Stage 1 knock retard

[Nillious]

I apologize for the long post in advance. I have 034 stage 1 93 octane tune. I have quite a bit of knock retard on this tune. Up to 8 degrees at times up top before the shift. I was running the 91 octane map and it is reduced but still there. On 91 octane I’ll still have up to 5 degrees at times. The 91 map starts to pull timing around 5k. The 93 map pulls it almost immediately starting at the bottom third. Both maps were on 93 octane fuel.

I’ve tried three different plug combinations. Stock plugs, Bosch double platinum, and now I’m on Bkr9eix at a tight 27 thousandths. None of the plugs seem to affect it. All the same results but the current iridium plugs seem to be a little smoother.

My logs all look fine. Afr is spot on target at .8 to .79. and boost is 1960 mb at tip of third gear. My question is what could possibly be causing this if it’s not lean and not running too much boost. adding a couple gallons of E to a tank take the knock down to 2 or less on the 91 map. I’ve not tried adding E to the 93 map.

I’ve been on this tune for about a year now. Gas mileage is good and plugs look normal. Car’s performance is not too bad. 3.84 0-60 and 12.21 quarter mile on the 93 map with the knock retard happening. I’ve not timed the 91 map but my butt dyno says the 91 map feels faster for some reason. The car is completely stock right down to the paper air filter. Tune only.

Should I chase after this or stop worrying and ignore it? Car has 138k and I intend to keep it another year. I don’t want to blow a head gasket or worse a catastrophic failure. I’ve searched around and found a ton of logs with a lot of knock retard. The Apr logs i found had some up to 10 degrees. Thought I’d look into this one more time before forgetting about it.

At what point do you get a cel for knock retard?

[SwankPeRFection]

What are you seeing on the stock map? How beat up is your heat exchanger up front if it’s the stock one. Also, after a pull of a couple of gears, pull over and pop the hood and put your fingers on the aluminum section of the coolant pipes running from the supercharger IC cores down in front of the radiator. Are they hot, warm or cool to the touch? If they’re anything but lukewarm or cool, your heat exchanger isn’t doing its thing if it’s cold outside. It’s only going to be worse in summer.

I know you’ve probably answered these questions before in other thread we’ve spoke in, but I can’t remember where it all went and I’m too lazy to search to see where you were at with it. Lol

[Nillious]

My lines are cold. My heat exchanger is not in the best condition but I don’t believe it’s the cause of the knock. A better one would certainly reduce it but I’m getting knock beginning at 3500 wot. Charge temps are around 45 -55f on my way to work in 35 degree weather. Starting in third gear the knock starts around 3500 at .75 to 1.5 across the cylinders. By 5000 it’s up to 3.5 or so and tops out at as high as 8 degrees by 7200. Temps top out at approximately 110f by the end of third. If I keep pulling through fourth the temps climb to approximately 135 but knock stays around 8 max. Doesn’t seem to get any worse from there.

I am going to bypass my signal wire on the intercooler pump temporarily to see if that helps but from what I understand it should run 100% at wot anyway. I do plan to add a heat exchanger from plm in the near future.