QuestionI have a new to me 90 V6 Camry with some issues that may be related but maybe not...
First, when I jumped Te1 and E1 it gave a code of 52 for the knock sensor. The engine idles and drives smoothly. The previous owner had done a top end rebuild and I think he may have not connected the sensor when he was putting it back together (I "fixed" the dash temp gauge by reconnecting the sending unit). I know the knock sensor is difficult to get to, but where exactly is it? I've looked down between the firewall and the engine, up from underneath near the o2 sensor, but I don't know exactly where or what to look for. Possibly I could follow the wiring back from the harness it runs through?
Next, she never overheats sitting at idle, but will get hot intermittently while driving. I drained and flushed the radiator and block (the radiator flowed garden hose amounts of water fine), replaced the T-stat and radiator cap, disconnected the fan temp switch so the fans ran full while driving (didn't help), tried to bleed any air out through th e bolt in the upper hose pipe, made sure the belt was tight etc. When she gets warm, I can decrease the temps by going wide open throttle for a second... then the temp gauge drops quickly to mid scale, but usually creeps back up (sometimes it stays mid-scale). I'm afraid it may be the water pump but it's not whining or weeping OR worse, the tranny is heating up and transferring the heat via the radiator. I may have overfilled the system, but wouldn't it just overflow from the expansion tank until it was normal?
Lastly, she's getting 16MPG mixed driving. I've had the windows down because I've been running the heater to help manage cooling system temps, but I can't imagine it affecting it that much. I've replaced the air and fuel filters, but no joy. I'm going to pull the plugs tomorrow, but the last owner replaced them and wires)less the 2K miles ago and the engine sounds good, no missing or knocking. I worry about the tranny and maybe I'm not getting all the power to the tires, but she seems to shift fine. The tranny fluid was BLACK when I got it, but I've drained the pan and replaced 3.5 quarts, drove a week and did it again. The fluid looks good now.
Could the knock sensor problem cause the other issues? Or maybe the code is actually single digit 5 and 2, and it's the O2 sensor so the ECU is dumping more fuel? Again, I don't know if these are related problems or I'm chasing seperate issues. Thanks!!
AnswerPhil,
I don't get into engine swap problems, there are enough issues
with original drive trains. Too many engine and transmission
swaps are done by incompetent individuals. I've seen where back
yard mechanics swap engines and don't hook up everything and most
importantly the ECM that matched that engine is completely different
from the one in the car. The whole thing turns into a can of worms.
A partially plugged radiator is usually the culprit, you CANNOT
tell buy running water through it. If its a 17 year old radiator, its
probably seen its better days. When a radiator is partially plugged
it will be fine at idle then when you drive it the heat rises.
Get a Haynes or Chilton's repair manual, its a worthwhile investment
for about $15.
Tim
