Dodge Magnum 5.2L or 5.9L V8 Knock Sensor ?

[DonCurley]

Does anyone know if a Dodge Magnum 5. 2L or 5. 9L V8 has a knock sensor? I have a 1999 Dakota and have looked at the engine section of my 1999 factory service manual and I can't see any mention of a knock sensor, so that makes me think there isn't one, but I just wanted to check to make sure.

 

[Road Dog]

I never noticed one on my '98 RAM (5. 2L).

 

[DonCurley]

Thanks.



Beyond going through the factory service manual, I have also looked thoroughly at the stock 5. 2L in my Dakota as well as the swapped-in 5. 9L in my 2000 Jeep Wrangler TJ, and I can't find any knock sensors either, so I guess there aren't any.



BTW, I asked the question, as a tech support guy at Spectre Performance (who was supposedly a past Chrysler/Dodge mechanic), suggested I change out the knock sensor since I was having some chronic pinging problems.

 

[fest3er]

Apparently they don't: Knock sensor on Dodge Engines? - HP Tuners Bulletin Board. The suggestion is to use a cooler spark plug.

If you have that much ping in your bling, you might have carbon or other build-up in the cylinder that causes hot-spots, which then cause detonation. Or the EGR could be carboned up. If you're adventurous, you might try holding the RPM at 2500 and pour a small, short trickle of water into the TB a time or three. That's usually enough to blast carbon free. If you see a black cloud exit the tail pipe, you'll know you've got carbon built up. On old engines, I would occasionally get the engine het up, set the RPM up high and trickle a cup of water into the carb; I would sometimes get a huge cloud of black smoke out the exhaust.

Seafoam is a decent intake/cylinder cleaner and is probably the safer method.

Or add octane boost to slow down the burn. Gold Eagle's 104+ should be good. Amsoil's booster is also good.

 

[DonCurley]

Apparently they don't: Knock sensor on Dodge Engines? - HP Tuners Bulletin Board. The suggestion is to use a cooler spark plug.



If you have that much ping in your bling, you might have carbon or other build-up in the cylinder that causes hot-spots, which then cause detonation. Or the EGR could be carboned up. If you're adventurous, you might try holding the RPM at 2500 and pour a small, short trickle of water into the TB a time or three. That's usually enough to blast carbon free. If you see a black cloud exit the tail pipe, you'll know you've got carbon built up. On old engines, I would occasionally get the engine het up, set the RPM up high and trickle a cup of water into the carb; I would sometimes get a huge cloud of black smoke out the exhaust.



Seafoam is a decent intake/cylinder cleaner and is probably the safer method.



Or add octane boost to slow down the burn. Gold Eagle's 104+ should be good. Amsoil's booster is also good.

Thanks for the info.



For the swapped-in 5. 9L in my Jeep, I've done the TSB re-routing of spark plug wires, went with a colder set of plugs, and I only run premium gas ... but I still have pretty bad pinging. The engine doesn't have that many miles on it since it was modified and swapped in, but the carbon build up possibility has got me thinking. I think I will try your carbon blast out method, but I will probably use Seafoam over the water.



I have also tried a variety of octane boosters, but none of them had much effect on reducing the pinging.

 

[fox]

Are you sure the intake pan isn't leaking air??

Easy test is to remove the oil fill cap and place a piece of paper over the hole with the engine running.

If it sucks down or is drawn inward the intake has a leaty pan gasket!! Normal crankcase pressure for rings leaking will push the paper outward!



If it is leaking, you have to remove it if course. There is a plate on the bottom that had 16-17 bolts around it. This gasket is in need of replacement.

BTW, I have had two 318/5. 2's that had that gasket replaced by dealers. Both were then sold. When I get them I test them for this. These two had been changed but the holes wern't drilled deep enough for the bolts the factory used. Guess what? The gaskets failed again. On each of these the crimped washers on ALL the bolts still rotated, meaning the bolts were NOT clamping anything!! This got right past the tech who did the work!!!! I just added washers!!!

 

[DonCurley]

I'll definitely try your paper test on the valve cover oil filler cap hole, however, my 5. 9L is pretty highly modified. Among other things, it has Edelbrock RPM high-performance aluminum heads and a different intake manifold, so there's virtually nothing stock on the upper end of things.