[cgstarry]

Hi All.

Installed my Steeda CAI, high flow elbow and 87 octane tune last night. Really woke the car up!

Then they emailed me the 93 octane tune (I was running 92 octane but dealer said that would be good enough.) So I loaded it up.

I punched it and right away heard a pinging / ball bearings bouncing around noise coming from the engine. Stopped. Punched it again and heard same. Pulled over. Re-flashed the 87 octane tune back in and everything is fine again.

Was this detonation? DID IT HURT MY ENGINE???

Also: How is detonation different from pinging? Is pinging more harmless? I am hoping so because maybe it was just that since I was runing 92 octane fuel with a 93 octane tune.

Thanks!
John

[Emay]

Detonation is another word for pinging. All universal terms.

It sounds like your 93 tune has some significant timing added into it. Your 87 tune obviously does not and should not.

Before I go further, it's good you recognized the detonation and discontinued after confirming it. You couldn't have hurt anything with two short blasts, continued hard driving would lead to problems. Plug fouling being the most likely. Secondly never listen to the dealer. If by dealer you meant Ford Dealership. Worst source for info in performance 95% of the time.

Try getting some 93 fuel. Remember you can get bad high grade gas so pay attention just like you have done. If that doesn't work, try a little octane booster. If the booster clears it up it is possible you will want a little timing pulled from that 93 tune as the fuel in your area is possibly not as pure as you need for that tune.

Might try a different station or something as well.

[Modern_Muscle]

where did you get your tune from? i know B@M@ doesnt adj timing, and neither does brenspeed...even on their race tunes.

[Emay]

Modern, you sure about that? I got my SCT from Brenspeed prior to my blower. Set up for my very basic intake and delete plates at the time. Each of my tunes incrementally are increased by 2 degrees with the advancement only coming in at WOT. I had to go check to be sure.

In looking at the file in 500 RPM increments, in the timing tables it coincides to be manipulated where fuel was added.

[cgstarry]

Thanks for the info guys. I was really sweating the effect of the detonation and am relieved to hear it is not serious as long as it is remedied quickly.

Before I answer the dealer question, I will say that I agree the tune is probably good and my gas is bad. Will try a tank of 93 octane from BP before I give up on the tune based on your advice and that of the dealer. If that doesn't work, I will try octane booster as an experiment, but conclude that the tune is just too aggressive for my motor and discuss timing or other appropriate adjustments.

My "dealer" is Steeda, whom I bought the mods from. The guy I am working with has been great to deal with. He is making me an 89 octane tune (per my request) to try and strike a balance between performance and safety.

Now that I have this 93 octane tune file. I think I can use the SCT extreme tune tool to move things around (e.g. spark/timing), but I have no idea what I am doing in there so will probably just leave it to tthe experts. Until later anyway...

Are there any good resources for learning what all these parameters do and how they interact?

Thanks again for the replies guys. I was really sweating that!

John

[1FastFox]

I would leave it to the experts when it comes to tuning. I know what Im doing, I know the specs for the paremeters and the tolerances but I still wouldnt mess with the tunes. Tunes do adj your timing hence the reason for running higher oct. ( at least to my understanding ) if it didnt you would be able to run 87 with every tune. As for the dealer question, just cause its Steeda still doesnt mean that they are 100% reliable, you could be talking to some new kid trying to be a hot shot shouting out answers when he truly doent know what hes talking about. I have a real sour taste in my mouth for dealers right now, so I will bad mouth them. ( Read my thread and you will understand why )

[cgstarry]

Yeah I just read that. That is awful man.

I have some opinions on how Ford should handle this, but will post them in your thread.

Sorry for your hassle bud. I'm sick for ya. And thanks for the advice. You are verifying my gut sense.

John

[cgstarry]

And on a positive note, disregarding my concern over detonation, this CAI/tune mod is worth every red cent!

John

[RyanHNT]

Guy's What stations sale 93 octane we have 91 all over the place and I guess I just don't know which brand of station would have it. As for the knocking, pinging, or detination if you read your ford manual for your gt they say in it to ignor minor knocking with the 87 octain factory tune, they are full of shit!!! I run 89 in my 07 GT and that keeps the little taps away. By the way you did not hurt your engine with a one or two time detonation it takes repeated abuse to do that.

[Emay]

I have a Mobil and a Shell right near me that carry 93. A quick 2 mile ride we have a Mobil that carries 100 which is real nice.