New to the game here. But Like the title says, How can an improper tune kill an engine. I understand that it would run like crap. But would it damage your internals by having the wrong air/fuel ratio? I might see maybe fouling our melting a spark plug. Ignition Timing being to far advanced might cause pre detonation and hurting pistons or sleeves. But Ignition timing is initally a manual adjustment. Just curious and I know as I finish my build( Hopefully that day comes soon) I will learn more and more. Some feed back on this would be appriciated.
Thanks

 

ignition, af, cam angle/cam position/crank angle all have to be within time. If the ignition is not in time but the crank/cam is in time, you will detonate (pinging).

As far as af is conserned, think of your engine as a box. If you put enough air into but not enough fuel, that box will expand and break apart. That's exactly what will happen to your cylinders for not having fuel. A proper af ratio at a set pressure (Manifold absolute is used for honda's usually) & a set throttle position is important for proper engine function.

Other things such as oil level and all the sensors that give you readings have to be in working order for your engine to be in good standing

Hope that helps

Regards,

Mike @ elite tuning

 

Aside from sudden heat spikes (detonation), melting plugs, etc.. you will also end up melting pistons too. Both improper air/fuel ratio and improper ignition advance will result in a damaged motor from detonation or pre-ignition.

The other issue from poor tuning is overfueling. Rich is safe, but over rich is not. Running too rich all the time will allow raw fuel to seep past the piston rings and mix into your motor oil. Fuel thins and breaks down motor oil, and the oil will now vaporize and burns easily. Without checking your oil very often, soon you will lose all your oil within 1-2k miles of driving and the motor is toast the day you decide to make a long trip. With crappy oil that is heavily diluted with fuel, you will eventually get bearing damage. Too much fuel will also wash down the lubricating oil film on the cylinder bores and eventually "wash out the rings" and glaze up your bores or scratch them (then it loses compression and burns oil). Over fueling will also cause severe carbon deposits and prevent the oil rings from working properly.

 

That all makes sense.
Thank You