Knock sensor Options

[terrymason]

I've got another thread going where I'm trying to set the mixture on my dual dells, but this got me thinking about a knock sensor. Does anyone here have one? I see there are some aftermarket ones like these:

http://www.dpmotorsport.com/parts/knocklink/home.htm

http://www.msdignition.com/tool_8.htm


Is there a cheaper alternative?

BTW - I tried the search, and kept getting 1000+ hits.

[fiid]

Since knock sensors are actually microphones, and knock comes at a certain time (in the combustion cycle) and is of predicable pitch (due to the resonant frequencies of the combustion chamber) - I'd guess that it's theoretically possible to overcome the noise issues on a TIV - but in practice - it would take a lot of R&D. It wouldn't be easy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif). I think the megasquirt guys are making progress on this kind of stuff though.

A WideBand Oxygen sensor will tell you what your mixture is - i.e. lean or rich - this information can be applied to both carbs and fuel injection (although fuel injection systems can actually read the output in real time and adjust themselves to your engine).