washed engine now engine light and transmission shifts odd

[ridesdirt]

I picked up a '97 240SX SE automatic for my son to drive (the boy can not shift!). Anyway, I cleaned the engine and engine bay with soap and water and now have the check engine light and the car shifts like it is in limp mode. Engine revs to approx 5K before shifting and will not go into OD.

First thing I think to do is unplug engine bay connections, blow them out with air and reassemble with di-electric grease. engine light still on and car still shifts the same... (I may have missed a sensor or two, see below)

I connected to a generic OBD2 reader and have a knock sensor code and transmission control module code.

I did not find the knock sensor when cleaning the electrical connections so I will look for it today, remove, inspect, clean and reassemble (before purchasing new). I am sure it is on the side on the block somewhere, clue me in to what side?

I thought the transmission module was inside the car. How did I do anything to effect it? I am going to get under the car and clean any electrical connections I find leading to/from the transmission.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

The knock sensor is 100-125 new, transmission module 400+ new, did I just have the most expensive engine wash ever?

[krash]

Just to be sure, double check and make sure you didn't accidentally leave the MAFS unplugged. Its the black tube like thing thats bolted to the airbox and then connected to the intake tube.

[Hijacker]

I would double check the TPS and the inhibitor switch (side of the transmission. It tells the car what gear the driver has selected). As for the knock sensor, it's located on the side of the block under the intake manifold.

[ridesdirt]

Plan on crawling under there tonight. I will recheck everything under the hood. And I think anything under the intake should be easier to get to from the bottom! There is a ton of "crap" on one of these rice burners... am I showing my age?

Thanks for the help.

[ridesdirt]

I found the knock sensor. Could it be in a worse place?

I think I can get it out by using long extension and swivel socket, then pulling out by the wiring harness to the sensor. Getting it back in is another story.

Has anyone replaced the knock sensor with the engine in the car? If I remove a lot of the items from the front of the engine I may be able to run my arm up thru the intake... not a big deal, just more than I want to do on a week night, I think I will wait till this weekend. I wonder how many hours the dealership charges for this job, my guess is 4+...

[Hijacker]

YOu can try to access it from the bottom. If you don't have a long enough extension, you can remove some of the brackets that hold the intake manifold to the block to make some room. That might be less crap to remove than going in from the front. Granted, I haven't worked on a KA inside a car in quite a few years, so I may be forgetting what the hell is there. I'm more used to working on SRs.

As for all the crap we have on the cars, that's thanks to emissions standards and all that crap. Of course, my mom's old '00 Grand Prix had more crap all over it, and the packaging engineers were annoying enough to place it ALL in remarkably crappy places. But then again, nothing will top trying to get the distributor out of an '01 GMC Jimmy. The firewall was in the way.