Thanks in advance for reading.

So, a few weeks ago I got code 52 which is the knock sensor, so I dug into the engine to fix it and the timing belt came loose due to the idle pulley being removed to yank the knock sensor out, I live in Hawaii and don't have much money so I soldered the connector directly to the knock sensor, since what happened was the connector got brittle and came loose, and I put everything back together. I put the timing belt back on and have since adjusted the timing, I've tried 10*, 12*, 15* and 17*, 15* seems to give the best results, but the truck is still extremely sluggish and won't go over 4K Rpms. Today code 14 came on (ignition coil?), I'm pretty sure the engine is misfiring, but I'm not sure, the truck shakes and it has little power, and when code 14 came on the truck wouldn't really go fast at all, very little power. I unplugged the battery to reset the code and 14 went away, but 52 came back.

Any help would be appreciated.

New wires
cap
distributor
VAF (MAF)

 

Soldering the connector might work about 1 time out of 500.

Code 52 is NOT "the knock sensor," it's the lack of knock sensor signal to the ECU. When the ECU fails to "hear from" the knock sensor, it substantially retards timing to save the engine. Which makes it very sluggish. Sound familiar?

So if it wasn't the knock sensor itself, what was it? Most likely the "pigtail" that you found was brittle (common). Since it is a shielded wire and connector, soldering it together is almost certainly a waste of time. Just replace the short pigtail.