Apocolipse

It’s probably logging burst knock - the ecu pulls timing on throttle to avoid actual knock when you have quick pedal movements.

Lights ZR1

That sounds like what happened when I tried the second time. I eased into it at roughly 80-85 mph and nearly 2500 rpm, for the first couple split seconds 0.0, but then it flashed to 3.7 as I gained speed. I think I got to 3,000 rpm. Seeing my KR with more RPM scared me off of trying anything else. I kept it under half throttle and out of boost and saw 0.0. Once saw 0.7 while shifting gears.

I thought about testing in 5th or 4th gear, or going for a WOT redline pull. Didn’t want to chance getting audible knock. I’ve heard that in my other car. Horrific rattle as boost hit with like no throttle, just gaining speed in traffic. Into 3rd, same thing. With some miles I was able to hit boost with no rattle. I had to drive out the entire tank of gas, change the knock sensor. Never occurred again and I still use that same Mobil station as they get constant deliveries and their gas is always fresh.

And then there’s Dashlogic itself, which I’m not sure if I trust its readings. Palmer refuses to fix the flashing HUD or bother to update their website. Looking at some gear calculations even 5th or 4th wouldn’t be safe to go WOT if this is real KR.

grinder11

Buying a C6 ZR1 certainly is not a bad idea. I would never imply that. That said, downshifting to 4th gear@70mph certainly wouldn't qualify as lugging an engine in my dictionary. 5th and 6th gear in your trans are both Overdrive ratios. I'm real curious about the A6 guys in this situation. If they used your 50% throttle in 6th gear, I wonder if there trannys downshift? Just because an engine is capable of something doesn't mean it is a good thing for longevity. I don't want to argue about it. As I said, you own it, do what you want. I'll agree to disagree...

Lights ZR1

Is any throttle at 70-80 in 6th safe then? Overdrive or not this engine doesn’t seem to care. Other cars I’ve been in shake and groan if you lug them, not on purpose of course.

Lights ZR1

Right. So I can’t go WOT at all. So I think that’s that.

I eased into doing this too and had my hopes dashed. Merged onto the highway and went WOT 3-4-5 all in the mid range 3-5k rpm and saw nothing! A brief flash bit of 1.0 KR in 5th that’s all. Went into 6th, WOT at 80-90, and still only saw 1.0 briefly. So I thought problem was solving itself. And then I’m pretty sure I heard a brief single ping. And then I see 6.0 KR. And 6.5.

At this point I said screw it and did a WOT pull in 3rd, my absolute favorite. 3rd gear from 70~, bang into 4th and ride the 1:1. Didn’t even make it that far. Sure enough 6.0 and 6.5 KR in the high rpm. Probably around 5,000 rpm. So now I can’t even go WOT.

So I’m seeing the same KR WOT regardless of where I am in the rpm range. Something is not right. This summer I saw 0.0 regardless of where I went WOT.

Even weirder, is twice I saw the KR flutter between 0.2 and 1.0 just driving traffic light to traffic light.

It’s not the gas. My other car is a little turbocharged 500 Abarth and tuned and was absolutely flying last night on this very same Mobil 93. And I enjoyed every second of it.

I’m taking this as a sign to move on. Obviously the car sitting this winter for a few weeks did something to it, or that 2 and 1 month old gas did. I unfortunately do not have the time or resources to diagnose this. I have a neighbor with cancer and a good friend with cancer that’s on my mind 24/7, And work stuff is extremely shaky and micromanaged. I need a change. Perhaps somebody else can enjoy this thing more than me. Sorry for the endless **** threads. Probably still better than the spam of the vendors.

I’m at a loss at this point. I’m stock. Just have an attack blue air filter, DMS bricks, and a solid isolator coupler. All last summer I saw 0.0 KR as far as I saw.

grinder11

Don't give up!! Check what sparkplugs you have, maybe the wrong heat range. Just take it to a reputable tuner/tuning shop. I doubt that sitting for a month or two would do anything to most any car. If it didn't do it last Summer, it should be OK now, too. I have a very good idea that your problem could be solved with very little time and $$$. Stick with it. Was the Mobil gas one car ran bought the same hour of the same day at the same station? If not, whole different situation..

Lights ZR1

My only other theory at this point is I didn’t burn enough of the old crap out. 93 octane gas from 1/7 and then 2/9 isn’t 93 anymore at this point. Who knows how long it sat prior to being at the station.

I’ve only ever run Mobil 93 from this same station. The other car got 93 the day before at the same station and it’s fine. They go through insane amount of gas. Constant deliveries. 15 pumps. Sunoco 94 is available but I don’t know if there is any benefit. The plugs are factory but with only 12,900 miles I doubt they are the problem. My only shop option is East Coast Supercharging and their communication is difficult.

Almost no overall change in KR from the mixture of 2 and 1 month old gas, and the fresh gas I got last weekend. Yes at first KR was lower with this fresh gas. But the fresh was only 11.66 gallons, so still over 1/3 of old crap in there. Could that be it? It’s not pure 93 then.

I 100% heard a single ping in 6th. Engine way too loud to hear it in 3rd at WOT. I don’t want to be doing damage.

It bums me out, because I saw significantly less KR and thought I was on the right track with my old gas theory. Our 93 here is good! Never had a problem.

