To the boosted guys that have had a engine failure
To the boosted guys that have had a engine failure I have a quick question for you guy that have cracked a piston. Chunked a rod. Damaged the engine under boost. Did you guys have a wideband? Just wondering.....
9 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,616
Likes: 185
From: Norn Iron
A wideband is only a small piece of information....so really not massively important in terms of post failure.
2 widebands are better than one wideband.
8 widebands would be better than two widebands....
Tuning is am combination of many things, wideband info to assist that is just one aspect.....Hopefully you arent asking because it went bang ?
2 widebands are better than one wideband.
8 widebands would be better than two widebands....
Tuning is am combination of many things, wideband info to assist that is just one aspect.....Hopefully you arent asking because it went bang ?
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 676
Likes: 72
I have lost an engine under boost. I had a wideband it didnt show anything amiss. To much timing or to much rpm with dod lifters killed mine. Under full song any failure is hard to trace to the reason it happened. But the tooner i trusted with my car had turned the rpm up to 6800 and had stock timing at 15 pounds on 91 octane. One way or the other something was going to die for sure. Wide band showed 11.5 the entire time the piston disentegrated and the rod whipped through the block. Pieces of piston bent valves and trashed the cam or the valves stuck open from the lifter and trashed the piston. Chicken or the egg. I saw an interview on tv one time and the intwrviewer ask a top fuel driver what happened to the engine? He answers back this isnt nascar who freaking knows everythings trashed at this point.
A wideband is only a small piece of information....so really not massively important in terms of post failure.
2 widebands are better than one wideband.
8 widebands would be better than two widebands....
Tuning is am combination of many things, wideband info to assist that is just one aspect.....Hopefully you arent asking because it went bang ?
2 widebands are better than one wideband.
8 widebands would be better than two widebands....
Tuning is am combination of many things, wideband info to assist that is just one aspect.....Hopefully you arent asking because it went bang ?
I posted this this because I was just wondering. There’s a lot of people on here that do their own work and their own tuning and then there’s a lot of people who pay someone and trust in them. In my mind, I’d never not have a wideband. Any thing could happen and if it runs a little lean without you knowing, boom. I guess I also wonder if because I’m being as cautious as I am if I have a better chance at keeping it together.
I have lost an engine under boost. I had a wideband it didnt show anything amiss. To much timing or to much rpm with dod lifters killed mine. Under full song any failure is hard to trace to the reason it happened. But the tooner i trusted with my car had turned the rpm up to 6800 and had stock timing at 15 pounds on 91 octane. One way or the other something was going to die for sure. Wide band showed 11.5 the entire time the piston disentegrated and the rod whipped through the block. Pieces of piston bent valves and trashed the cam or the valves stuck open from the lifter and trashed the piston. Chicken or the egg. I saw an interview on tv one time and the intwrviewer ask a top fuel driver what happened to the engine? He answers back this isnt nascar who freaking knows everythings trashed at this point.
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Verdad Gallardo yea your absolutely right. I can’t stare at mine when I make a run but:
thats what loggers are for, no?
Sometimes ill have a passenger keep an eye on it.
I had a fuel pump issue once and the normal afr was off and I noticed it. Come to find out, the fuel pump oring was torn and leaking prsssure. Had I not had a wideband and I would have got on it, it probably would have been bad. So there’s an example of how my engine was possibly saved by having a wideband because it wasn’t driving any different at first.
Uhm.. if you go lean under boost waiting to view the logs may only tell you why you hurt the engine. I'd put the AFR gauge on the pillar where it's easy to see. Of course keep your eyes on the road, but it is easier to glance at.
this isnt a question or a discussion of what I’m doing. Or what I need to do. It was a question of anyone had a failure who does not run a wide bang. I would have not known to pull plugs in the middle of my daily commute to see if I was running lean. Which I couldn’t feel.
Your comment is both accurate and a backhanded slap at most of the people on here. Ethanol content makes plug readings far more difficult than it used to be, and forced induction trends toward some really weird exhaust manifolds that make pulling plugs more difficult. The trend toward higher compression ratios with boost also makes for a smaller tuning window, so you could easily blow a motor with a minor adjustment. People are generally more comfortable now relying on sensor data nowdays. I am not expressing an opinion on whether this is right or wrong, but it is what it is.
Launching!
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 249
Likes: 36
From: Pennsylvania
Not meant to be a back hand it’s just a fact? I’ve been through a few setups and no matter how many sensors you have the plugs don’t lie. I switched to efi this year and was having some issues ..... long story short you have to revert to reading those plus even when sensors are reading “correct” just to be sure... everytime I even have a slight issue I’m always asked what the plugs look like.... haven’t dove into ethanol tuning but when I do, no matter how hard it is, I will learn to read those plugs too.
to the part of plugs being hard to get to and higher compression. If you can’t tune on higher compression run lower if you are not a wiz at tuning? If your plugs are hard to get to you didn’t think hard enough about your set up. My #1 priority on my hot side was using stock plug wires and ease of access to the plugs.
to the part of plugs being hard to get to and higher compression. If you can’t tune on higher compression run lower if you are not a wiz at tuning? If your plugs are hard to get to you didn’t think hard enough about your set up. My #1 priority on my hot side was using stock plug wires and ease of access to the plugs.
Last edited by 47ford; Oct 15, 2018 at 08:53 AM.
I've had no issues reading timing on the plugs even on daily driven setups with XXXX miles. You can easily see the strap as well as number of thread with heat in them, and obvious signs of speckling on the porcelain. Can't really use it for dialing in AFR on something DD'd.
Unless your running a blow thru carb or open loop, I would think you need a wideband so the ECU
knows what to do. Depending on the ECU, you can build in safeguards as you tune. I had a reg fail
and the CL comp. was trying to save the engine, which it did.
knows what to do. Depending on the ECU, you can build in safeguards as you tune. I had a reg fail
and the CL comp. was trying to save the engine, which it did.
While it absolutely help tuning, reading plugs is still an after the fact action that wont save an engine if it leans out during a pull for various reasons. Agree that reading plugs helps with the tuneup but its not uncommon for things to change so if you see your wideband go lean during a pull its easy to lift rather then pick plugs up off the street. Pumps die, filters clog, injectors fail, boost spikes, voltage drops, etc..
Have you even ran 10's yet? lol Yours is still plenty slow enough to read a gauge at WOT!
Lots of gauges have configurable colors, alarms, 5v output, etc that can help you avoid disaster.
Lots of gauges have configurable colors, alarms, 5v output, etc that can help you avoid disaster.
TECH Junkie
Joined: Jul 2015
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While it absolutely help tuning, reading plugs is still an after the fact action that wont save an engine if it leans out during a pull for various reasons. Agree that reading plugs helps with the tuneup but its not uncommon for things to change so if you see your wideband go lean during a pull its easy to lift rather then pick plugs up off the street. Pumps die, filters clog, injectors fail, boost spikes, voltage drops, etc..
Have you even ran 10's yet? lol Yours is still plenty slow enough to read a gauge at WOT!
Lots of gauges have configurable colors, alarms, 5v output, etc that can help you avoid disaster.
Have you even ran 10's yet? lol Yours is still plenty slow enough to read a gauge at WOT!
Lots of gauges have configurable colors, alarms, 5v output, etc that can help you avoid disaster.