captainrye

Folks - First...this site is quite impressive. Kudos to those who have populated it over the years.

Quick issue I would like your take on. I have the opportunity to purchase a 2003 S2000 with 72k for about 9 grand. The owner purchased the car at auction has has no history. The price reflects a CEL light on as mentioned in the title, showing a knock sensor malfunction.
____________
Seller says the following via multiple emails: "I just checked the code by plugging in the OBDII reader. This is what I see: P0325 - Knock Sensor1 Bank1. This is the only code that is coming up. I wanted to inform you that when the Check Engine light comes up, sometimes, not all times, the engine will not rev more than 3000rpm. At that point if you turn the car off and start it backup it revs fine to the red line. If I reset the check engine light the car runs perfectly and can rev to red line all you want so I am pretty sure, this has to do with the knock sensor. As for the check engine light. Last time I reset it was several weeks ago and it took 2-3 days for it to come back on. Then again I didn't drive the car a lot. I drove about 0.5 miles 3 or 4 times. During this time the Check engine light did not come up. When I took a longer drive like 5 miles, the check engine light came up after about 2 miles. So I couldn't tell you for sure on how long the check engine light takes to illuminate."
_____________
So...yes, I've read that the knock sensor can be damaged by starter and clutch changes and that it is fragile. I'm confident that I could change it quite easily for about 120 bucks. But do I gamble (for the sake of a good deal) 9 thousand dollars that the problem is as simple as a knock sensor and that there isn't an internal problem with the engine causing a perfectly fine sensor to do it's job??? Has anyone had a knock sensor code in which the lower end was ACTUALLY damaged????

I look forward to your thoughts!

negcamber

You will want to have a leak down test done anyway. So that should help settle your fears.

You might even offer the seller to pay for the new sensor to be installed while you are having the leak down test done...tell the seller that if you choose not to buy the car, they reimburse you for the part only. It's a good deal for them...if you choose not to buy the car, they may be able to get more for the car since it will not have that CEL scaring off potential buyers. If they take that offer, then you can make sure that is the problem sensor is what is causing the CEL.

captainrye

Absolutely fantastic thought. Any idea what a leak down & compression test may cost (ballpark) for the S2000? Are these plugs fairly easy to get to?

negcamber

Yes...they are easy to get to from under the car. It sticks right out the side of the block under the intake manifold.

Can't help on the cost of a leak down.

If the car is local to you, post up in the regional s2ki forum in your area and ask for a shop recommendation who can do the leak down for you.

CKit

You need a very large socket for the knock sensor and it's a little bit of a PITA.