Detonation?

I think i might be have some detonation at low rpms due to some symptoms ive been reading on some forums.

What is detonatoin?
How should i go about fixing it?

What are the symptoms you observed? Have you hooked up a scantool to see if it is detonation or whether it is a loose bolt? A way to fix it is to get a colder plug and or higher octane gas. First figure out if you are having detonation or not.

Originally posted by DrDUKE
I think i might be have some detonation at low rpms due to some symptoms ive been reading on some forums.

What is detonatoin?
How should i go about fixing it?

I would start with higher octane gas. If you have to change heat ranges on the plug something is wrong, if your vehicle is factory fuel injected with minor or no mods you shouldn't have to mess with heat ranges. Something is wrong somewhere else, as you know ... all those sensors and wires are there for a reason ;) as ugly as they are to look at, they make it possible to drive in any weather condition without tuning the car.


Try a tune up, cap,rotor,wires,plugs,pcv,air,fuel.. maybe even a new pickup coil in the distr. and some fuel injection cleaner.

Well, all the cap rotor wire etc are new. The reason i believe i have detonation is the rocks in a can sound comming from cat area of the exhaust. Everything was snug in the area. I also noticed the rich smell along with the semi erratic idle it would all make sence.

If it were detonating, would it be running rich? I would think it would more likely be lean. Get the scantool and we can see what is going on. If it is really detonation, I would like to see that the ECM is reading the O2 sensor as lean.

Originally posted by DrDUKE
Well, all the cap rotor wire etc are new. The reason i believe i have detonation is the rocks in a can sound comming from cat area of the exhaust. Everything was snug in the area. I also noticed the rich smell along with the semi erratic idle it would all make sence.

Pull a plug and see what it looks like... if its black, its fouled out and running too rich.. or possibly a bad plug. If it has a white tip, and your not burning antifreeze, then your running too lean. Then from there you will know if its a fuel / spark problem or bad sensor.

If the plug has pieces of aluminum on it or looks like it just went thru a nuclear disaster...That's a possible pre-detonation problem sir:D Don't ask...hahahaha:bow: