Ok, I needed to make a new thread, since my old one was mainly about my tune, which I thought was making my engine knock but it only exacerbated the problem.
Pretty much, I got an MPT Performance 87 tune as I wanted to keep the car running 87 because well, the 3.7 was made to run regular, and now in NJ with this ridiculous 12% gas tax, i'm in no mood to be paying almost $3 a gallon for 93.
So I got my MPT tune and I noticed the engine would always knock in low rpms when giving it gas. it's a quick little CLONK sound. i have no idea if it's pre-ignition, or spark. I ran data logs and everything, sent to MPT, and I had 4 revisions done, and they all knocked exactly the same. I'm over my month period since getting the tune, so I doubt they'll help anymore, but pretty much if these 4 didn't fix it, they can't fix it because it obviously has to be a problem with my car.
i thought it was the tune, but when i went back to stock, i realized i could SLIGHTLY hear it when shifting. not always, not 100% of the time, but it was still there. the tune exacerbated it because, i believe, the increased throttle response would allow for more throttle at lower rpm's when i shift, thereby pushing the engine and making it knock more than it did stock..that's my theory anyway.
MPT's response was stop using 87, try higher grades, and if that fixes it, that's your problem. that was a lot of people's responses, too. they also said to try quality gas stations..problem is, the only stations by me are Wawa (which apparently is crap, who knew, i always used it..), Lukoil, and Sunoco.
so i tried 93 from Sunoco. it knocked slightly (3rd gear is always the culprit, when I shift into 3rd in my neighborhood around 20-25mph and give it gas as i come out of the shift, it would knock) and SOMETIMES it did it with 93, but even when i slammed gears hard at low speeds, 93 didn't seem to really knock.
which brings me to this: the 3.7 was made for 87; hell, so is the 5.0. why in gods name does MY 3.7 require 93 in order to like 98% stop knocking? i mean hell, it didn't even 100% fix the issue.
i'm not getting a CEL saying my knock sensor is bad or anything, i don't think there's any issue, but i have no idea. again, idk if it's preignition or spark. I've got a video if anyone wants to listen and see what their opinion is; i've already spoken to both Volt and VIG about this, and Volt's even looked at my datalogs and we haven't come to any conclusion. the sound i hear to me sounds identical to when you don't give the car enough gas from a standstill when you're letting off the clutch and the engine starts to knock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAk7iTiGqgs
In this video, at exactly 9 seconds, you can hear the first knock when I shift into third..it's after the sound of the shifter going into gear. then skip to 53 seconds, and right after i go over the speedbump and shift, you can hear a loud knock. it's like a clanky CLONK sound. it's weird.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DylFSDrjxgk
in this video, goto 39 seconds. i'm purposely doing crappy shifts because that's when i can always reproduce it. you'll hear it shift into 3rd, then clonk.
Problem is, if I put it back to stock and bring it to ford, i guarantee when they goto drive it, they won't hear it..because even I barely hear it on stock, but it's slightly there. i can't bring it there with the tune, which they would 100% hear, so is my only recourse to bring it to a shop i trust with my tune on and ask their opinion? i don't want to ruin my engine, and i don't want $450 to have gone wasted with this tune.
is this something that could potentially be alleviated by colder/warmer spark plugs, or something? i'm not a gearheard so unfortunately i'm not well versed in any of this.
Pretty much, I got an MPT Performance 87 tune as I wanted to keep the car running 87 because well, the 3.7 was made to run regular, and now in NJ with this ridiculous 12% gas tax, i'm in no mood to be paying almost $3 a gallon for 93.
So I got my MPT tune and I noticed the engine would always knock in low rpms when giving it gas. it's a quick little CLONK sound. i have no idea if it's pre-ignition, or spark. I ran data logs and everything, sent to MPT, and I had 4 revisions done, and they all knocked exactly the same. I'm over my month period since getting the tune, so I doubt they'll help anymore, but pretty much if these 4 didn't fix it, they can't fix it because it obviously has to be a problem with my car.
i thought it was the tune, but when i went back to stock, i realized i could SLIGHTLY hear it when shifting. not always, not 100% of the time, but it was still there. the tune exacerbated it because, i believe, the increased throttle response would allow for more throttle at lower rpm's when i shift, thereby pushing the engine and making it knock more than it did stock..that's my theory anyway.
MPT's response was stop using 87, try higher grades, and if that fixes it, that's your problem. that was a lot of people's responses, too. they also said to try quality gas stations..problem is, the only stations by me are Wawa (which apparently is crap, who knew, i always used it..), Lukoil, and Sunoco.
so i tried 93 from Sunoco. it knocked slightly (3rd gear is always the culprit, when I shift into 3rd in my neighborhood around 20-25mph and give it gas as i come out of the shift, it would knock) and SOMETIMES it did it with 93, but even when i slammed gears hard at low speeds, 93 didn't seem to really knock.
which brings me to this: the 3.7 was made for 87; hell, so is the 5.0. why in gods name does MY 3.7 require 93 in order to like 98% stop knocking? i mean hell, it didn't even 100% fix the issue.
i'm not getting a CEL saying my knock sensor is bad or anything, i don't think there's any issue, but i have no idea. again, idk if it's preignition or spark. I've got a video if anyone wants to listen and see what their opinion is; i've already spoken to both Volt and VIG about this, and Volt's even looked at my datalogs and we haven't come to any conclusion. the sound i hear to me sounds identical to when you don't give the car enough gas from a standstill when you're letting off the clutch and the engine starts to knock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAk7iTiGqgs
In this video, at exactly 9 seconds, you can hear the first knock when I shift into third..it's after the sound of the shifter going into gear. then skip to 53 seconds, and right after i go over the speedbump and shift, you can hear a loud knock. it's like a clanky CLONK sound. it's weird.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DylFSDrjxgk
in this video, goto 39 seconds. i'm purposely doing crappy shifts because that's when i can always reproduce it. you'll hear it shift into 3rd, then clonk.
Problem is, if I put it back to stock and bring it to ford, i guarantee when they goto drive it, they won't hear it..because even I barely hear it on stock, but it's slightly there. i can't bring it there with the tune, which they would 100% hear, so is my only recourse to bring it to a shop i trust with my tune on and ask their opinion? i don't want to ruin my engine, and i don't want $450 to have gone wasted with this tune.
is this something that could potentially be alleviated by colder/warmer spark plugs, or something? i'm not a gearheard so unfortunately i'm not well versed in any of this.