when I race I could only hear the wastegate screaming, how can I tell if the engine is dentonating? sometimes when I race on the highway I downshift to 4th and floor it till redline then continue boost in 5th for a few seconds, how bad is it?

97 lude boosting at 7 psi, fuel setup is Vortech 12:1 FMU, stock injectors, msd inline fuel pump, a/f ratio is all the way to rich under full boost.

 

well, if you can't hear it, then the only way of telling without expensive data loggers is sometimes the exhaust will puff out a puff of smoke when detonating. Other ways of telling are to check your plugs for little specs of metal, which is a sign of detonation. A J&S knock monitor might not be a bad investment.


[Modified by VaporTrail, 5:02 AM 6/22/2001]

 

Once detonation occured, will the engine blow right away? Is it bad hit the rev limiter under full boost? cuz in 1st gear it pulls tooo hard and i couldn't shift fast enough...

 

It is pretty bad if you hit the stock rev limiter. The factory rev limiter on Hondas, I believe, is a fuel cut style. So when at WOT and you're making full boost, and it cuts fuel, basically you're running lean. If you have an A/F gauge, notice how it'll jump lean to rich to lean, and back and forth. Try not to hit the rev limiter. What I have setup is using a soft rev limiter on the ignition box. Get like an MSD 6AL or a Crane HI-6R, I have a crane and I set the rev on it 100 rpm lower than factory. That way I won't ever hit the stock limiter, and the ignition box will limit rev by cutting the spark to certain cylinders. It's better to cut spark than fuel.

 

That makes sense, thanks a lot TurboLudeSi. Well I already have a MSD 6A and I don't want to spend another 200 bucks on a new 6AL just for the rev limiter, I think I will just set my shift light at 7000 so I maybe able to shift fast enough before it hits the redline. It's all good if I get used to it, now I just can't response so fast that the rpm jumps to redline like a rocket in 1st gear....

 

it takes more then once to blow up an engine. My last motor was running a little lean for about 5 months before it finally melted. it kind of also depends on how lean it is. hitting the limiter once is no big deal I wouldnt even worry about it but dont make it a habit.

 

If you knew your car was running lean, why didn't you richen it up? How did you know you were running it lean? What kind of A/F measuring device did you use? Also, can anyone out there give me a descriptive sound of how an engine sounds when it knocks or detonates?

 

a sound when engine is blowing up will be great.