WOT 6th at 80 gave me 3.7 with the old gas. And 2.9 whatever at 70 for reference. Didn’t try WOT because I got scared off.

Now that I got 11.667 fresh gallons, I tried anll over to see if it improved, and initially saw only 1.0, until it pinged after a couple seconds and spiked to 6.5. I wasn’t actively trying to do it, I went WOT in the midrange and torque band 3800 to 5000+ merging onto the freeway 3-4-5 to test before I went for the redline. And I saw 0 in 3rd and 4th and 5th at first!!! In 5th it was 0.0 for a bit then around 1.0 but nothing crazy. So I went for 6th, and 0 at first then also 1.0!. So I think great the gas is better, then I hear a soft ping and it spikes to 6 and then 6.5 KR. And obviously WOT to redline did the same thing in 3rd not sure if it pinged. It went 1, 2.5, 4, 6, 6.5, something like that.

So it tried the high octane map at first and still ended up on the low octane map pulling timing. I’m lost at this point.

It was 45 degrees outside and dry. IAT1 45 IAT2 63, so that’s not it. Coolant around 188 or something.

Scotthmt

do you have hptuners? Pull some timing in the areas it’s knocking, it’s relatively simple. There are mail order tuners that can help as well.

Lights ZR1

I sadly do not have HPTuners. Pulling timing on a stock car seems extreme. It’s essentially doing it from 4500 to the redline. Maybe even starts lower. Gear doesn’t matter. I see the software is just downloaded and the OBD2 adapter is $400, not bad at all. I also looked into a Diablosport 93 tune, they advertise 20hp/30tq gains and a bit of mpg, and it’s been backed up. If I have a bigger problem brewing I don’t want to possibly make it worse. No real options for a dyno tune here. Would also be nice to gain some range.

I was beginning to think Dashlogic was reporting crap numbers. It’s v1.21 firmware or whatever. Then I heard what I thought was a ping and the numbers spiked. Who knows. And then again whenever I did hootenanny last summer and had all my numbers up watching IATs I never saw KR move off 0.0. Except those weird 0.4 flashes with shifts. I would’ve noticed. That’s how I saw it happen this time around, corner of my eye.

I just want the weather to warm up, meet up with my CF ZR1 friend, change my oil, have some lunch, and enjoy the damn sunshine. Ugh. I guess I can be thankful for the lack of snow and salt, drove a lot this winter.

Scotthmt

Buy hptuners and some credits. You can datalog exactly when and where it’s knocking if it’s knocking. Make adjustments from there. It’s not too terribly difficult. I agree knocking stock seems strange. Perhaps try octane booster and see if that remedies it. Or
maybe the car was previously tuned, it’s hard telling.

Lights ZR1

I agree. As far as I can tell it was stock when I bought it. 5,700 miles, no marks anywhere, older owner. No aftermarket bits except a $2000+ Escort 9500ci that was installed with the display in the rear view mirror and laser shifters. Woah. It came with a battery tender. No real battery draw, 11-12 milliamps.

Scotthmt

id get hptuners, then you can datalog and have a baseline and see what’s actually happening and how to remedy it. It’s not too difficult and there are people that will help. If you had a log and a tune file it’s would be the first starting point. I’m sure this issue can be fixed simply. Good luck.

Lights ZR1

I have a few theories at this point.

1. It’s the Attack Blue air filter. But it doesn’t make any sense. There’s been no surging or any weirdness showing on my readouts until now. I have the original OEM filter that still looks spotless.

2. The 1/3 tank of 2 and 1 month old gas is still in there and taking the fresh 93 closer to 91

3. 14 year old spark plugs and wires.

I really don’t know at this point.

Scotthmt

I’d go ahead and get hptuners and you can move forward from there, the other option is I will be willing to purchase a knocking zr1 from you at a heavily discounted price

Lights ZR1

I’m not sure if it’s actually knocking or the knock sensors are having a fit. It pinged I think, just once. Knowing exactly when and where would help.

The furthest I’m willing to go at this point is fresh plugs, fresh wires, maybe an OEM air filter, and run some Techron through it. Things are shaky right now.

Apocolipse

I’ve never heard of audible detonation being there on a fully stock tune. If it was it would have registered at the max which IIRC is 12deg.

when I had to run 91 it made the knock sensors go insane and pull timing like they are supposed to - but didn’t hear anything

Lights ZR1

When I thought I heard that soft single ping it went from 1.0 to 6.5 and I let off before it had a chance to register anything else. So I'm not sure. And at high rpm I didn't hear anything.

Lights ZR1

It’s been suggested to me to use Firecore50 wires. But I don’t know which ones. OEM plugs. I’m not sure the Attack Blue filter is a problem. But I could put OEM in.

Lights ZR1

So let me ask you this. 11.66 gallons of 93 are from last week. The other 1/3 of a tank is a mix of old gas from 1/7 and 2/9. Is that dragging it down and causing my problem?

Colonel

"The furthest I’m willing to go at this point is fresh plugs, fresh wires, maybe an OEM air filter, and run some Techron through it. Things are shaky right now."

A bottle of Boostane is $25. You will know, for a fact, whether your KR is real.....or fake news!

Just sayin'....I woulda tried this immediately to answer that one simple question....real or not? It makes it easier to diagnose if you at least know that.