icer350

I had my Evo tuned a little while ago on the dyno. When I got it tunned I wasn't producing any good numbers. To say the least, I was producing less than what stock should be running on HP levels

From what the Ecu was showing, I was getting 15 - 20 + knock's at 5000 rpm and up. The knocks start at 2-3k rpm all the way to redline.

What is also funny is that the engine is showing a higher engine temp as the rpms go up. The temps start at somewhere around 180 and get up to 220 at redline. From all the other evo's he has tuned it should max about 193 and hold there.

The Guy( who is reputable tunner) who is tuning my car believes that the stock head bolts have streched and the head is slightly lifting and the headgasket causing the the knock sensor to read.

So what I have done is ordered a HKS head gasket, ARP Head head bolts, and Hks 272 cams (might as well replace the cams while I am at since they have to be removed anyway). This way I know the head is good and I can support higher boost later down the road.

If this doesn't solve the problem, what else do you think it might be? Look at my signature, it gives a list of my current mods. I only have 17K miles on my 03 evo 8.

cdupont03

iTrader: (31)

I also had similar problem, turned out my fan control box was going bad so fan was kicking on but not staying on as long as it should. Maybe not whats wrong with yours but you should check the small stuff first cause your going to pay out the hole for all that labor. Mitsu qoutes $1200 just for labor alone on a new head gasket.

KartaRailed

Who is the reputable tuner? I have never heard of any tuners from kansas. I highly doubt that your head studs streched out, I have run in excess of 28 psi on race gas and I get no counts of knock at all. I have no idea what is casuing your knock. But im pretty damn sure its not that.

evo542

I am thinking carbon deposits on the valves, pistons or head. The headlifting sounds like BS you would most likely blow the headgasket if the bolts stretch and experience loss of coolant and unusual oil consumption. On the other hand you should inspect the entire cooling system like the water pump, check for leaks and make sure the bearing is not worn out also check fan relays

sparky

iTrader: (1)

Are you running the stock exhaust manifold? Has the turbo ever been off the car?

icer350

Part Cost is not the issue. I got all the parts for right under a $1000 and will have it all installed for $400. The engine temps only rose during boost. Once engine was idle temps went down. The fan works fine from everything I can see.

I am having Jake, from Dieman motor sports tune the car and do all the part installs. Everybody I have talked to from here really likes his work. I have seen nothing but good work for all his cars. We are going to start here till I can find out what it is. I bought this car used from the dealership, and I dont know how the person before me treated it. Plus, since a cam install was two hours labor to install, adding the headgasket only to the install didn't add much, I decided to go ahead and do it.

I checked most of the coolant system. everything seems to be fine. I have no leaks what so ever. The only thing left to do would to be to replace the thermostat. I cant amagine that the water is going bad with 17k miles. So lets not hope that is it at the moment. I will check the fan relays here in a day or two.

I have also ran fuel cleaner and that sea foam stuff before the dyno and no improvements. I use 92 octane, which is the best you can get around here.

I still have the stock exhaust manifold. As far as i know the turbo has never been off the car. I did some research on this before, and I know where you going with this. I have heard that some times exhaust rattle can cause the knock sensor to go off as well. I am going to check to make sure everything is tight. and no ratling. I dont think the turbo has ever been off before, but I bought used, so I dont know for sure. But I plan to put a hotside and a 02 housing sometime soon. But I hope to have this fixed before then.

I have also read on the forum that some people just had a bad knock sensor that picked up everthing. Some sugested getting a new one. They are pretty cheap from what I read some where. I need to look into prices.

mac_05evo

iTrader: (20)

Interesting, I'd like to know what is causing it.. Keep us updated..

evo150

iTrader: (51)

is your downpipe touching the lower brace bars? this can also cause "phantom knock" which in turn pulls timing.

Ludikraut

iTrader: (17)

The easiest way to check whether its the tune or a mechanical issue is to put some high-octane unleaded gas into the tank and see if it still knocks. If the knock counts are significantly reduced or eliminated altogether with the higher octane gas, then it is most likely an issue with the tune (e.g., overboost, timing too advanced, too lean). If the knock is still there, then it may be a variety of issues, including defective knock sensor, noisy lifters, DP or exhaust hitting crossbars or other parts, etc...

What kind of air fuel ratio is being tuned for?

l8r)

draconx

iTrader: (6)

check / change your spark plugs. if your temp is raising you could possibly be runing lean which i would cause the temp guage to raise (lean = hotter).

icer350

I haven't got back to this in a little while. I have been out of town traveling for work. When I have been home for a day or two, I have gone through and checked a couple of things. The relay's seem fine, as far as I can tell. I have changed my spark plugs w/ iridium plugs and did a oil change with royal purple. One thing I need to do is check the exhaust system to see if it is hitting anything. I haven't been home for a long time, So I haven't been able to get under it. I did just take it on a 400 mile road trip and did pretty well, milage was about 28 mpg. Power hasn't seemed to change at all though.

One thing I have noticed as well is that my idle is pretty rough. Along with that my car doesn't like to be driven until warmed up. It ack's like it has little power until warm and kinda of studers. I have done a leak down test and can't seem to figure it out.

My car is going to the shop here in a week to get worked on. Along with everything I listed earlier he is installing, we are aslo going to install new springs as well.

TeStUdO

iTrader: (6)

I would try a compression check just to see where you stand.

Steve J

This might sound funny to you but have you checked into your cat? It might be clogged. This happens to the 2nd gen Ford Lightnings (until my evo I had one of those). With the tunes from the factory being rich the cats clog up. If the exhaust is not performing your temps will rise as the rpms rise...as well as knock counts.

icer350

The compression will be checked here next week at the shop when I take it in. I don't have the tools to do it while I am out of town.

I wont have to worry about the cat here in a week either.

Ph3n1x

iTrader: (12)

vice Versa I believe