Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Locating Knock Sensor

This post is not only about the knock sensor, it has a story along with it. About two months ago I bought a used zetec engine from a junkyard and it ran fine..as time went on it began to knock louder and louder but not under acceleration. I had them ship me another engine and its giving me the same noise immediately after install. I have not replaced the plugs or ignition coil. Would either of these give me a knock? I also want to try replacing the knock sensor if our car has one. Any suggestions?

Sure it is not a loose exhaust?

If the engine is running in time, what would cause piston slap? Could the timing belt have slipped causing this or what. I took the other engine that was giving me the same sound apart and the bearings were in perfect condition.

Piston slap is usually a design issue, not an actual fault...I just threw that in as an example of other things that can cause a "knock" sound.

If the timing belt has slipped, the car would probably run very poorly, so that's most likely not your problem either...

If the other engine had perfect bearings and this one is doing the exact same thing, perhaps it's not an engine problem at all... something in the transaxle or torque converter could be wrong. I had an old Buick once that had a weird kind of "nuk-nuk-nuk" sound that was due to a cracked flex plate. I don't know much about the CD4E transaxle, so hopefully someone else will have some better answers for you.

After closely inspecting the engine noise, I realized its not the engine at all. I think that my flywheel or either torque converter is hitting the bellhousing or either the underside of where the engine mounts to the trans. Anyone know how to correct the problem. Engine is running very strong even no misses.

I found the exact problem. The flywheel is hitting the underside of the engine. I must have bent the torque converter when installing the engine. I plan to take it to a shop to have the torque converter and flywheel replaced, any ideas on cost?

it depends on how much the shop charges for labor but I just looked on my alldata account and it lists the time to replace the flywheel at 9.2 hours but then all data is a little light on their time rates so it's probably closer to 10.5. so I'd say to replace both shouldn't be more than 12 hours at the very max and then say the labor rate is 50 per hour your looking at $600 plus the parts.

Did you install the engine yourself or did someone else do it? cause it's VERY hard to bend the flywheel unless you didn't get it lined up on the alignment dowel holes. if you did it though it's on you but if a shop did it then they should fix it cause its ther flub up.