Fix your temperamental (or broken) plastic knock box!

[luckyboots]

I heard alot of things about the plastic knock box having problems and dismissed them because I was not having the problem, until that day when my car died when I shut the hood. Then it wouldn't start, then it died at least 2 times a day until I finally got sick of it and formulated a plan. My plan (since I'm usually poor and impatient) involved fixing the knock box I had instead of getting a new one. I searched all over SQC for an account of someone cracking one of these things open and fixing the bad solder joints within, to no avail. I was ready to break some new ground and crack this thing, because if I didn't and my fix didn't work, chances would have been I would need a ride home from work that day.

 

I imagine this fix will only work if you have the common symptoms of a bad knock box (won't start unless you jiggle the plug, dies randomly, etc)

 

Tools needed:

Solder pen

Solder with flux built right in

Grinder or dremel and a good eye

Patience

Screwdriver

Solder wick or solder sucker (if you mess up)

Light so you can see what you're doing

Hot glue or silicone

 

Est. price for the average do-it-yourselfer - $0

Avg. time - 1 hour

 

(taken from an earlier post)

My car is dying all the time because of the stupid thing so I decided if it's just a bad solder joint what's the point of shelling out at least $100 for a new metal one if I can fix mine for free. (Thank my dad for this, he is religious about fixing bad solder joints in his profession)

 

I pulled it out and took the plastic side that looks glued on in to the grinder and ground off the edges (4 edges to the box, I ground off the 3 opposite of the connector edge, then just snapped the fourth edge off) that holds it on just enought to expose the circuit board and all of the solder joints. There are 8 larger joints on the side of the external connector and I believe those to be the culprit. Especially the one all the way to the left, as I saw some corrosion on the pin from arcing. I didn't want to take any chances so I just resoldered every single connection on that board. I realigned what was left of that plastic panel and hot glued it (only if you relocate your box! if you don't, USE HIGH TEMP SILICONE - HOT GLUE WILL NOT WORK UNDER YOUR HOOD). So far it has started up 30 or so times for about 3 days straight and hasn't had any of the symptoms since so I'm hoping this problem has been solved, at least for some time.

 

My next step is to extend all of the wires in that harness about 3 or 4 feet and run them through the firewall. I want to mount that box somewhere under dash where it's nowhere near as hot and the vibrations, moisture, oils and dirt shouldn't be as bad. I just finished doing this and it works like a charm. If you hold the box and let your car idle you can feel the relay clicking every once in awhile.

 

Tools needed:

Three 4ft lengths of 14ga shielded wire

Four 4ft lengths of 14ga stranded (not solid) wire

One 4ft length of 12ga stranded wire

Roll of 3M Super33 Electrical tape

Solder

Solder Gun

(2) Crimp on Ring terminals

Self tapping screws

Unibit and grommet (for hole in firewall)

4-5ft 3/4" Split loom

Zip ties

A good imagination

 

Est. Price - $20-$30

Est. Time - 1-3 hours

 

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1673.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1674.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1675.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1676.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1680.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1681.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1682.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1683.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1685.jpg

 

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u176/luckyboots/SSPX1686.jpg

 

Thanks for reading everybody and I hope this helps. I bet there are alot of broken boxes lying around waiting to be resurrected!

 

Eric G

[Tim_C.]

It is easier to separate the entire plastic enclosure from the the metal back plate on the back side of the box. Then you can reassemble and seal it just like it was from the factory.

 

Problems with the knock box can be very mysterious. I "fixed" mine by unplugging one box, and plugging in another. Only to have that one go out in a month or so. Then I would plug the old one back in for another month. Took it apart and found no problems. Reflowing a good solder joint fixes nothing, but won't hurt as long as you do it correctly. You need to see evidence of the joint cracking, etc..., before you can safely say that reflowing it is what fixed it.

 

I found my problem was actually a bad secondary injector sticking open. I know, weird, but that is all I did to fix the knock box going out. Replacing the secondary injector. The fuel system was freaking out from too much fuel, and a failsafe ignition cut circuit was shutting off the knock box. That was the only way we could explain what was happening.

[Chad]

the failed one I took appart had a broken (burnt) spider wire from the processor to the main board, it was unrepaireable.

 

the broken/failed solder joint is most likely the fault in intermitant ignitors, which accounts for probalby a good 80-% of those that need repair. It if went out like a switch, it may be caused by what I found in mine.

 

Good info though, it's always better to try to fix them, they aren't worth anything broken anyway, so you have nothing to loose.

[macrophage]

Remember to keep your knock boxes grounded good. these things are like amplifiers, if current cant go to

ground then it will blow out.

Mine blew out when it wasnt grounded properly.