What are the symptoms of a bad inner tie rod?
Symptoms of tie rod failure can include clunking or clicking when turning the wheel or while traveling over a bumpy surface, noticeable steering slack (moving the steering wheel left to right when the wheels are straght), vibrations when driving, reduced turning radius either left or right and a simple way of checking for wear is to turn the wheels to the left of checking the left wheel and to grab the tie rod with both hands and to move it about. If it moves freely then it needs replacing, if not fixed soon complete tie rod failure would release either wheel from any steering input leaving you stranded and in a dangerous situation if it fails at higher speeds.
Does a faulty knock sensor affect engine performance?
Yes, it absolutely can.As someone else mentioned, the majority of failures are due to the lack of a signal. Performance is unaffected if there's no signal. However, OEMs can decide to force a "limp mode" condition to protect the engine which will be a significant and obvious reduction in power.If you have an over-active knock sensor then engine performance will be affected. For most vehicles, the reduction in power is probably going to be small. However, for high-performance engines, especially turbocharged or supercharged motors, the power loss will be more noticeable.If the knock sensor were to consistantly report knock then most modern ECUs react by pulling a large amount of ignition timing (5+ degrees of retard) which can reduce engine output by up to 25%.The ECU will also start to learn knock events. If the knock occurs several times at the same conditions (load) the modern ECU responds by applying a small reduction in timing at that point in the ignition trim table. This means that the engine's performance will degrade over time if the knock sensor continues to report false knock.You can reset the corrections by resetting the ECU. The easiest way to do that is to unplug the battery for a while. The ECU will then use the base ignition values, returning any lost engine power due to the learning. This is important to do when you replace a faulty knock-sensor.Also follow me on … Instagram — Come and Drive It (@comeanddriveit) Facebook — Come and Drive ItTwitter — Come and Drive It