Hey I have a question im hoping I can get an answer for…I have an 2003 evo 8, I currently replaced my stock 2.0 L with a 2.3 stroker, when I took it to buschur for a tune the stroker made less HP because the knock sensor was reading high knock levels..so it retarded the timing, I called the company (insane speed) who I bought a rebuilt motor from, and assured me it wasn’t the motor it was the tuner and of coarse the tuner says it’s the motor… the only solution david buschur could think of was to retard the knock sensor and see if it will run…. I need input please, how safe is it to turn off/down the sensor or do yous have any other solutions to this problem, the motor has a 4g64 crank, eagle rods and pistons, new APR main and head studs, and said it was balanced. Would the stroker motor just naturally vibrate/knock more than the stock 2.0? should I change the knock sensor ? please let me know what you guys think, its much appreciated.

 

If buschur is close enough for you to drive to why would you let anyone else touch or advise you on anything engine related? Just pay buschur to find out what is really going on with your engine/tune. Best case is its something he can sort out easily. If he discovers something at fault on Insane Speeds end he will likely be able to get them to work with him on sorting it out for you. In my experience, shops are 'generally' pretty good about working with each other in these scenerios.

Good luck.

 

I assume the balancer shalf is removed right?
What kind of dampaner pulley are you using now?
And if You have D.Buschur tune it I would trust his suggestion.

 

we've had that issue in the past with a local engine builder and stopped using them because of it-

cb

 

yea i drive to buschur and do trust david, just looking for anyother possibilities b/c he wasnt even really sure...which puts me at a panic when hes not really sure what the prob is..

 

what was the problem exactly???

 

Not really sure generally = going to cost you a few $$ for me to figure it out for you.

 

does anyone else have a response to how safe or should i have him turn down/off the knocking sensor? i really dont want to pay for/replace another motor..

 

actually man our knock sensors from the factory are set very sensitive, which has its good and bad points, good points is it retards timing in the event of a 3+ count of knock. Bad side is our drivetrain (trans/tc) in some instances creates harmonics, which the knock sensor can detect due to that or also with some downpipes rubbing, which creates whats known as "false knock" Now if he de tunes the knock sensor it will still pick up knock, but the ability of it to catch every knock count will be reduced, therefore hell be able to put the timing where it needs to be to make the power it should. Now I dont have experience with Dave, other then talking/arguing at one point on here with him. But other then him bein kinda an ***, he seems to know what hes doing? So I would trust him, there are basics he can do for testing without cracking open the engine. So let him sort your issue, and they might have to work out somethin with your engine builder.
Good luck

 

Ok thanx all good info.. 1 more question is it normal for a stroker to vibrate after about 5k rpms? I can feel it through the floor.. Or is there another concern?

 

IIRC the worst harmonics are usually between 3-4K RPM on an inline-4.

l8r)

 

so whats it mean when its at higher rpms?? is it something to be worried about?

 

i have a 2.4 i get phantom knock at 4200 every once and awhile..

i had to have my knock sensor "tuned" not to read knock till a certain extent so it can weed out real and fake knock... nothing is worse than the low octane map it switches to lol talk about no power

 

also... exactly how many counts of knock do you have? and is there something in the engine bay hitting anything? exhaust etc?

 

it was at 9 count..i dont think there is anything, where should i check???