Downsouthgarage

Hi, tried to find some info on it without luck. Do you guys run knock sensors on a 5.3 turbo engine on holley dominator? high hp.
- thanks and merry Christmas

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Yes, on any high output turbo engine, knock sensors are the lifeline of you engine. A grain of trash in an injector will blow a hole in a piston . It's just common sense to run knock sensors so the ecu will have an opportunity to pull timing and save your engine.
I dont run the holley system and my ecu wont pull timing if a problem rears its ugly head, so I set up a J&S safegaurd Interceptor system on my turbo , pumpgas LS3. I think it's the best 500 bucks I spent on the entire car ! Its wired into each of my coils and if I get any knock, it pulls 10* of timing in the cylinder that showed it was starting to knock . I'm pretty sure the holley dominator has provisions to read the knock sensors on your 5.3. It would be foolish to not take advantage of that engine safety system.
Merry Christmas to you as well, my friend.

Downsouthgarage

Thanks for the info bud, I will run the knock sensors thank you

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Good. I would hate to see all that hard work and money go up in melted parts.
I'm watching your build. I'm interested to see what that little 5.3 can do with a borg 88, turned up on kill ! What kind of rpms are you expecting to turn ? That borg is gonna want to move some air .

Downsouthgarage

Thank you sir. Yes that would not be fun Not sure, I think im gonna talk with the tuner and ask him what he thinks about it. Yes pretty big turbo for a 5.3

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

I see your cam choice is pretty good sized at 230s/250s at .050 . Did you talk with Steve about your setup ? He offers custom grinds for individual setups. I'd just be curious what he thinks about that particular stick with your goals and setup. It should definitely spin up to a peak HP well above 7k .

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

I use Tim at Bullet Racing for my cams . Bullet has built a ton of cams for some of the fastest guys out there . On my current setup, we put together a 225/229 585 on a 114 ground +4 . Just a street car with an LS3 short block, hand ported 317s . 80mm VS billet with the 96/88 turbine stuffed in a t4 housing. No dyno or track times yet because of my issues with neck and back degenertation , but it makes alot of fun power at 14psi max boost. On paper, it should make close to 1000hp flywheel in a combo that drives around like a grocery getter. Those cubes (376) go a long way towards making good power in boost without making the car act radical while cruising.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Duplicate post

HeavyMetl

iTrader: (2)

Here's a thread with lots of good info on knock sensor tuning.

https://forums.holley.com/showthread...ors-Holley-EFI


They're not something you just plug in and toss in the formula and are good to go. Good fuel and conservative timing is a more practical, safe plan for engine longevity than relying on knock sensors.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

agreed.....knock sensors should only be a safety mechanism just in case something on the fuel system or boost control takes a crap. Never as a substitute for good tuning technique.

Downsouthgarage

Yep, that's why I asked. a tuner have to set it up for me Thank you

Downsouthgarage

Yes I talked to him about everything. I bought all my stuff from him should be over 1000 hp at the wheels

Dragframe

iTrader: (14)

I’ve always used them.. have them on my current car and setup to “work”.

Recently rode with my buddy while he had Los Vasquez remote tune the procharged 6.0 in his 454ss. First thing he did was turn it completely off.

Well of course his engine builder was pissed and we thought that seemed off. I talked to a couple people and both had lots of issues with them (on the Holley system) pulling timing regardless of the timing, or knock settings. So they ended up shutting them off as well. Could not tune out the “noise”


my opinion... if you can use them.. leave them in play to be a last ditch effort to save your engine in worst case situations... something more important in a street car situation. A purpose built drag car being tuned for every ounce of power is going to have plugs pulled and checked every round. And if your doing this.. knock sensors feedback is irrelevant. Reading plugs is king (nitrous guys know all about that.. and watching Pan Vac...plugs and pan vac will tell everything)

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

I like them mainly for the bad tank of gas your gonna get in a streetcar, and to a lesser degree, for a system malfunction safety. If your good, and lucky enough to never make a tuning mistake or have a malfunction , then you will never miss them . But one mistake or malfunction forgiven , will pay for any inconvenience or cost associated with putting knock sensors in play.
if the holley system has problems with their knock detector system , I would recommend the setup I use. It really allows you to dial it in for your noise and even gives you the opportunity to use it for timing control in boost . It also has a headphone Jack so you or your tuner has a way to listen to the engine knock sensors and help dial the tune right to the ragged edge of that's your goal .and most importantly to me, it pulls a bunch of timing if it hears knock , so the piston that's in trouble can cool back down quicker. I read somewhere that the gm ecu only pulls 2 to 4 degrees at the sound of knock. The system I use pulls either 10 degrees or 20 degrees, depending on whether the user is confident of their tune or not. It also allows for gang retard or individual retard if knock is heard . While your tuning you can use the gang retard and the 10 or 20 degree drop in timing will let you know your pushing things because the engine will fall on its face . Once your happy with your tune, set it for individual cylinder knock retard so in cases of a freak incident of knock, it only retards that cylinder . That avoids the massive power drop and somewhat saves your run. For less than 600 bucks, it might be the best bargain out there for someone with big money invested in a turbo ,