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detonation and engine damage?

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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 03:13 PM
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Default detonation and engine damage?

ok i was gettin some detonation and i coudl hear it so i would imagine it was bad. i got it richened up and tried to stay off the gas. now i cant hear anything and i have no KR and really didnt have much if any with any detonation earlier. what i wanna know is if i cant hear the detonation how can i detect it and how long and hard would i have to run my engine while lean to cause major internal problems?
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 05:11 PM
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The absolute best way to detect/prevent detonation is do yourself and your car a favor...buy Autotap. This way you can monitor KR at all times, and know when it's happening. "Playing it by ear" is most certainly not a good idea, detonation can be lethal to your rings.

If you were only detonating for a short period of time, then you're fine. Most LS1's detonate from the factory somewhat. It's long term detonation that hurts a motor. It'll tear the rings up first, and if it's bad enough it'll eat up a piston. But you'd know if it was that bad. Buy a-tap.

josh
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 05:14 PM
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knock sensors can hear alot of what you'll never be able to hear. Unless you're superman or a dog or something.
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 05:48 PM
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lol thanks, im not burning any oil, its EXACTLY where it was 1800 miles ago. i do watch the predator very regularly and i have no KR once a week ill drive for about 30 min and monitor everything.....dont really have much to spend on atap....can someone explain to me how that works and about how much it costs?
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 06:00 PM
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A-tap is an easy program to figure out, especially the windows versionl. You can get a cable for ~150 bucks on the net, and the software is free. You just download it from their site. A-tap has much more troubleshooting capability than the Predator, I recommend it for a diag. tool over the Predator which is more of a tuning tool. If you had both, you'd be set IMO.

josh
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 06:04 PM
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who has the best deals for this, thanks for bringing this up to me......so pretty much if i could figure out how to use the predator i should beable to use this?
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 06:11 PM
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went to ls1speed.com and i see a lot of different ataps, what one should i get and what is the difference?
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 07:35 PM
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The more advanced versions of diagnostic software allow 2 way communication. You can make a temp change in the parameter and see if it fixes the problem. If it does, then you make it permanent (generally with a computer tuner or LS1 Edit).


Some versions of ATAP work with more than just Camaro/Firebird.
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 07:54 PM
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i'd just get efi live v5 or v6 over autotap. its kinda expensive but its a great piece of diagnostic tooling.
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 10:12 PM
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Detonation eats plugs, destroys rings, blows head gaskets, and pounds your bearings. In severe cases it even destroys pistons.
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Old Nov 7, 2003 | 11:25 PM
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another fan of efilive, more comprehensive.
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Old Nov 8, 2003 | 01:39 AM
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EFILive. I own atap and wish I would've gone that route.
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