Knock Sensors Missing?? (Did I buy a bad motor??)

[TRPLXL2]

Alright I'm all worked up right now, because I spent all the money I saved up for this LS1 out of a 2000 Camaro and I think I bought a dud! I pulled the intake today as I am going to paint it to match my truck, when I pulled it I find two holes where the knock sensors should be only to find nothing there!! No harness no sensors no nothing, I called him back and asked him about this and he said they broke when he pulled the motor which sounds like total BS.

Could the motor have been damaged driving without knock sensors, It has 120,000 miles on it and I did research this forum for answers but the more I read the more worried I got. If I buy the harness and sensors, will the motor run okay or is the damage already done? Or can you have the engine tuned to run without them, I just hate to continue with this motor if it's no good.. Please help........AMY
Attachment 6106

[country_3030]

They could of used a lift plate to remove the motor. Meaning they had to remove the intake and possible could have broke the sensors.

You definitely need the knock sensors to be working. If there is any damage it would be really hard to tell without the engine running or tearing it down for inspection. I bet you will be okay if they truly got broke when he pulled the motor. It can be really hard sometimes to pull the wiring off the sensors with out breaking them.

[AFSP1211]

They could of used a lift plate to remove the motor. Meaning they had to remove the intake and possible could have broke the sensors.

You definitely need the knock sensors to be working. If there is any damage it would be really hard to tell without the engine running or tearing it down for inspection. I bet you will be okay if they truly got broke when he pulled the motor. It can be really hard sometimes to pull the wiring off the sensors with out breaking them.

True about them being easy to break. I broke one of mine while pulling the connector because I didn't know exactly what type of connector it was. Luckily a buddy had an extra one for FREE.

[TRPLXL2]

Oh I didn't even think about how they got it out, because when we dropped the engine out of my firebird we dropped it out the bottom because it was easier. Alright well that makes me feel a little better now, thanks guys for the fast reply. Lucky for me I saw a few knock sensors with the harness on ebay for sale, I am a newbie with the tuning thing as well. I have been leaning a lot from this site though, so hopefully I will know a little more now.

[AFSP1211]

If you're wanting to learn how to tune, I suggest Read, Read, and Read some more. I've tried to comprehend how to properly tune, but it's just too much for me to really dive into right now. Learning to tune will prob be my self improvement project next year. Too much stuff going on right now.

[all22s]

i just bought a 5.3 and my knock sensors are shot. one broke apart when i pulled the valley cover off and the other one is just gumked up and nasty. im actually wondering how to remove them so i can drop the bare block off at the machine shop to get honed,block hot tanked, crank polished and the mains line bored so i can put it back together. how do i remove the knock sensors?!?!
(sorry to thread jack... )

[AFSP1211]

I'm pretty sure you can have them tuned out, as for any damage, I think you'd be safer to run them. My understanding is that they are just microphones that pick up abnormal sounds (knock) in the engine then it alerts you by throwing a code. Did you plan on taking the engine apart before you install it? If so, check to make sure everything looks good and tight. Make sure there are no shavings in the oil. Put it in and see what happens.