knocksenseMS - who's got one?
 

... and who's using it effectively?

i bought one a WHILE ago... installed it, etc. The bosch knock sensor is bolted to the block where the OE knock sensor was (this is a familia GTR motor). I'd have tried using the stock knock sensor but it was damaged. i'm not sure if this is the same for the miata, but it's below the intake manifold between cyl 2+3 if i remember right.

i tried dialing it in... no matter what as soon as i hit ~4k or so it would light off, even with the sensitivity all the way down. in boost, in vac, free revving... didn't matter. i know for a fact that its not knocking in vac, plus i've been running it for 12k miles now on MS and its running fine... so i'm pretty sure i'm not having any deto problems.

anyway... annoyed that i may have wasted $75 or so, i unhooked it and put it away. the knock sensor is still mounted and shielded wire is still chillin in my harness, but thats all. i'm redoing the whole harness and adding a bunch of options to the MS in a few months - i'd like to get this thing working if possible.

any suggestions as to where i should mount the sensor? should i keep it where it is and insulate it with a plastic or rubber washer? does knocksense just not work worth a crap? any advice would be appreciated :)

I have one, it's fucking excellent. I had the same problem you had; anything over 6500rpm and it would go off. I wired an additional potentiometer inline with the sensor to give me more adjustment and I was able to dial it in perfectly. When it goes off, there is knock, and when there is no knock, it's silent. Works flawlessly and I'm sure it's saved my motor quite a few times.

I have the sensor on the passenger side motor mount, below the starter, and the unit itself is in the glovebox. I used the FM mount to mount the sensor itself.

i'll have to take a look at this FM sensor mount and how/where your mounts bolt up. there is a carrier bracket for an intermediate shaft bearing on the back of my block, probably where your engine mount goes. hmmm

mine goes haywire too, with no consistency.

Mine works great, maybe there is something wrong with yours? when you order it they send you a used sensor maybe you got a bad one.

Or I had some sort of a super octane fuel and i'm slowly blowing it up. Time to get the headphones out.

somehow i feel like the sensor wouldnt get more sensitive as it goes bad

Bump. Anyone know where to get the knocksense setup? Checked DIY's website and it's not listed there.

Also, Can I create a custom setup using a factory knock sensor?

Mine goes off at 7,000 rpm, even when there's no detonation (confirmed with det cans). Savington, what range pot did you use?

Right now I have it setup solely as a light and not integrated into my MS. Is there a quick how-to somewhere? I'm in MSII if that matters.

Thanks for that. Better to wire it to the MS, or just use it as a standalone unit and watch for the LED?

@Sav: happen to know the ohm range of the pot you put in and where exactly? Inline (serial) with the teflon wire from the sensor?

in for savs answer.

i was playing iwth mine today. it seems like its hard to "tune" without having it go off high rpms consistantly.

I've got one installed the same way Sav does, but without the extra pot. I also tuned it the way he suggested (run 100 octane and get it just a hair away from going off under full load/high rpm). I haven't found the need for a second pot as mine still has some adjustment left. So far it's only gone off a few times when I've been lean and the motor and ambient air are hot, so I assume it's working just fine. I never really hear the "coins rattling" though; maybe I should make some det cans to compare. I was under the impression that if you can actually hear pinging while driving then it's already really really bad.

I don't think he wants to go look, I PMed him weeks ago about it. The easier way would just be to drop a resistor in line that equals the max value of the internal pot, that way you've effectively got the internal one set at max once already and you don't have two pots to dickle with.

I have one of these, I never got it working properly and gave up. Anyone want? $75.

link to baller potentiometer?

Its probably smart to tune the Knocksense with the headphones.

Familia GTR engine is a good one, you keep the stock turbo ( I think it points the wrong way).

Hmm, I might want dibs. Let me check the budget...

mine seems to be dialed in nicely. It flashed real quick today when i was on it hard and some knock may have been there. 99.9% of the time it doesnt go off, so i think its doing a great job of picking up only the actual knock at this point.

I have it taking off 1 degree of timing for every knock event (total of 3 degrees) and adding in 1 degree when there is no knock. I am on DIYs spark base map still.

PM me if so.