as some of you may know, I had my starter, knock sensors and knock sensor connectors replaced recently. The shop that did the job is excellent, however, the guy that worked on my car skipped one step: that hose-like insulation that goes around the knock sensor connector wires - he did not put them back on! So, there are just white wires in there. The white color is plastic insulation, the wires are thin. The insulation is about half an inch around the wires normally. but for some reason, he skipped that. I was in a hurry to go on a trip, so I could not argue with him, and his answer was that it does not get that hot in there, so it does not matter.
My thinking is that - if it does not matter, than, Lexus would not put it in there.

What is everyone's take on this? I mean, the car is running great now, but I don't want to have my knock sensors fail in a year or two because of a stupid mistake like that...

 

He might be right, but I go along with Lexus thinking on the insulation... I think I would push to have it right..with the shop owner.,

 

Its got nothing to do with getting hot because it will still get hot with more insulation over it in time. And yes it does get hot its the top of the engine and heat rises. The worry is rubbing and chafing or critters that like to chew wires.

 

Is this one of those cases where the original insulation was made of stuff that rats liked to eat? If so, you may at least be better off than the original stuff. I'm sure any of the currently sold rat-tasty stuff has been superseded with not-so-tasty stuff.

 

So I guess the question is - what is yummier, the white insulation on wire, or that big hose-like insulation that is supposed to go around it...

He showed me that he positioned the wires so they are not touching anything, so that should be OK.