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Got my Track Key installed and now detonation?

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Adam, your correct........BUT if your car sets for any period of time ethanol will seperate from the real gas in your tank. Most of the refineries want to sell the ethanol blend because they can use a cheaper, lower octane gas. Then add ethanol to increase the octane. What that means is if it sets for a period of time and seperates (and it will) you will be burning a lower octane rated gasoline or either the pure ethanol, depending on how much is in your tank. And like most people that let their cars set over the winter they fill up. This means in the spring when you fire that baby up you will be pulling up the lower half of your tank which would be nothing but pure ehtanol or water if there is any in the gas. Either way you will NOT be running on 91 octane (or whatever you put it, I only use 93 pure gas) Ethanol is NOT good for your car, lawn mowers or anything else for that matter. Just run pure gas and be safe. It is very easy to check for ethanol, just add about one inch of water to a 20oz coke bottle and fill the rest with the gas from the pump you want to check, shake it up well back and forth so the water goes from the top and bottem, then let it set for a couple 2 or 3 minutes. Any increase of water line will be the amount of ethanol you have in that gas. I checked 5 local gas stations around my area and only found one that has real gas. You can also go on line and lookup who has pure gas without ethanol in your area and you may find some listed.
 

OLOABoss

AKA OLOABoss
In FL 90 octane is mostly sold in marinas for boat usage. Best bet is track fuel 100 octane. I believe the Sunoco 98 also has ethanol as it is NASCAR fuel. Of course you will pay $$$$ for track fuel.

Peter
 
If your car had anything less then 90 it will take a bit to get it out unless you have it drained so if you fill up with 90 or higher but had say three or four gallons of the cheap stuff then it will lower your new 90 as soon as you add it in your tank it delutes it. I have not checked as to pure feul I have unsed ethanol in my tank with no detonation at all. It is possible you have a gas station ripping you off? I would wait until it is low on fuel and add some race fuel to see if it still detonates then that would tell you something else is wrong for sure.
 
Vince said:
Have you been running 90 on the track?

Yes, except the first dealer tank of 93 mixed, I have run pure gas at 90 on and off track from two nearby stations. I have run 93 at Sebring since there is a station close to the track that sells pure gas in three grades.
 
2012YellowBoss said:
Vince said:
Have you been running 90 on the track?

Yes, except the first dealer tank of 93 mixed, I have run pure gas at 90 on and off track from two nearby stations. I have run 93 at Sebring since there is a station close to the track that sells pure gas in three grades.

I cant help but wonder is some of these tunes are being installed wrong...
 

JScheier

Too Hot for the Boss!
Are you hearing detonation, or are you feeling power loss from the knock sensors pulling timing because they sensed detonation (knock)?

You could throw it on a dyno with a wide-band and see what air/fuel ratios you are seeing with the TracKey in use.
 
JScheier said:
Are you hearing detonation, or are you feeling power loss from the knock sensors pulling timing because they sensed detonation (knock)?

You could throw it on a dyno with a wide-band and see what air/fuel ratios you are seeing with the TracKey in use.

Also, you can use a tuner to do some data logging (if you don't have one, ask a friend, they are not married to the vehicle for data logging). You should be able to determine what is going on with your A/F ratio and timing.
 
Superlead76 said:
I just got my track key installed and it now seems to be detonation under heavy acceleration. ??? If I use the silver key it's fine. I filled the rig up last night with 93 octane shell last night too. Anyone have this happen yet? The car is currently at the dealer undergoing investigation.

They ever figure this one out? Have you made them reinstall the trackey? would really like to know the outcome of this.
 
I am having detonation pinging as well during low speed, hard acceleration with the TracKey. On page 5 of the TracKey frequently asked questions the pinging sound is briefly addressed - it states that TracKey alters the ignition timing and knock sensor calibrations to take full advantage of premium fuel to deliver maximum torque and throttle response available from the engine. It goes on to say that the pinging should rapidly subside. Personally I am not too happy about the pinging and initially thought that maybe it was due to the relatively high altitude here in the high desert of about 4600 ft. I never heard any pinging when pushing the car hard with the silver key and I have always filled the car with 91 octane, even before the TracKey install.

This is an older subject but I was just wondering if anyone has addressed the issue with Ford or if anyone knows whether or not pushing the car hard (and pinging) with TracKey will eventually cause engine damage? Is it enough that the issue is addressed and explained in the TracKey questions and answers?

Thanks
 
Never have had this problem at all. I figured people who were having this problem were using the wrong fuel reading you input makes me wonder if it is where your at I am in Florida.
 
Is it more common in CA/NV? We have the worst premium gas, not only is it only 91 but it is nasty 91 (we call it pisstane). Many tuners will offer different maps for our gas, I had to get a custom tune on my turbo car to deal with it. If it is not worse in CA/NV, then it is not lack of octane or high alcohol content.*


*Certain backwoods stations will have worse gas than us, but on the whole ours is worst for performance. Also note that gas stations have deals with each other, especially in small towns and out of the way places but also in cities, where one will supply gas to the others for the same corporate rate, as evidenced by several lawsuits. So you never really know for sure that you are getting the brand it says on the pump. Also, small mom and pop places out in the middle of nowhere tend to have the gas turnover less often, not sure if modern tanks (they made them replace all the tanks in CA a while back) have stirrers or anything.

For our ranch Jeep, we carry in gas in cans as the local gas all pings like crazy. Small town gas station issue.
 
I believe in my situation it certainly could be a combination of the quality of our premium fuel and the higher altitude. We are in a small town (Sierra Vista, AZ) a good 30 miles from the main interstate, I have always filled the car with Chevron or Shell but realize that in many cases the fuel may be distributed from one source. I will research the fuel stations here and see if I can get a better quality anywhere near.
 
I am in SC, have always used minimum 91, usually 93, and always no ethanol fuel. After track key, at lower range, i hear some detonation as well. So I don;t think it is the altitude.
 

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