Hey Black02...sorry to hear your 2nd bank knock sensor went out. It could also be the wiring harness that runs from the KS to the ECM. You can do the wire splice that's in the post you're referring to and that will tell you if it's a bad KS or a bad wiring harness. It's not an easy or cheap task to replace either one since they are so hard to get to, but should be done eventually. Doing the splice was fairly easy with the help of a couple of great members on this forum --- BigFishAllDay and ChrisHawks.
I bypassed my bad KS and wired the good KS into my ECM and that stopped the CEL light from coming on and the engine being put into full re**** by the ECM. When the other KS (1st bank) goes out, I'll replace both of them and the wiring harness too.
For now my engine w/SC is running great and I contribute that to putting a slightly larger pulley on my SC for now. Since TRD doesn't make that 3.4L SC anymore and the bigger pulley that went with it, I had to have Pulley Boys make me a special order of 3- 'underdrive' pulleys. That's the fewest they would make for a special order. I'm glad I did now. I just couldn't justify spending the extra $1500. in upgrades since this is my wife's daily driver anyway. I just wanted the engine to not run so lean and to quit pinging. I was very surprised after I put the new 2.65" pulley on compared to how it ran with the stock 2.37" pulley before. I expected there to be a noticeable loss of power since the 2.65" pulley creates 3/4
lb. less boost than the stock pulley, but it just wasn't so. All I noticed was no more pinging! All the power was still there and now I can cruise up long grades at low RPM (1800) and the tranny wants to stay in OD.
Before, if I approached a grade going 55-60 and was already in OD, the engine would start pinging and rattling until I either took off the OD or stepped on the gas hard to make it drop down into 3rd. That always bothered me and made me nervous about my wife driving it like that. I have no more concerns now and love the way this 4R runs now with the SC and no mods except the slightly larger pulley. I'm at sea level and I think it makes a big difference on how these 3.4's run with a SC. The
little bit less boost seems to balance out the fuel coming in now. The tranny shifts a lot smoother and less often which is giving us better mpg.
I even tried to get it to ping, but it wouldn't no matter what. I Love it!
I know lots of you are going to say it's just a bandaid and the only way to go is the $1500. in upgrades. That may be fine for some, and running with absolutely no mods may be fine for others, but I'm just telling you what has worked well for me at sea level. It's a pleasure to drive my wife's 4R now and I don't have to worry about her destroying the engine.
The power is still awesome when you put your foot into it and the extra 1.5 mpg is great too.
I only have 1 pulley left if anyone wants it. It's brand new made of black anodized billet aluminum. It also has a taller lip or 'ears' like Gadgets do to keep the belt from coming off. Email me at -
[email protected] if you're interested. $95. + shp.
