First the setup:
Stock GSR
Ebay Cast log manifold
turbonetics t3/t40e 57trim .63a/r turbo
ebay intercooler
1000cc Saturated Injector Dynamic's Injectors
ngk bkr7e spark plugs gapped at .28
3in downpipe and exhaust with magnaflow high flow cat

During the tuning session at around 280 whp at 9 psi the car began to show signs of detionation. The compression of the engine showed 220 220 220 230 so I know all is good and it runs perfectly fine, no smoke on the dyno or on the street.

The engine was bought and swapped into this car at another car shop, they claim it should have between 30-40k miles on it but I know there is no for sure way to find out. The tuner thinks its possible that there is carbon buildup on the pistons causing hotspots causing the detionation. The only issue I know for sure is that the headgasket is bad since there are air bubbles in the radiator, but everyone I have talked to including the tuner does not think that is the issue. I am pretty sure the gasket was gone when I took it to the shop because I smelt coolant sometimes, but I never lost any and it never smoked and the car still drove fine and pulled hard when it was on the dyno. Since it was causing so many issues we turned down the boost and it is at 250whp at 7 psi.

My next issus is when I am at around 4500-5500 rpm the car will start to hesitate and not want to move smoothly. The car will bog down and jerk a bit but as soon as you give it a bit more gas it clears up, now I dont hear any backfire or anything like that and I have changed the plugs thinking it is a plug issue but same thing.

I would like for some tuners to take a look at my graphs and tables to see perhaps maybe there is something I can change or have him take a look at after I get the headgasket issue cleared out.

Thanks in advance.

9psi

7psi

Low fuel

High Fuel

Low Ignition

High Ignition


I realize that this a lot of information and it took awhile to compile all of this so I would really like some informed input. In other words if you really don't know what you are talking about please don't pollute this thread with nonsense.

Thanks in advance

 

post your ignition maps. from the looks of it, your tuner didnt tune your part throttle maps very well. u have higher load cells with less fuel than some of your lower load cells. i would get the part throttle maps retuned.

what gap on the spark plugs are you running? also how big is your exhaust? we need to see your timing map to help you out

 

x2

but you accidently posted fuel maps twice.

 

Sorry about that it was late when I made the post haha.

I put the timing maps up and also as far as the exhaust the dp is 3in and everything back is 3in and it has a 3in high flow magnaflow cat as well.

Spark Plug gap is .28 as well

 

ttt

 

you sure the car was detonating? stock GSR pistons right? Your timing looks way retarded in the VTEC map and u can see it on the dyno graphs too (graph is choppy and not smooth)

i would pull out the cat and run a 3" pipe in its place. did the tuner pull the plugs to see if there was signs of detonation?

 

that tune is ALL OVER the place. where is your vtec activation? with your combo, vtec is going to want to be at a really high rpm.

those turbonetic/log manfold combo's always have problems. i'd swap out manifolds if nothing else. it will turn into a whole new car.

 

tune looks like ****, but im no expert

 

I looked at the plugs when he changed them out and I didnt see any metal specks on them. What he was telling me is that the choppy lines near the top of the graph was due to detonation. I have heard of that before but I am not 100% sure.

 

Right now it is set at 5200rpm and I plan to do change the manifolds later, but for now I am going to have to use this setup.

What are common issues you have seen with the combo that I have? Issues like mine or different ones?

 

So what can be done to improve it? What makes you think its ****? It obviously has problems or else I wouldnt be here so how can it improve?

 

how much timing did he start off tuning the car with? choppy lines on the dyno graph can mean several things - exhaust restriction, too little timing and ofcourse detonation. i dont see how your car can be detonating with such low timing. i think u should bring it back to the dyno and start adding timing to ur VTEC map 2* at a time and see how the HP changes. keep doing so until you stop making power. also check the plugs with every pull to check the burn.

 

to low of timing caused my car to do this. if its detonation the plugs will look like they have pepper on them. do a 3rd gear pull your self shut the car off as soon as you hit the spot the tuner says it detonating at pull to the side of the road and look at your plug. i am trying to start a plug reading thread here is the link maybe it can help or you can post your plugs on there
https://honda-tech.com/forums/engine-management-tuning-124/spark-plug-reading-pictures-2502308/

 

I am not sure what he started with since I was not there the whole time, but I am taking the head off tomorrow to install head studs and if everything looks okay ill try a pull and see whats going on myself.

One thing that did bother me is that he never checked the plugs to my knowledge except to try some colder plugs to see if the condition got any better. The plugs he did pull out had no detonation though so I am not sure..

Also ashb82 you maps turned out like mine due to low timing? I DID have the car running at around 19degress at WOT when I was running neptune, but I switched to s300 and to a different tune. Those plugs looked perfectly fine as well so I was kinda surprized when he told me he was having issues.

 

the lines crosses
the lines are not equal.
the map isnt really smooth, lots of big jumps.

i would try another tuner personally