Knock sensor location and dewinterization

[akdoc]

I am trying to get the boat ready to use. The dealer did the winterization and was supposed to come out 2 weeks ago to put it all back together so we could use it. Of course they still have not done it so I am doing it myself. We have a Switch V with the 335 vortec engine. I put all the ballast pumps back together, and there was 1 hose disconnected from the engine on the starboard side. I recconected that hose and there was 1 plug on the starboard side and 2 on the port side sitting there. Two of them went below the exhaust manifold. The other one is the knock sensor. Heres the problem, the knock sensor plug was sitting on the port side and looks like it came out of the port side of the engine block, but the wire is on the starboard side. I have a feeling that it was never hooked up. There is a petcock in the engine on the starboard side where the knock sensor would go. I put the knock sensor back in the port side, left the wire disconnected and was just confused. Does water drain out of the petcock during normal operation, and is the knock sensor important? I am worried because the boat was run for a year without the knock sensor connected. Thanks for your help in advance.

[GIZMO]

The knock sensor will tell the control unit to retard timing if the engine is knocking. High cylinder temp or low octane fuel will cause a engine to knock, retarding ignition timing will eleminate the knock. I dont think it will do any serious damage without it, but it may run better hooked up. Are you sure its a knock sensor, they dont go into water jacket on the engine. It may be a temp sender, there are often more than one water temp senders. One for the guage and one for the control unit.
post a pic and we can figure out what your looking at.

[lee]

On a v-drive the plug is on the port side and the knock sensor is on the starboard side.

[akdoc]

lee,
that's what I thought. The stupid dealer put the plug in the starboard side and put the knock sensor in the port side and just never connected the knock sensor wire. The people at Skier's Wharf Extreme in Osage Beach obviously don't pay attention to what they are doing. The boat was run all last year without the knock sensor wire attached to the knock sensor. Hey Andrew, could that have screwed up our engine? Trying to get service on this boat has been the most frustrating thing in the world.

[lee]

With the wire not hooked up, it should have beeped onced the engine warmed up and not stoped. There is a connector by the fuel rails that you can unplug that will stop the beeping as it will disconnect the alarm.