Its in the driver side head, in between #1 and #3

Hope this helps

 

Zepher, Did you have to use the 2" spacer to run 4th Gen Wheels? I just bought a 94 Z-28 LT1, T-56. It has the "Salad Shooter" type wheels. I just bought some wheels off a 95 formula for my 94, they look like the wheels on your car. I want to put the salad shooters on my 89, what did ya have to do?

 

Oh my....oh no.....oh my....this thread is killing me. I seriously have pains in my side from laughing so hard.
Give me a break.
Real simple rule around here. If you aren't sure, either assume with an explination of your assumption and why you think what you're thinking OR don't reply OR ask some questions that would help you come up with a better answer then "might be".
At least it's a sign of active members

 

89transam
Did you get it fixed? It is the knock sensor connects to a silverish colored piece which is the knock sensor. The fan switch connector is 1/2 that size, black and round that connects to a brass fitting. As for everyone that says it is a fan switch He did say it was near the # 8 cylinder but in the 7th post he did say the other part was in the block. I would love for someone to prove me wrong