[Scumlabs]

Help! Annoying SCT tuner issues

I'm at my wit's end with this tuner business.

When I purchased my SCT SF3 tuner for my 99 Mustang V6, I filled up with 91 octane and loaded up the 91 performance tune. I noticed a slight pinging noise at part-throttle, which has been described to me as "spark knock". It can get especially loud in a higher gear in low RPMS at WOT.

I've been trying the past few months to solve this issue. I've talked to Dan @ AmericanMuscle a few times, and we've been trying to work together to get this thing working. I've upgraded my spark plugs to copper core autolites, got my wires checked out, seafoamed my car to get rid of any possible carbon deposits, eased up on my timings by a couple degrees, and then by a few degrees globally, etc, but the problem remains.

When I load my factory tune, the sound vanishes. I can't try 93 octane, as I'm in California and the max here is 91. When I load a "Strategy tune", the sound is almost gone, but still noticeable. When I try to pull some timing off of the strategy tune, the power just isn't there, and it almost seems slower than stock. I've been running my car on the stock tune for the past few months in fear of doing something bad to my car.

It seems no matter what I do, I just can't run this 91 octane tune without my car making some noise. I even loaded the 87 octane performance tune (with 91 octane in my car) and the noise is still there, but when I take the tune off, the noise vanishes, which leads me to believe putting 93 in my car would still make the car ping.

I'm running Shell V-Power gasoline, 91 octane. Does anybody have any experience with anything like this, or any ideas of things I can try to remedy the situation?

 

[Scumlabs]

I have the tune that AM has written for me. My only modifications are a cold air intake and true dual exhaust w/flow 40's.

What if it's just the poorly written canned AmericanMuscle tune? Is it possible that a completely custom tune from Brenspeed would clear things up?

I'm a little hesitant to spend any more money on a device that has given me so many problems..

 

[Scumlabs]

My main concern is that the SCT tuner even pinged with the SCT "Strategy tune", which to my knowledge, isn't AM's tune. It wasn't as loud as noticeable, but it was still there.

Could this still mean that a high performance tune from Brenspeed or VMP could still potentially fix my problem? Or does it sound like an issue with my car, even though I run 91 octane Shell V-Power? It doesn't ping at all on the stock tune.

 

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I've had two tune revisions from AM (with no success) and I've also filled up at Chevron, which has good quality gas.

Correct me if I'm wrong.. but if the car runs fine stock and poorly with a tune (knowing that I don't have carbon deposits and have copper plugs), doesn't that pretty much mean it's the tune?

I feel like I'm never going to get this thing working

 

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yeah, use the on device adjustments and pull 4* global spark.

Tried that. I pulled off as much as 6*, and by then, the power just wasn't there, and there was still a faint pinging.

I'm waiting on a custom tune from Brenspeed; I'll keep this thread updated to see if it fixes my problem, and if my car just didn't like the canned AM tunes.

 

[Scumlabs]

$75 more dollars down the drain.. the Brenspeed tune came today, and my car is still pinging.

I don't know what to do. I suppose I'll email Brenspeed and see if they can adjust it, but I'm not sure if that'll help.

Where should I go from here?

 

[Scumlabs]

by the way i have the same mods you have but the only diference is i got a 93 octane tune.

Interesting. Maybe I should have gone with a different company... I'm kind of disappointed, I've heard nothing but good things about Brenspeed.

I shot them email about the issue, we'll see if they make it right. I'm almost positive it's the tuner though, my car is in good shape and I'm using the right gasoline.

btw, Merry Christmas everyone

 

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I spoke with Dave at Brenspeed, and he said "...some V6 cars simply do not like timing because of the load on the engine".

Basically, he said that pulling any more timing off would eliminate the pinging (I pulled 4 deg. off and almost eliminated it), but he said at that point it would be around stock timing. As in, this tuner has been one big waste of time and money for me.

So if there's any v6 owners out there that just can't figure out why their custom tunes aren't working (but your car works fine stock), maybe your car just doesn't like to have it's timing messed with.

 

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What do you guys make of all this?