A/F ratio

[Banshee]

Got some bad news, I just hooked up a a/f gauge. It does use the factory narrowband sensor, but it's a digital display, and not just blinky lights.

Seems to be fairly accurate, at idle and cruise, it would fluctuate between 14.1-14.9. At rapid deceleration, it would go as high as 20 depending on how hard the engine is braking.

What got me worried is that on max acceleration, it would peg at 15.0. If this is true, and I have no reason to believe that it's not, then I've been running lean for 4 months. Ouch. What' should I do? I'm going to try to play with the ELF a little, but this is not good.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Out of curiosity, where did you mount the wideband sensor?

[Banshee]

I'm getting the o2 signal from the oem narrowband. I just tapped into the Blue wire.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Ah yes. I should have remembered that. :)

One thing about narrowband gauges that you should know is that, if it goes real rich, it can read lean. Typically though, under those conditions, they read dead lean (20). Not saying that is the problem but it could be. It would be great if you could confirm with another device.

When it goes lean does it feel like a lack of power and is there any ping? If the answer is no to both of those questions, you might still be OK. Especially if you have thrown no codes. If you go real lean under boost, there is a code that typically gets thrown.

[Banshee]

Holy Crap!!!

I just rechecked my connections. I used these "Posi-tap" things. They suppose to peirce the wire. What was happening was that "needle" was pushing the wire aside instead of puncturing it. Only one out of 4 wires was tap correctly. I was running lean under boost for 4 months. Yikes!!!

The thing is I never heard any ping.

Well, after hooking it up correctly, I'm getting "10" at full boost. Since this is a narrowband, I'm not too concern. I'll get it dyno soon. At least I know I'm getting fuel now.

The car obviously have more power now, but I'm getting ping (sounds like sand under the manifold) at 6K rpm and above. I don't under stand why I didn't get ping before but now I am.

Any suggestions?

[Banshee]

I'm currently running the 100mm pulley. I'm going to go back to the 95mm and see if that helps any. So sad.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

can't you add some fuel with the ELF?

try a set of BKR7EIX plugs or BKR8EIX.

[Banshee]

I'll try those plugs first I guess. what should they be gapped at?

What's so perplexing is that I got no ping when I wasn't adding fuel, but once I got the fuel situation resolved, I got ping. According to my narrowband, I'm getting enough fuel.

[Banshee]

Which one should I get, the 7 or the 8? They're pricy, I want to get the right one the first time.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

99/00 = BKR7EIX. 01/05 BKR8EIX. If you have really good fuel (93/94 octane) you could use the 7s on the 01-05. They all come pre-gapped perfectly. Use them right out of the box.

[Banshee]

Will these plug help with ping, or just increase power?

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

yes and yes. As you reduce ping, especially the inaudible ping, the ECU/PCM doesn't pull timing and that increases power.

[Banshee]

Got the fancy plugs installed. I ended up using the 8 heat range. I even did the vvt adjustment that BRP suggested. Still getting ping at full load above 6.5k rpm.

Looks like I'm going to need to go back to the 95mm pulley.

Unless you got any other suggestions.

[Banshee]

I also noticed some oil in the throttle body and TB adapter. Is this normal?

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Got the fancy plugs installed. I ended up using the 8 heat range. I even did the vvt adjustment that BRP suggested. Still getting ping at full load above 6.5k rpm.

Looks like I'm going to need to go back to the 95mm pulley.

Unless you got any other suggestions.

Are you sure you are not running out of fuel at 6-7K? My 05 likes 11-12 to 1 A/F

You might have some carbon build up? Maybe run a can of Sea Foam through it?

Around here there is bad 91 octane and worse 91 octane. My car runs fine on Diamond Shamrock but pings like crazy on Shell and others. Sunday we went for a run through the mountains and, in the middle of the desert, I started getting low on fuel. Only thing around was a Circle K. Brand of gas was "Guaranteed". Sure enough, as I pulled out of the station, I understood the brand. Guaranteed to knock. If I stuffed my foot in it and let e-cool do it's thing, it was OK. However, part throttle was not good. Stopped at my favorite DS on the way home and filled and it was back to normal in a mile or two.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

I also noticed some oil in the throttle body and TB adapter. Is this normal?

Yep. Normal. It is part of our patented automatic oiling system. :) Seriously, fresh air comes trough the hose to the drivers side of the valve cover, sweeps across the hot oil fumes and exits through the PCV valveto the throttle body adaptor. This is the same as a stock Miata too. It can't be much in the long run as my last oil change at 3000 miles had not consumed any measurable oil (dipstick still read full).

[Banshee]

Acutally I'm too rich now. My A/f is a rock solid 10.1-10.3 at WOT. When I pulled my plugs to changed them, they were pretty black. And that's only within 1 week of correcting my fueling problem.

I got my 95mm pulley back on, and it runs fine with it.