I have a 2000 Frontier V6 Auto SE Crew Cab (87K miles), nice truck, but it knocks when I use regular unleaded gas (87 octane). Has been doing it since it had 10,000 miles. It occasionally knocks even with 93 octane on hot Houston summer days. The price of premium is too high these days, so I need to either fix it or sell it. I've heard suggestions about the knock sensor being bad. I've called several dealerships and get a different answer from each (clean the injectors, switch to Chevron, knock sensor is bad). Has anyone else experienced this same problem? If so, what did you do to fix it? Thanks.
Last edited by WJGraff : Nov 17th, 2005 at 02:25 PM.
I have a 2000 Frontier V6 Auto SE Crew Cab (87K miles), nice truck, but it knocks when I use regular unleaded gas (87 octane). Has been doing it since it had 10,000 miles. It occasionally knocks even with 93 octane on hot Houston summer days. The price of premium is too high these days, so I need to either fix it or sell it. I've heard suggestions about the knock sensor being bad. I've called several dealerships and get a different answer from each (clean the injectors, switch to Chevron, knock sensor is bad). Has anyone else experienced this same problem? If so, what did you do to fix it? Thanks.
Is this knock happening just above idle like 800-1100 RPMs? If so check TSB #02020
If this is the supercharged model you can have the ECM reprogramed for 87 octane. Have the dealer contact "Tech Line" if they don't know the procedure for this.
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Almost every regular passenger vehicle will knock on 87 octane, because of the sulfur and additives they put in it, especially during colder weather. My truck does it with 87, and my previous cars did it too.
Now that gas is cheap(er) again, I run 89 mid-grade, and it doesn't knock. Not to mention my gas mileage is better.
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I would try running good fuel cleaners through the gas tank before replacing sensors. It could be built up carbon desposits in the combustion chamber near the upper cylinders. This happened to my frontier in hot weather when going up hill or accelerating quickly. Sometimes it happens after you have shut off the engine for a few minutes then got back on the road. Basically the heat in the engine heats up the miniscule carbon deposits in the combustion chamber/upper cylinders and this can lead to pre detonation, which causes the clicking, rattling, pinging, knocking, or whatever you want to call it when the engine is working hard (i.e. uphill, or acceleration in low gears).
My personal experience has been to try the fuel cleaners out, and if no results try troubleshooting sensors, etc. But give the fuel cleaners time to work, they do not work over night. Berryman b-12 (2 bottles may need a third depending on how much carbon build up is present) and Lucas upper cylinder lube (1 bottle) has worked well for me.
You may also want to clean out your throttle body to make sure the butterfly valve is opening and closing properly. A butterfly that doesn't completely close can also contribute to carbon deposit reformation rather quickly, and start this whole fuel system cleaning process all over again. Just means you have to clean the fuel system out more frequently. Also, while you're at it, you might as well replace the fuel filter if you haven't done so already just for kicks...
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