Error code P0333 - knock sensor (1 Viewer)

[TOMMIEBOY]

After searching the forum I'm seeing lots of posts on P0330 error codes but nothing on P0333 which is what my OBDII reader displays as a bank 2 knock sensor. My 2006 LC has 213K miles, I've owned it for about 1 yr and it's been 100% reliable. Over the last 2 weeks my CEL comes on along with VSC off and VSC Trac. The 3 lights (always together) have come on and off usually after driving about 50 miles or so - they're currently on.

I'm not noticing anything unusual about the vehicle, engine performance is normal, no loss of power. If those lights weren't lit on my dash I wouldn't know anything was wrong. I researched the VSC Trac and VSC off along with CEL and one potential fix is related to the fuel cap. I replaced the fuel cap with new OEM and the lights went off after driving a few miles. About 30 miles later the 3 lights are back on. Called the dealer and explained the error code - he's quoting me $194 for knock sensor, $56 for gaskets, and $1900 for a new wiring harness. I'm sure if they see the wire was chewed by rodents or somehow broken their fix is to replace the entire harness, not solder a new connection. Looking into the engine bay I'm not seeing any evidence of rodent activity.

Looking for guidance on how P0330 and P0333 error codes differ and whether the approach to diagnose is the same? Should I be looking for anything other than a knock sensor or connected wiring before dismantling engine components?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[excessive]

unfortunatley the sensors are in a very difficult location to reach, under the intake manifold. the connectors to the sensors are going to be so crispy due to age and heat, that they break as soon as they are touched, which is why they are quoting a new harness. you can replace just the sensor connectors (toyota sells them) , but a dealer won't mess with that. for them its new harness or nothing. so yes, the prices you are being quoted are legit. you might as well replace your starter as PM while you're in there, because you will be 90% of the way there during this job.

 

[SteveH]

Good knock sensor thread here: Starter replacement & P0325 blues. Any other "while you are in there maintenance?" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/starter-replacement-p0325-blues-any-other-while-you-are-in-there-maintenance.1320983/page-2

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

unfortunatley the sensors are in a very difficult location to reach, under the intake manifold. the connectors to the sensors are going to be so crispy due to age and heat, that they break as soon as they are touched, which is why they are quoting a new harness. you can replace just the sensor connectors (toyota sells them) , but a dealer won't mess with that. for them its new harness or nothing. so yes, the prices you are being quoted are legit. you might as well replace your starter as PM while you're in there, because you will be 90% of the way there during this job.

so after posting this above I drove the truck and the CEL and VSC dash lights all went off - I drove for about 40 miles and they're still off. Not sure whether to just wait and see and hope they stay off which they likely won't given what's happened the past few weeks but I'm reluctant to start pulling stuff apart or taking it to the dealer while the CEL and other dash lights stay off. I'm thinking as long as the lights are off it should be ok to drive.

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

Good knock sensor thread here: Starter replacement & P0325 blues. Any other "while you are in there maintenance?" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/starter-replacement-p0325-blues-any-other-while-you-are-in-there-maintenance.1320983/page-2

Thanks, I read that post - I wasn't sure whether it applied to my error code since it's P0333.

 

[SteveH]

I posted that so that you'd have a general idea of what knock sensor replacement looks like and what people run into. My wiring was in great shape - so not all connectors and wiring are crispy and need replacement.

so after posting this above I drove the truck and the CEL and VSC dash lights all went off - I drove for about 40 miles and they're still off. Not sure whether to just wait and see and hope they stay off which they likely won't given what's happened the past few weeks but I'm reluctant to start pulling stuff apart or taking it to the dealer while the CEL and other dash lights stay off. I'm thinking as long as the lights are off it should be ok to drive.

It's always a good idea to clear any MIL codes and see if they reappear. I would wait (at this point) until they show up again.

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

I posted that so that you'd have a general idea of what knock sensor replacement looks like and what people run into. My wiring was in great shape - so not all connectors and wiring are crispy and need replacement.

so after posting this above I drove the truck and the CEL and VSC dash lights all went off - I drove for about 40 miles and they're still off. Not sure whether to just wait and see and hope they stay off which they likely won't given what's happened the past few weeks but I'm reluctant to start pulling stuff apart or taking it to the dealer while the CEL and other dash lights stay off. I'm thinking as long as the lights are off it should be ok to drive.

It's always a good idea to clear any MIL codes and see if they reappear. I would wait (at this point) until they show up again.

