Concerning Knock Count & Control. Any help?

[Whives]

Let me start off by listing the stuff i’ve done to my car.
PRL >Catless< race downpipe.
Map front pipe, map catback exhaust + race muffler
PRL intercooler + charge pipe upgrade
PRL Flex fuel kit
PRL street cold air intake
TSP stage 2 (Ktuner v2)
So my problems started to happen a couple days ago. I noticed on my way to a car meet that when I was flooring it my exhaust was popping. & I wasn’t accelerating as fast as I should have. I know how clutch slip feels and this was not the case. I decided to monitor with my ktuner my knock count and knock control.
My knock control was at .80 something and my knock count was 50. I got error codes p0420 & p0303
It’s assume this is an issue. But what could it possibly be? Do I need a custom tune due to the downpipe? I checked my charge pipes to make sure there wasn’t a leak. The tubes around the throttle body were sealed as it should be.
Problem doesn’t stop there. Cold starts my knock count would be between 5-20 no less and rpms as high as 1700. (Edit: After thinking about it, temperatures have been dropping lately... Lol)
And even driving soft and speed limit i’d knock here and there but mainly on deceleration with knock control at .48 - .49
If you guys have any ideas or help please let me know. Due to the severity of this I have decided to flash back to stock & go back on 91 octane and leave me car alone until I have found a solution.

Thanks for the read!!

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[dark_knight097]

About P0420, did you disable catalytic efficiency in the disables tab? You need to check that option when you're running a catless downpipe.
Custom tune would always be preferable when you start adding that many bolt ons.

As been mentioned by reputable tuners for this platform, knock count is not something to be worried about. You will always see knocks on knock count. Unless you seeing +100 in a short amount of time, its fine.

Seeing k. Control rise from hard driving is normal. That means its doing its job. If its not coming back down for awhile thats when you should start to get worried.

How much ethanol are you running? Cause if you over tax the fuel system, it will start to break up in the higher rpms because its starving for fuel. That will give you that exhaust popping noise when you floored it. Which could be the cause of the p0303 code.

And for the cold start, that sounds normal. Mine will idle close to 2k rpms when its below 60 degrees. It varies based on what the temps are.

 

[gtman]

#1 ... With those mods, you should be custom tuned, without question IMO.

#2 ... Go into the "disables" options and put a check mark next to P0420.

# 3 ... You really should have run and posted a datalog. I'd be curious about fuel trims especially.

# 4 ... Your cold start idle numbers are normal.


Finally, I'm trying to get all tuned owners to post up their cars in my community tuning survey:

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/the-tuned-civicx-experience-reliability-survey.42361/

 

[Whives]

About P0420, did you disable catalytic efficiency in the disables tab? You need to check that option when you're running a catless downpipe.
Custom tune would always be preferable when you start adding that many bolt ons.

As been mentioned by reputable tuners for this platform, knock count is not something to be worried about. You will always see knocks on knock count. Unless you seeing +100 in a short amount of time, its fine.

Seeing k. Control rise from hard driving is normal. That means its doing its job. If its not coming back down for awhile thats when you should start to get worried.

How much ethanol are you running? Cause if you over tax the fuel system, it will start to break up in the higher rpms because its starving for fuel. That will give you that exhaust popping noise when you floored it. Which could be the cause of the p0303 code.

And for the cold start, that sounds normal. Mine will idle close to 2k rpms when its below 60 degrees. It varies based on what the temps are.

No I haven’t tried disabling that. Is it possible that even after doing so my knock count continues to remain the same? If so, what do you think the problem is.

& I try staying between e30-e40 as directed from TSP when on stage 2. I’m never over or below what i’m supposed to be. & also mix 91, as directed.

 

[Whives]

#1 ... With those mods, you should be custom tuned, without question IMO.

#2 ... Go into the "disables" options and put a check mark next to P0420.

#3 ... Like dark_knight said, don't worry about knock count. Those "knocks" aren't the true knocks that you are thinking of. Your knock control doesn't sound unusual either.

# 4 ... You really should have run and posted a datalog. I'd be curious about fuel trims especially.

# 5 ... Your cold start idle numbers are normal.

How many miles does your car have? Have you looked at your injectors? High ethanol use could potentially cause issues there.

