What caused this piston damage?

[rottenronnie]

That may be a solution to my problem but not an answerthe to my question. What does the average person do
who does not have Sean next to them to tune their truck? Are these "canned " tunes really safe? I mean if you can have engine detonation and not know WTF is going on it even with perfect AFR's then what good is this meth enjection.?

This meth system was supposed to have taken the place of an intercooler but falls short IMO . What I learning of late is the Roe intake system does not flow evenly causing subsequent localized lean out conditions that do not show up on " perfect or OK AFR's" and the meth system does nothing to correct this. The lack of underhood geometry is the real reason that there is no intercooler yet for these trucks AND this is what really is needed.

You have to find someone that can hear an engine ping and/or knows what engine ping sounds like. This is perhaps the biggest part of tuning and will affect not only power but the life of the engine, sometimes radically. If it pings, pull timing. Fine tune later with ways to sneak a bit more timing in- Meth Injection delivery, intercooler changes, boost changes (if applicable), more octane, richer mixture, cooler plugs, lower thermostats (not a favourite of mine), etc.
If you have a c.a.i. or loud exhaust it compounds the problem. A dyno is a good place to base tune the engine and I like a dyno that can also load (Mustang) for tuning sessions. They can put the vehicle under the all-important grunt conditions where ping likes to live. With the fans running, people giving instructions, loud intake and exhaust, dyno roller noise, a turbo or s/c whine it can be hard to hear but it is really important that someone can. Sometimes a good place to listen is near a front wheel well as you are in a good spot to hear the side of the engine block. Listen for LIGHT ping or ANY ping and relay that to your tuner as to when and where it is occurring. Is it at the top of first (that wouldn't be good). Is it as soon as it hits Drive or high gear? As soon as boost hits? Does it ping after a few pulls but not on the first pull? The more information you can provide, the better.
After that, fine-tune on the road.

I had a customer that, like me couldn't hear an engine ping. Some nipple-head had cranked the timing so far ahead it sounded like someone had thrown a handful of marbles into the engine. In this case, it was beyond ping and into full-blown detonation. Diesels run here, gas engines don't. Forged or not, this engine wouldn't have lasted long.

I had my engine tuned by email. The base tune was the old Stage 2 Flash from D.C. and Chris tweaked it from there based on the information I provide him. 11,000 trouble-free miles at the current power level.
Ideally, it is nice to have someone that knows what to listen for riding with you or driving, but it isn't always practical.
Not a complete explanation but it is a great place to start. As you can appreciate, it is something that isn't easily put into one or 2 sentences but is SO important to understand. After a while (for me YEARS), you learn by hearing what an engine wants. Total timing requirements for n.a. gasoline engines aren't all that different from engine to engine. It is almost unfortunate you can't loosen the bolt and crank a distributor on these engines because you will find out in a hurry exactly what changes in timing does.
That is how I learned, well I like to think I did

Hope this helps.

RottenRonnie

 

[nycstev]

Sean is working on the intercooler. It should hopefully be available by the end of the year.

Is this a fact? This year?

 

[Prof]

Sean has it on his list of projects...but with his move it may be delayed...he has a lot on his plate right now. The move will take most of this month if not some of next.

Sean's tunes are conservative. If you have cards from him for your Roe, you can bet that they are conservative. You can also have Sean tune your vehicle remotely which is a step better than standard cards. He will schedule with you and your truck can be on a dyno and via the internet and telephone, data can be passed back and forth to get a pretty good set up.

The best is to have him on site and then riding in your vehicle for the final analysis and tweeking. The cost is not outlandish...his daily fee, transportation and accommodations. It is a great insurance policy that is just part of what we should be doing for these performance vehicles...I consider it part of the cost of a build...and I plan to do it annually.

This vehicle is an expensive pretty high tech machine...you would not take your Rolex to Walmart Watch Repair...and the Rolex is less expensive than most of our trucks.

 

[blackviper]

Well said Prof.

 

[SrtBrad]

Excluding 2004 models our Ram Srt10 Viper engines (05 and 06) have a knock sensor that monitor engine knock by means of voltage. 0 volts equals no engine knock, at 1.2 volts the computer retards the timing 2 degrees.

If the Challenger has a knock sensor was the reading of the knock sensor being monitored? If it was what were the readings? How much boost was the paxton running. What RPM range did the Dyno pulls reach? What octane fuel was used during the dyno pulls? What kind of thermostat was he running or what is the stock thermostat rating if he was stock?

There are so many variables to make an informed decision. Lets get some facts first from the dyno then try to make an informed analysis. Actually I'd love to see the dyno sheet.

 

[AWDisuzu]

detonation is not audible most of the time. especially with aftermarket exhaust.

good a/f ratios don't mean anything if you use low octaine gas and too much timing.

it looks like a spark plug melted and had some metal banging around in there for a while.

i always recommend egt gauges and do all dyno tuning with stock exhaust first before adding anything loud.

 

[rottenronnie]

The best is to have him on site and then riding in your vehicle for the final analysis and tweeking. The cost is not outlandish...his daily fee, transportation and accommodations. It is a great insurance policy that is just part of what we should be doing for these performance vehicles...I consider it part of the cost of a build...and I plan to do it annually.

From what I have seen around here, the perception seems to be you bolt the unit on and you are done. This approach isn't working all that well and there are (3) failed engines in a 400 mile radius to prove it. I think your suggestion or something like it, is a must.

Rotten