[QUOTE="Imatk;6693804"]

Depends on the tune. Some of them are locked... some of them aren't.[/QUOTE

Your not adjusting the tune from bama, that is locked but if you have a SFX 3 you can adjust curtain perameters like spark advance. All tunes are locked. Cause if they weren't dumb people would f their cars up and blame bama or whoever tuned it.

 

[QUOTE=shaunrc;6693936]Actually no that's not correct. If the tune is locked you cannot adjust spark advance or anything else for that matter.

That can only happen if the tune is not locked out... basically so that it allows for those parameters to be adjusted.

 

Hmm interesting cause I was able to

 

Just a thought. If the combustion chamber has carbon buildup creating a higher compression ratio maybe it's causing the ping. Over rich tune, excessive idling?

 

The actual tune itself is locked out, but the tuner can select what parameters they want you to be able to change using the SCT. When I was running a BBR tune, it had most everything locked out, except tire size, gear size and maybe fan speed. On my Steeda tune I can change most settings. including spark and fuel.

 

So the new tunes were an improvement, as it now pings/knocks occasionally, Bama recommended replacing the fuel filter, which I will do and report back
LJS

 

First time modifying my 2007 GT and I'm experiencing exactly the same thing here. Pinging at WOT between 4200-5500 rpm after installing the 93 Octane tune.

I just worked on it this weekend so Bama isn't open for me to ask, but I'm worried I just wasted $400 on their newest tuner. I'm not even sure I can go back to stock if I wanted because the Ford Racing CAI instructions were very clear not to run the car AT ALL until it was re-tuned.

My car only has 24k very lightly used, babied miles. The MAF and throttle body looked pristine when I changed out the CAI. I've been running 93 octane from my local Exxon since day 1 so I am also skeptical that changing all these other things first will magically fix the issue (fuel filter, plugs, running a cleaner through the tank, etc.) since I had no issues before the tune. I made sure all the new CAI connections were good and solid.

I live in FL and yes it's hot and humid here a lot, but I can't believe it can't handle the 93 Street or Performance tunes I just got. I will call them Monday but I am worried in the meantime. I may try dialing down the timing advance by a degree or two as others have said, but I'm surprised the Bama tune wouldn't be "optimized" already as they say. We'll see!

 

Had a similar thing happen to me January when I installed mine. I to had issues with pinging under WOT in the same rpm range, and I was using 93 octane from shell. Tried a few different gas stations and found a couple where the pinging rarely happened. I actually haven't noticed at all lately even with the Shell fuel. I Don't know if the temperature/humidity difference from winter or if it just sort of settled in over time?

I have thought about calling them and asking for some adjustment or maybe doing some data logging with them. But since it hasn't done it in a while I have kinda forgotten about it.

BTW, how do you like it? I am really enjoying mine.

 

Well, I would probably like it if it wasn't pinging. Makes me feel like there is something wrong with my car. BAMA asked me to do the logging thing but something is wrong with either their latest X4 tuner I have, or the software they had me install on my PC; it won't recognize the device. I am a technical person and I'm pretty sure all the drivers, etc., loaded fine, so I'm not sure what's up with that, but I could NOT do logging unless there is a way for the new X4 device to log internally and send the data over wi-fi.

The BAMA guy (didn't get his name) said I probably need new spark plugs, that was his main answer to my pining question. I'm like "Really?" I only have 24k miles, and he said lightly-used engines sometimes aren't broken in the way they expect them to be when they build the tune. I am very skeptical of this, but decided to bite the bullet and scheduled my car for service this Friday and have EVERYTHING replaced...plugs, filters, oil, you name it. So we'll see. I'm already pretty far down this rabbit hole so why not. If that doesn't work I'm going to start messing with the timing parameters and dial it down a degree or two, and maybe try a different gas station, but I'm pretty sure my Exxon is reliable.

 

FLguy, try using 91 octane only. it burns faster than 93 so it will help. Also, like others have mentioned in this post, put your car on a chassis dyno at a reputable shop and tune out the problem there.

 

Burn 91? I thought that would make the problem worse (my 3 tunes are all for 93). Anyway, my Exxon only has 87/89/93. I'm taking the car for service tomorrow and having the spark plugs replaced, fuel filter replaced, and everything else checked out. I will try again after that. Thanks.

 

Let me know how it works out. I am sure you know that the higher the octane the slower the fuel burns. High compression motors cant take the fuel explosion of 87 etc. We have changed octane to alter timing very slightly sometimes it works. Just a cheap way to see if it stops the ping. Hope you get it straightened out.

 

That is a simplified explanation, octane does a little more than that. watching the news and typing at the same time, sorry.

 

Don't run 91 on a 93 tune. Don't even try it.

 

I won't.

 

Good. That was the worst advice I've heard in a little while. If anything I'd try to up the octane, not lower it.

 

Do you know exactly what octane does?? The advice was explained poorly I admit that, Octane stops the fuel from burning on compression heat before the spark plug fires. You want the plugs igniting the fuel only at TDC. If 91 works tuning for 93 makes no sense.

 

Oh did I say only TDC? Don't want to upset you guys, I know there is Btdc and Atdc as well. Seriously I do hope your able to get your car fixed.

 

If it's tuned for 93, then they will have advanced the timing. If it's already pinging, then the knock sensors are going to pull timing. If he puts in a lower octane on purpose, then it's going to have to pull even more timing. It can only pull so much timing, before that engine is toast. Do you follow?

I can think of zero situations where I would purposely run a lower octane than I'm tuned for.

Try the data logging. I'm a computer tech, and even I had trouble installing the tuner. I had to try multiple times before it was successful. If you need to, contact SCT and I'm sure they can install it for you.

 

by Bell Performance

Most people think that higher octane in gasoline supercharges the combustion in an engine cylinder, giving them additional power and performance. It is this misunderstanding of what octane actually does which leads people to spend more on gasoline than they really need to.
if you see a high octane rating for a given gasoline, what does that really tell you? That you'll get better mileage and more power? Or does it tell you something different?
The octane rating of gasoline essentially tells you how much the air-fuel mixture can be compressed before it will spontaneously ignite. Gasoline with an optimal octane rating performs best in an engine designed to run on that octane level. Refiners aim to produce gasoline that has this optimal octane rating so it will meet the specifications for the most kinds of engines. That's what ethanol is such a big deal - it's partly used to increase the octane rating of the gas. Ethanol free gasoline has to have other things added to it to make up the octane difference.
Inside an engine, you have the piston moving up and down, with the injectors metering a given amount of fuel into the combustion chamber as the piston travels up toward top-dead-center position. As it moves up, it compresses the fuel-air mix already in the cylinder. When the air fuel mixture ignites by the heat of compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine and a loss of power. The knocking sound is caused by two exploding "flame fronts" - one explosion from the pre-ignition of the fuel-air mix caused by compression and the other from the rest of the fuel-air being ignited at a slightly different time by the spark plug. The two flame front explode and send shock waves through the air of the cylinder, which meet in the combustion chamber and give you that annoying knock effect.
Lower octane gasoline like "regular" 87-octane gasoline can handle the least amount of compression before igniting. The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. This is the same as saying your engine is designed to perform its best with a specific octane rating of gasoline. A "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel to prevent it from prematurely igniting fuel before the spark plug does it.
So, octane does not enhance the explosion in the cylinder like most people think. It just prevents the air-fuel mixture from igniting before the spark plug does it. Firing the air-fuel mixture at the proper time gives you the maximum power your engine was designed to get. Using higher-octane gasoline than your engine is designed to utilize is only wasting your money.