Thanks, I will wait to see if the code comes back.

 

[jerryb]

what's the weather been like lately? hot to cold, high humidity to dry, etc?
I get the 333 code a few times a year. I've been recording and it's early winter and fall when things start happening. I have 250k + miles on mine.
I've looked at the wiring and connectors twice with the intake off. I've found nothing wrong, although I haven't checked from the ECU end.
There's a shield wire in both on the front end so I've mostly left them in a wait and see.

Any other work, air injection control driver box, air control valves behind the starter or on the passenger rail? front ARF sensors old or new?

I've been letting mine go hoping it just flat out fails, it hasn't and it's been two years. I'm just in a sort of holding pattern until the intake has to come off again.

Don't buy new harnesses, ever. I'd fix anyone's (06-7) harness before I saw someone hand a dealer a credit card for a thousand dollar bill. Other people online can redo harnesses also.

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

what's the weather been like lately? hot to cold, high humidity to dry, etc?
I get the 333 code a few times a year. I've been recording and it's early winter and fall when things start happening. I have 250k + miles on mine.
I've looked at the wiring and connectors twice with the intake off. I've found nothing wrong, although I haven't checked from the ECU end.
There's a shield wire in both on the front end so I've mostly left them in a wait and see.

Any other work, air injection control driver box, air control valves behind the starter or on the passenger rail? front ARF sensors old or new?

I've been letting mine go hoping it just flat out fails, it hasn't and it's been two years. I'm just in a sort of holding pattern until the intake has to come off again.

Don't buy new harnesses, ever. I'd fix anyone's (06-7) harness before I saw someone hand a dealer a credit card for a thousand dollar bill. Other people online can redo harnesses also.

The weather here has been pretty mild, only a few days so far this fall hovering around freezing overnight but daytime still in the 5-10C range so above seasonal. No other work that you mentioned in my ownership over the last year. I did the valve cover gaskets, heater Ts, new thermostat, new spark plugs and a few other preventative things. I've never had the intake out. The fact that the engine performance is normal is comforting as is your experience with nothing bad happening over the last 2 years. I'll hold on and hope to ride it out or wait until I see a performance deficiency.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[VarCity69]

Piggybacking on this thread and hoping for some input. Just had the starter replaced on my ‘99. Was going to spend the day and do it myself, but had a few family issues come up, so I took it to a shop. Got it back and within 2 miles, the CEL came on throwing the 0325 code - knock sensor. First time CEL has ever come on. What are thoughts on how to address this with the shop? From what I’ve heard, the actual sensors don’t go bad too often, but the wiring - different story. My concern is the timing of the code and the possibility that a connection was disturbed during dis/reassemble. Should a reasonable shop be willing to go back in and see if they caused the issue on their dime, or am I going to get dinged with hours of additional labor to diagnose?

 

[Mike Beauford]

My 2 cents worth. Agree with not changing the harness. The wires are usually good but the plastic housing tend to fail. I had CEL 330 bank 2 knock sensor error code on my 2005 cruiser with 252k miles in the spring time. Pulled the manifold, changed both knock sensors with new oem replacements to be safe. Changed my starter. Depinned and replaced the crispy plastic connectors that broke due to age and heat. Reinstalled the manifold. Noted the CELs went off and stayed off for 3 months and magically came back on after 3k miles. Noted 8 mpg if I drove 80 mph ( legal in Texas on some roads). Got max of 12.0 mpg if I slowed down to 60 to 65 on a 1200 mile interstate road trip.
Now I am wondering if CELs put the engine in limp mod and if the sensors are good and are actually are detecting a real engine knock and what the best next steps should be. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Mike Beauford]

