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knock sensor

Old Aug 18, 2003 | 07:17 PM
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knock sensor

My 2000 Ford F150 V6 started skipping under load at 60 to 70 mph about 2 weeks ago. At first we thought it was bad gas, becasue it stopped for about a week. Then this past Friday on the way to Maryland it skipped once, than didn't do it again til Sunday on the way home and it skipped really bad, hard jerking, had to run in 4th gear, it is a 5 speed. The ck eng. light flashed on and off a few times and went off.
We took it to the dealership today and the code said knock sensor, so they said it was bad and replaced it,but even they are not sure this is what it is. It is not knocking or pinging, it starts skipping, hard. They mentioned some type of coil could be the problem. Driving around town it doesn't do it, but you can feel a slight shake like some type of misfire going on.
Any suggestions?
Thanks so much
Beth
 

Last edited by bwilliamson; Aug 18, 2003 at 07:41 PM.
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Old Aug 18, 2003 | 07:35 PM
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knock sensor

I'm not sure what you mean by "skipping". I think you'll need to describe "skipping" a little better so we can understand the probelm. I know it's hard to verbalize this stuff sometimes.

When it's jerking have you dis-engaged the clutch to see what happened? Does the whole truck keep jerking, or does it feel like just the engine is jerking?
 
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Old Aug 18, 2003 | 07:54 PM
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knock sensor

It is the engine, lurching, you feel it in the engine just like it is misfiring, then it gets to lurching hard, it makes the gear shift shake so hard I think it is going to knock it out of gear, then I put it in fourth gear and run it for a while , it is still skips but not as bad and then it calms down.
You can try to make it do it, like 5th gear going up a long hill putting a strain on it, but it may or may not do it.
It has us all stumped.
We are going to put wires and plugs on it after we drive it for a few days to see if it was the knock sensor or not for sure.
But again they don't really think it is a bad sensor.
Thanks for the reply.
Being a woman it is hard to explain engine stuff.
 
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Old Aug 18, 2003 | 08:00 PM
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knock sensor

Don't feel bad, it's hard to describe noises and vibrations no matter who you are.

With the transmission in gear, it connects the tranny and engine, it may be difficult to tell where the lurching is originating, that's why I asked if it stopped as soon as you pushed the clutch in.

Does it ever occur in any other gear than 5th?
 
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Old Aug 18, 2003 | 08:33 PM
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knock sensor

Is it loosing any anti-freeze? Getting coolant into a cylinder? Hard to say for sure. Could just be in need of plugs and wires. I wouldn't think that a knock sensor would make it jerk, all it does is retard the timing, but that shouldn't cause a dead miss.
Jimmy
 
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Old Aug 18, 2003 | 09:12 PM
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knock sensor

Thanks for the replies, I haven't really engaged the clutch for long, only to change to fourth gear, and twice the cruise was on and it just reved up the engine, when I pushed in the clutch.
I have not noticed any coolant problems.
It has done it in fourth gear, just not as bad.
Thanks to all who are trying to help me with this, I will keep you posted on what happens with it.
I will be going on a trip pulling a full utility trailer this thursday, so I would say if it is going to skip under load that would be the time.
Since they replaced that sensor, we are going to wait to replace the plugs and wires to see if it does it again to fully rule out that , even though they don't really believe that is the problem. They agree with the last response, it retards, and not makes it skip.
THANKS!!
 
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Old Aug 18, 2003 | 11:19 PM
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knock sensor

How many miles on your truck?
Plugs and wires ever been replaced?
 
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Old Aug 19, 2003 | 05:15 AM
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knock sensor

It has 68,000 highway miles I do alot of traveling. But never had anything done other than the oil change every 3000 miles. Think that could be it, I ask about the distributor but they said they don't have that anymore , that they have some kind of coil thing that might be it too, but we are going to try plugs and wires before we go there, they suggest Motorcraft Platinum 100,000 plugs.. Thanks for the reply.
 
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Old Sep 7, 2003 | 02:11 PM
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knock sensor

Hi, thanks to all of you who responded. We found the problem. The insulator on one of the spark plugs was cracked. Replaced all plugs and it is running great again.
Take Care
Beth
 
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Old Sep 7, 2003 | 02:35 PM
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knock sensor

Thanks for letting us know what fixed it
 
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