Was changing spark plugs/wires and noticed this wire isn't connected to anything, it's by the starter i think on the front right passenger side, you can see one spark plug on the left. We think it may connect to the black circled thing in the back. We don't know what it connects to if not, or what it does, any help?



Rob

 

you need to make the pics smaller next time so we don't have to scrool over. hard to see rea lclear but i'd guess it goes to the knock senser

 

thats the connector to turn on the secondary fan

 

is that a guess or do you know it absolutely is? i know atleast one fan comes on.

sorry about the large pic i figured the bigger the more you could see

 

The connector for the knock sensor would be at the front of the starter and the connector for the secondary fan switch would a little further back towards the #8 sparkplug and above the starter.

 

Trickster nailed it again! If that sensor is in the head, it's the secondary fan switch. If it's on the lower part of the block, at about the same height as the freeze plugs, then it's the knock sensor.

Hope this helps.


- Vern

 

yeah it seems to be the knock sensor, thanks alot
now should i be worrying about fixing it asap, can it do damage to the engine if it's not working?

 

No, it's the fan switch, I'm positive. If the knock sensor was disconnected, you'd know (SES light)!

 

yes i am positive it is the fan switch, the knock sensor is lower than the one you circled

 

Well, now I'm confused, i circled whats hanging (disconnected) thats the upper right circle and the spot we think it connects to, lower left circle ?

 

thats knock sensor and no you shouldnt get an SES light with it disconnected. Id try and plug it back in because if your engine starts knocking and you dont hear it that sensor wont tell the PCM its knocking and wont retard the timing to save the engine.

 

I think it is a fan switch, but unsure because my car has no knock sensor. (CARB) Anyways, if it is a fan switch, if you ground that wire the fan should switch on. That looks like the switch i use for fan switch in my car, and it's job is just to ground fan relay.

 

Gentlemen & ladies,

to settle it all, look at the color of the wire. I believe for that year the knock sensor wire was white and the coolant fan secondary switch wire was black. At least that is how the wiring is on the 89 camaro 5.0 & 5.7 TPI engines.

 

ok, i did not see the big circle (peice hanging) because the picture is huge and i couldnt see it, so i was asuming you wanted to know what the small circle was. the peice that is hanging, should be a black wire that if grounded turns the fans on, but im not sure what it is because it is too blury, so if it black its the fan switch, if it is white its the knock sensor, like trickster said.

 

fan switch

 

alright thanks guys, next time i get the car up i'll try grounding it, if that doesn't do anything i'll snap a better picture, and make it a little smaller

 

Well heck. If it's in the head, it's the fan switch. If lower down in the engine block, it's the knock sensor. Both have a similiar connector.

 

Don't get me wrong, but isn't the knock sensor clearly plugged in in that pic? Its the sensor that's partially cut off on the bottom of the pic below the upside-down "627" code. The wire also happens to be white underneath the split-loom

The small circle is above the spark plug meaning its in the head, meaning its the secondary fan switch.

 

Secodary fan switch. As stated the K/S is plugged in already in the pic.

 

Yep, after finally viewing the whole picture. That is the connector for the secondary fan switch.

 

ok I retract my previous answer and upon further investigation I can see that it is the fan switch, must have had a brain fade when I looked at the pic the first time.