I am posting an update of my recent 2005 2UZ-FE repair to resolve my P0330 CEL Knock Sensor Bank 2. I had installed new OEM knock sensors pn 89615-52010 (fits 08/2002-05/2005) over the summer but the same CEL came back on. The ECU computer definitely put my engine in a Limp mode to help protect the engine but with a lower MPG (from 8 MPG at 75-80mph to 10 MPG at 65mph). This time I did 2 things. I swapped the 2 new knock sensors I installed back in June so if the problem was a knock sensor, the CEL would start to show up in Bank 1 instead of Bank 2. I also closely examined the Bank 2 knock sensor wiring harness and still could not see any hint of wire damage. Even though the wire with new connector housing did not appear damaged, I still cut the harness back 8-10 inches and soldered in a new pigtail complete connector and wire. Apparently, this solved my problem. After reinstalling the intake manifold using new gaskets (Intake Gasket x2 17171-50020 and Throttle Gasket 22271-50042) and reattaching the hoses, I took it on a 320 mile interstate road trip using cruise control averaging 62-65 mph steady. The CEL stayed off, performance returned to normal and I averaged right at 15 MPG. Since this was my 2nd time doing this maintenance, I also added Lucas brand Fuel Injector Cleaner which probably help clean things out a bit, cleaned my MAF sensor using CRC MAF cleaner, installed new OEM plastic fuel injector housings 90980-11153 x 8. I changed the fuel injector connector housings because due to age and heat most had lost the keeper clip during these 2 maintenance periods. So the conclusion and summary that I have found is the sensors probably are not the typical cause and if you are going in to do this service, it is a good practice to replace the knock sensor pigtail on the knock sensor bank (either 1 or 2) that is throwing the code. I had P0330 Bank 2.

 

[2001LC]

All knock sensors codes, I've dealt with. Have been due to rodents eating wires. But just in the past few months. I've heard of a few were wires good, knock sensor just failed.

Rodent nest under intake is very common. With aluminum intake manifold (98-05), easy to see with a flashlight. Most plastic ones (VVT of 06-07), we need an inspection camera.

98-05

A service manager, may write-up new wire harness. But typically wires are just repaired/spliced. Typically with just crimp or twisted pair. But is there's much better butt-seal-solid-splice alternative.

 

[Amateuroverlander]

I am posting an update of my recent 2005 2UZ-FE repair to resolve my P0330 CEL Knock Sensor Bank 2. I had installed new OEM knock sensors pn 89615-52010 (fits 08/2002-05/2005) over the summer but the same CEL came back on. The ECU computer definitely put my engine in a Limp mode to help protect the engine but with a lower MPG (from 8 MPG at 75-80mph to 10 MPG at 65mph). This time I did 2 things. I swapped the 2 new knock sensors I installed back in June so if the problem was a knock sensor, the CEL would start to show up in Bank 1 instead of Bank 2. I also closely examined the Bank 2 knock sensor wiring harness and still could not see any hint of wire damage. Even though the wire with new connector housing did not appear damaged, I still cut the harness back 8-10 inches and soldered in a new pigtail complete connector and wire. Apparently, this solved my problem. After reinstalling the intake manifold using new gaskets (Intake Gasket x2 17171-50020 and Throttle Gasket 22271-50042) and reattaching the hoses, I took it on a 320 mile interstate road trip using cruise control averaging 62-65 mph steady. The CEL stayed off, performance returned to normal and I averaged right at 15 MPG. Since this was my 2nd time doing this maintenance, I also added Lucas brand Fuel Injector Cleaner which probably help clean things out a bit, cleaned my MAF sensor using CRC MAF cleaner, installed new OEM plastic fuel injector housings 90980-11153 x 8. I changed the fuel injector connector housings because due to age and heat most had lost the keeper clip during these 2 maintenance periods. So the conclusion and summary that I have found is the sensors probably are not the typical cause and if you are going in to do this service, it is a good practice to replace the knock sensor pigtail on the knock sensor bank (either 1 or 2) that is throwing the code. I had P0330 Bank 2.

Hey there.
I'm having some issues with p0330. Replaced the sensor itself and code came back. Moving on to switching out the pigtails.
My question is, where do they plug into? I can't seem to find the connection . Any help would be great . I have a 1995 1fzfe.

 

[Mike Beauford]

Hey there.
I'm having some issues with p0330. Replaced the sensor itself and code came back. Moving on to switching out the pigtails.
My question is, where do they plug into? I can't seem to find the connection . Any help would be great . I have a 1995 1fzfe.

The pigtail has a knock sensor connector on one end and a bare wire on the other end. In my case the problem was not the sensor or plastic housing but was the actual wire. I cut the bank 2 knock sensor wire as far back as I could and used solder and shrink wrap to replace the bank 2 knock sensor harness. While in there, I also swapped the 2 knock sensors. If the code pops up later on the bank 1 knock sensor then I will know it is sensor related. Since no further codes have popped up, I am convinced installing the new bank 2 knock sensor pigtail eliminated my problem. This was my second time around trying to fix the problem. The first time around, I installed 2 new sensors which did not fix my problem. For me, changing the bank 2 knock sensor pigtail worked.