I've had my ix for a little over a year now, and ever since I've had it I've had problems with knock and the engine pulling the timing under WOT. On the original tune, which was done by a tuner that doesn't seem to be very highly regarded, it had the least symptoms. Since then, I've had it tuned by 2 different shops, both well known and reputable, and the problem just seems to be getting worse.

After my 2nd tune I took the car to a track day and ran 100 octane even though the car is only tuned for 91. Even with the 100 octane I got knock every time I went WOT. Got it tuned after that and it seemed ok for about a month and then started happening again. The problem is most noticeable after shifts and if I'm holding the gas at mid to high rps and then go full throttle, both when I punch it and when I progressively roll the throttle on to full. I had my CEL converted to a knock indicator, that's how I can tell it's giving me knock, and when it does knock it seems to knock a LOT.

The car has also always run PIG rich at idle, to the point that I'm a bit embarrassed to warm it up in the mornings and in parking garages because of the smell.

Some of my theories for the issue:

a.) I have Deatschwerks injectors, which none of the tuners seem very familiar with so the scaling might be wrong. Anyone think running a more well known injector, like RC, would help?

b.) My Cosworth 272 cams could be causing a lot of noise and false knock. Not sure about this one because it seems to knock under just about any full throttle application

c.) I just can't seem to get a good tune? 2 of my tuners are very well regarded in the Evo community, so I'm not sure about this one either.

Here's my relevant mods:
Evo IX
DW 740cc injectors
Walbro 255
ACT HD
EMS 3.5" FMIC
Nisei top and bottom IC pipes
3" TBE w/ RRE HFC

Any advice? It's driving me crazy and I hate that I can't enjoy my car the way I should be able to! I drive it pretty gently most of the time, but I hate that I'm afraid to go full throttle for fear of harming the motor. Thanks in advance and I hope the community can help me out.

 

Did you buy it with the mods? I'd start with the injectors. At least get them flow tested so you know where you're at...
Tuner(s) could/should have adjusted for false knock, so I'd rule out the cams.

 

It had most of the mods when I bought it, all I added power-wise was the intercooler. The injectors were about 2 years old when I got the car and the previous owner (who I know personally) had flow charts with them from when they were new. The injectors has been the one thing that both tuners I've gone to seemed a bit confused by, but eventually "figured it out," which is why I have my suspicions.

 

If you're still running rich and knocking, I guess they didn't. hehe Running WAY rich can cause knock too, fyi.

 

Have you contact a tuner who tuned yours? If you think its injectors, why not try swap out with other brand to test it out? I had DW injectors on my other car, its diff car but i loved them.

 

I've got a set of FIC injectors on order now and an appointment for a retune; I'll try and keep this thread updated with the results.

 

Just an update for anyone else having a similar problem, my problems were caused by several issues. First, my EGR hose had popped off, and that was the biggest culprit but even with it reinstalled, the car was still knocking. I took it to get it retuned with some new injectors, and it turns out the old injectors were poorly installed with mangled o-rings and one of them was cracked. Popped in some new FIC 1050s, put it on the dyno, tuned it for a zero knock tune and then pulled the timing back one more degree for safety at my request, and the car feels better than ever!

 

Thats good to hear, there nothing worse than having a performance car and not being able to drive the car the way it was intended for. Good luck and enjoy driving your car.