I was out driving today and suddenly my SES light comes on and my car starts driving like crap. I let off the gas and the tach drops below where it would be if it was idling (500 or whatever its at) It continually does this and it feels like i've lost power. I came home and pulled a code 43. So i decided to run a search on the boards to see what this is about. A lot of people say it has to do with the knock sensor? What does that do and is it hard to replace? What else could be wrong? If it helps, i dont think the car has had a recent tune up, not in the 2 or 3 years since i've had it...i know, i should have checked this crap out when i first got the car but hey, my mistake. So what could it be?

 

code 41 means ESC (knock sensor) What it does is retard the timing. It could be a bad knock sensor. Pepboys sells them for $30 or so. It is down there by the starter, above and a little forward. It has a wierd style connector that is oval shaped. To release it, just squeeze it to make it circular and pull. Often times the connector gets burnt to a crisp and no longer works. If that's the case then go to a junk yard or go to yearone.com. I'll find it for ya and link it directly. Hope I helped!

EDIT: http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/f...ain2.asp?cat=G Go to the left menu and click "Electronics" then scroll down to "OEM Replacements" It is Part Number HC99.

 

The code i pulled was 43, not 41...maybe you just had a typo..

 

 

Is it bad to be driving w/ a bad knock sensor, assuming thats what it even is? Driving it a bit earlier it almots seemed like my idle is a little rougher than it was...

 

Well, asuming that you don't know if it really is knocking, I would say it's a bad idea. Change the sensor and see if it still does it. That's the only way to really tell.

 

I just got home from driving it and it drove fine. The idle was still alittle rougher than usual but nothing else was noticeable. The SES light was off and the car wasnt showing any of the earlier symptoms. If you were saying i SHOULDNT be driving my car, well its not an option cause its my daily and i have to use it to get to school and work. I'm taking it to my buddys house this weekend to have things looked at, aside from the new problem, so i'll see what he has to say.

 

Oh, before I forget, drain the coolant and when you pull the sensor, expect some coolant to come strait at you.

Also, make sure you use some thread sealer (teflon tape or something)