Spark Plug Gap

[Haltech 6]

Hi I have a VT V6 that I bought a re calibrated memcal for, I run the car on BP Ultimate 98 and for normal driving it runs great and has more get up and go, my problem is that when I boot it hard and the revs get up above 4000 it starts to ping and gets worse as the the revs increase, my question is if I put cooller spark plugs in it will that help my problem or is it just the way it is because the tune was not done for my car.

Cheers Chris

 

[Immortality]

Cooler plugs may sort out the pinging problem but then you will probably end up with a plug fouling issue when just puttering around town.

More likely the tune isn't right for the engine/mods you have.

What engine/mods do you have and where did you get the tune from?

 

[Haltech 6]

I have extractors and a 2.5 inch exhaust and a hi flow panel filter with a modified air box for better flow and cooller intake air.

The tune came from one of the guys on here cant remember if it was greenfoam or delcowizzard one of them it was a tune he had used on another car.

Cheers
Chris

 

[Immortality]

Geez that would be a long time ago.....

Has it always pinged with that tune or is that something new?

 

[Haltech 6]

Yeh I have had it for a long time, it has always pinged but I dont drive it hard very often so when I did I would just back off so it stopped, then my wife started driving the car so I put the standard chip back in as she would not of backed off if it started pinging and I have not run the chip since. The only thing that has been done to the car since then is I have put a new fuel pump in it everything else is the same. What about changing the spark plug gap on the standard plugs would that help at all.

cheers Chris

 

[Immortality]

What fuel are you using? The tune was probably done with 98ron fuel in mind? Spark plug gaps won't fix a tune with to much advance for the engine.

Try some injector cleaner, you might have a lean cylinder. Could also try running the engine a bit cooler by fitting a colder thermostat but those are all band aid fixes really.

 

[Haltech 6]

I was running it on BP ultimate 98. You have pretty much confirmed everything I already thought, I might give it another go just to see if anything has changed but I dont expect any thing to have changed, so I will just make do with the standard tune and concentrate on getting my XU6 on the road asap.

Cheers Chris

 

[Immortality]

One thing to try is cleaning the MAF. If they get dirty they can cause the engine to run lean. Common problem if you run a K&N style oiled air filter. You can get cans of MAF cleaner from your local automotive outlet.

 

[Haltech 6]

I usually clean the MAF fairly regularly last time I cleaned the filter I didn't re oil it, I figured I don't drive the car anywhere really dusty so hopefully it will be ok.