Car: 2003 EVO

HKS Downpipe
Ultimate racing test pipe into Turbo XS Exhaust
JDM MR DV
Hallman RX PRO MBC
Stewart warner boost gauge

Ok, a month or so ago, I made a thread because I was getting feul cut all the time @ WOT... I looked over possible mechanical issues, and decided to finally get the tune. I definitely should'nt have waited so long !!

I decided, on the reccomendation of a friend to go with the Jestr M1 tune, and got my first taste of logging and tuning so I am pretty green at this stage.

I am trying to get a basic grasp and understanding of what is going on with my particular tune. So hopefully there will be someone interested in explaining things to a newb like myself. I just want to make sure my tune looks good and is safe

At the outset, all I did was e-mail Jestr my car and mod list, and asked him to tell me if he needed any other info. (I stupidly forgot to include octane and boost I was running).

I got the flash and my friend helped me load it up. I was a little scared by the knock counts... I know this is a terrible log, very short. We took a few others but were trying to dial in the boost, this was when we got it adjusted to 19-20psi

1st tune ~ hitting counts of 19 in upper RPM:

 

I sent in the log and got the new tune a day or 2 later...

Here are the results of the tune I have now... 2 back to back pulls in 3rd gear and 1 in 4th gear... (in that order)

Any good or bad thoughts or info is appreciated...
I sent the new logs back to Jestr - hopefully he can help me out a little bit...

 

Hi

That these people can charge you money for a tune that gives you that much knock is beyond me. With that much knock, you will decrementing the octane number as well as pulling timing, both will be reducing the performance of your car, not to mention the possibility of engine damage.

I would suggest that you get the stock timing map back in the car, get the boost cut set to a sensible level, it will most likely be at 319, and then either learn to tune yourself or get a custom tune.

MB

 

there's nothing wrong with going this route to get tuned as long as the tuner works with you until the tune is right (good afr and little to no knock)

I suggest logging much much less data so it can log faster. You aren't getting much feedback per rpm range because it's looking at so many sensors. I use RPM, Knock 02, trims, IPW, TPS and timing to get more information per rpm range.

 

Great, thanks for the tips - I'll do that... I'm still waiting to hear back from the tuner, so hopefully the next one, whether I end up paying for it or not, will be a lot better.

 

Scary, I'd get a wide band before I went any further.

 

I agree, it is most unfortunate that there are tunes like this one, which after modification still shows significant knock, I hope the OP can go back to the tuner and get a third, and hopefully much cleaner tune.

MB

 

Just e-mailed the tuner again,
it had been 2 days since I e-mailed last, he had worked a bit extra on getting a tune right for my friend, so hopefully he will do the same for me too

 

^^Are you sure you are not boosting more than 20 psi?
When i got my first Jestr E-flash it had a peak boost level of 24 psi on 91 octane I was getting about 8 or 9 knock sum - similar to your 4th gear pull. I would double check the boost level on your tune, now I better run some logs on my 2nd Jestr tune.

 

It will be difficult to get perfect without wideband A/F numbers. You might turn down 1 psi until you can check your A/F readings, that might help it in the 5500 range where your picking up considerable knock. If you can get this knock gone you'll make more HP because your car will follow the timing curve instead of the timing getting pulled. I'm guessing you should easily be able to run 14* advance at redline but your not getting there because the ECU is pulling tiiming. If it is excessive boost causing the pulled timing then that extra boost is only slowing you down. It could be your A/F out of whack above 5500 due to lack of fuel volume. Maybe a fuelpump should be on your wishlist.

 

Well according to my gauge (stewart warner 25psi gauge) it is sticking rock solid at 20psi... I sent word with my tune that I wanted to stay in the 20-22psi range, but I got ZERO info on what boost he made the tune for.

Of course my gauge could be off, I'll see if my friend will switch out w/ me for a few pulls

 

Thanks man for the info! I'll bring her down a turn or two... And the Walbro 255 and drop in filter are definitely on the list!

 

Well,
Following advice I turned the boost down to 18ish. I got the new tune the other day and went out for some more logging.

Still showing knock at the lowered boost level, so I e-mailed Jestr.

He replied that my gauge was off, and that I was running "a bit more than 18psi". Can he know this from actual data or just experience with other cars? He also says I should look into a wideband


Two 3rd gear pulls @ "abit more than 18psi"

The 1st pull was right after the new flash - Didn't seem much better...
The 2cnd pull for some reason did look better (to my untrained eye)

A wideband and feul pump are in the future
Any ideas?

Does the 2cnd run show actual improvement? Should I stay here? - Should I even bother to turn the boost back up to 20, since that was what he was initially tuning for? He said I should be able to handle a 24psi spike with no problems, but I assume that means if the tune seemed to work a bit better?


Thanks

 

You can estimate the amount of boost run based on the calculated load value. What kind of gas are you running? You might have a bad tank of gas. Try some octane booster and see if that gets rid of the knock.

You have ecuflash right? You can just go in and reduce the timing in the areas that you're getting knock. Based on the o2 sensor voltage, it's not anywhere near too lean though it does look like he leaned out the top end some.

 

I have been running 93 octane, I also have the option of 92 Octane with 10% Ethanol - My friends argue over whether the 92/10% ethanol might better. This has been thru several weeks and 3 or so tanks of 93 octane.

I know Zero about this process... My friend has all the software (evoscan, ECUFlash, etc...) At this point I'm definitely willing to try and lower the timing myself - I just don't know where and what to change and how much to change it

Jestr has been VERY poor in communication, throwing 1 word answers at me and explaining almost nothing. Now he is not even answering my questions. My friend who reccomended him has been very dissapointed as well.

If someone can help us with what we need to do - I'm ready to fine tune on my own