I have a 2000 Accent and about a week ago the Malfunction Indicator Light came on. Since that time the car is hesitating when accelerating. It is also spark knocking a lot more than usual. It has spark knocked the entire time I have owned it if I accelerate to much or shift to soon, but it is much worse since the light came on. I see only one exhuast gas pickup on the exhaust system, right in the front of the engine compartment just down from the exhaust manifold. Any normal or usual fix's to this problem? I really enjoy driving this car and look forward to getting it fixed. I really don't like to take cars to the dealer for this type of issue as they usually end up replacing all the components in the exhaust system and still seem to not have a good track record in fixing thed original problem. Thanks.

 

Sounds like you are kinda lost. You need a code scan. Take it to Autozone for a free code scan, don't buy any parts, write down the codes, and report the codes back here.