I have been hearing what sounds like detonation coming from the engine... under a decent amount of throttle it sounds like the engine bay is crackling like crazy. After taking the RPM's up to 6k there is a very odd smell that comes in from the engine bay, as well.

Ford wants to run a bunch of tests and see what's going on

23000 miles
Magnaflow cat-back exhaust
FRP 91-octane tune & K&N drop-in air filter

 

Let us know the cause when you find out.

 

I'd also be interested in hearing what they find. I get the same crackling sound occasionally under hard acceleration. I've never noticed a smell though. I'm also running the FRPP 91 octane tune.

 

FRPP tune is known to PING ... lots of threads about that ...

 

I know a lot of people were complaining about the pinging on winter gas but I haven't read about any complaints recently. I'm not even sure it's pinging. At least it doesn't sound like detonation I've heard in other engines.

 

It crackles under any kind of load... I just wish Ford gave service loaners. Even Mazda gives service loaners >:\

 

When I bought the car it had 900 miles on it. The previous owner had put the tune on it, so besides the Exhaust system the car is exactly how I bought it from the Ford dealership.

There is no way that my warranty is void, right?
Otherwise the dealership would be responsible for selling me a vehicle with an aftermarket tune on it?

 

It's a used car, and as always with used vehicles, caveat emptor. It's probably up to the dealership as to whether they will honor the warranty or not.

 

FRPP takes over warranty. Drops it from 5 years to 3 year also. You need to check fine print to see if FRPP warranty is transferable. Used car should have had window sticker indicating if it had warranty or not.

 

The dealership that I bought it from and the dealership I took it to for the problem are not the same...

I bought it from Robert Horne Ford, and the salesman related that the previous owner had purchased a "tuning kit" for it, and that he would give it to me, since it was in the car when traded in. He didn't say that the tune was already on it. I assume that it is, because I have never experienced skip-shift in over 22000 miles, and I know that one of the features of the FRPP 91-tune is the elimination of skip-shift.

When I dropped it off at Peoria Ford, I asked if there was a charge for diagnosis, and they said it was covered under the warranty. I also told the service guy that there might be a FRPP performance tune on the car, and he didn't seem to care.

 

Ford won't care how the tune got there so the fact the dealer sold it with one won't change if they void it. BUT since dealers do repairs you can bet the dealer that sold you the car won't be volunteering any info that would void the warranty and have you going after them for any tune damage. That said, you might lose if you tried to force the dealer to eat any repairs unless they didn't tell you about the tune and the law requires them to.

 

It's not really in writing that the car has a tune on it. Heck, the only reason I assume it does is because there is no Skip-Shift, the salesman gave me an FRPP tuner, and I found the invoice in the glove compartment for the purchase of said tuner.

I told the service guy when I dropped it off, but he didn't write it down.

My concern isn't that it'll get fixed -- I don't want to have longevity problems later down the road because the detonation I have been experiencing set up the engine to wear out before it's normal expiration.

 

So, according to Detroit, my vehicle just needs a new Water Pump & Timing Belt Tensioner... they are going to order the parts so I am getting my car back while they are on order.

They claim that these two parts are causing "noise." How noise from the water pump is related to engine ping/detonation is beyond my understanding.

 

Timing Belt Tensioner <-this they are probably replacing the water pump while doing the tensioner. Perhaps the detonation is off because the timing is off.

 

You misunderstand. They will be replacing your quiet water pump with a louder one that will drown out the sound from detonation.

 

Think there is a TSB for this.

 

Yeah, the service guy said that there is a TSB they are following... he didn't say that the timing was off, just that the noise was coming from there.

I asked why there was detonation, then, and he didn't seem to understand my logic.

 

Yes. That's the TSB. Sounds like pinging but it's not. I'm sure TSB oink line here or somewhere.

 

dmhines, every time I see your avatar I think of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX

 

OK .. new avatar ....