Can bad gas or bad spark plugs trip the CEL for the KS? Or is the code thrown because the KS is faulty?

 

possibly. If you have bad gas and are detonating slightly, the KS will trip. Try replacing plugs, fresh fuel, reset ECU, and see if that works.

 

Yeah, code 23 doesn't mean that the sensor is bad, it just meant that you car is detonating or a rod is knocking, or something along those lines....as already said, it could be bad gas, bad plugs, and a huge list of other stuff....kill the tank of gas, or if I were you, empty it out the fuel tank, and refill it, and get new plugs....if that doesn't solve your problem....then start to worry about it....

 

I'm guessing/hoping that it's the gas. It's a little over two months old. I had a trip to Asia for all of April and the gas just sat there. There's a little over half a tank left, should I dilute it with some 91 and some octane booster? This CEL just popped up on Friday, it hadn't come on before.

 

I'd just try emptying it...there is a little drain plug on the fuel tank....drain it like you do your oil...and just get like a gallon from your local gas station in order to get it there.....then fill it up with gas from where you normally get it....

 

you can't "renew" bad guys by mixing it with fresh gas...same thing with milk

The higher the octane, the faster it will "spoil", so with a 2 month trip and not much gas left in the tank, especially with a higher compression engine, more than likely it's your gas.

Same thing happened to member Ryu12341 after his ITR was out of commission for a month while I built the engine. The day we got it running....it ran like garbage with almost a 1/4 tank of old fuel. Flushed it out, filled er up with 92, and it ran 10x better

 

I figured out the problem. A wire was disconnected from my adapter harness when I got it back from the body shop. That's what threw the code. I reconnected it and then I reset the ECU and it hasn't popped up since, and I've been pushing it pretty hard. We'll see. Time will tell.