As far as P0303... spark plugs?

Finally, I'm trying to get all tuned owners to post up their cars in my community tuning survey:

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/the-tuned-civicx-experience-reliability-survey.42361/

I’ll disable that sensor and run a datalog. I hope it all turns out well.
& yeah i’ve been told by many to be on a custom tune just don’t know where to look tbh. Never really looked but will have to soon

 

[gtman]

Derek Robinson (IMW) is very good and offers etune services.

https://www.imwtuned.com/store/p4/etune.html

Back to your knock count concern, here's what he had to say about them:

"Knock Count" = This parameter is a reflection of the ECU's misfire monitor. It is NOT an accurate reflection of anything other than misfire events. When will you see these normally? Startup, rapid throttle closures, rapid throttle inputs, rapid release of the clutch pedal, and sometimes at idle (especially if you have a lighter flywheel/clutch combo, and/or plugs that have been gapped down to prevent spark blowout at high load). A completely stock car, operating perfectly will still accumulate these counts. In my experience with these engines, you will see more activity on cylinder four compared to others, as the crank position sensor is physically located closest to there on the block. This usually isn't a concern area unless you see a steep count in a very, very short time (like 50+ in a few seconds), which will likely trip a P0300-variant DTC code.

 

[Whives]

Derek Robinson (IMW) is very good and offers etune services.

https://www.imwtuned.com/store/p4/etune.html

Back to your knock count concern, here's what he had to say about them:

"Knock Count" = This parameter is a reflection of the ECU's misfire monitor. It is NOT an accurate reflection of anything other than misfire events. When will you see these normally? Startup, rapid throttle closures, rapid throttle inputs, rapid release of the clutch pedal, and sometimes at idle (especially if you have a lighter flywheel/clutch combo, and/or plugs that have been gapped down to prevent spark blowout at high load). A completely stock car, operating perfectly will still accumulate these counts. In my experience with these engines, you will see more activity on cylinder four compared to others, as the crank position sensor is physically located closest to there on the block. This usually isn't a concern area unless you see a steep count in a very, very short time (like 50+ in a few seconds), which will likely trip a P0300-variant DTC code.

Okay thank you! Noted.. 100%
I will definitely have to check him out. I’ve heard of him and I know he does great work and has helped many. Just a quick question cause I know nothing about tuning. Lol I just know how to buy parts and install them but tuning? I’m just hopeless.
Anyway, if I get a tune from him for the bolt ons I have now, and I get a big turbo added later, would I be able to get my car tuned for that turbo but keep his tune? Idk if that makes sense but basically asking if there could be 2 tunes at the same time?? idk. Lol excuse my ignorance

 

[gtman]

If you were to swap turbos you need a different tune file for that.

 

[Whives]

If you were to swap turbos you need a different tune file for that.

Making it pointless to buy an etune until I get that turbo? Correct?

 

[gtman]

Making it pointless to buy an etune until I get that turbo? Correct?

Not necessarily pointless. You have a ton of bolt ons right now. It really depends on your budget and how far off that turbo swap is.

By the way, I don't think you realize, but you posted about your 1.5T in the Type R section of the board.

 

[kefi]

By the way, I don't think you realize, but you posted about your 1.5T in the Type R section of the board.

i was so confused for a minute

 

[dark_knight097]

Making it pointless to buy an etune until I get that turbo? Correct?

You can still get the etune now, and will always have it. Just make sure you save it in your email when he sends you the final revision.

Like me for example. I had a custom tune that took 9 revision to perfect. A few thousand miles later I added a flex kit and had to get retuned by him. This one took 5 revisions and is what im currently driving around on.

If for some reason I decided to remove the flex kit, I can still grab the revision 9 tune from my email and upload it and my car will run perfectly as if there was never a flex kit on it.

Hope this makes sense.

Edit: this is for if you go through etuning. If you go on the dyno I'm not sure if he lets you keep the tune file. But for etuning you would always have access to every tune you are sent. Like I have 14 different tune files in total. But I would only ever use the final revision of each set (2).

If you go on his website you'll see what his etune and retune prices are with and without extra fuel types and aftermarket forced induction

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