BAMA tunes keeps pinging for over a year
01-12-2014, 10:20 PM
#21
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 223
:::FOOT IN MOUTH::
so I was frustrated and skeptical that replacing the fuel filter and cleaning the tb would help/resolve my issue, but after doing both and replacing my air filter (despite my imminent purchase of a CAI) my problem got much better and my 93 race tune pinging is almost eliminated! I would like to express my experience so that it can be further documentation.
I began by purchasing a fuel filter from the dealership (even though AM.com was much cheaper) and an air filter from auto zone only because I'm buying cai next payday. I forgot to by the tb cleaner but I replaced both air filter and fuel filter on Saturday and then loaded 93 race tune. Took it out for a spin and immediately around 4k the rattling began. I almost feel like it got worse. Obviously I was bummed.
Today I picked up the crc tb cleaner and took off my tb. I was hesitant to use a cleaner on my tb as I did so in my Nissan and had a cel and high revs for months. I saw some YouTube vids and saw one about covering the sensors to prevent these issues. I covered both of the electrical connection openings and thoroughly cleaned the tb. I think I got it 99% spotless. There was buildup behind the openings and it made 2 dark rings. There was small buildup on the flaps. I was happy to have a clean tb but didn't think the buildup was significant. Again didn't think it would have an impact. I loaded 93R and away we went. It made a huge difference! It made a slight ping at WOT somewhere around 5k but I haven't really been able to notice it. I still would like to take it Back a notch bc I don't want to always keep an ear out for pinging!
Anyways, on a side note can I say what a joy it is to work on these cars! My Nissan would literally get you frustrated and angry. Also, take the tb off to clean it, it's so simple and I don't believe I could have gotten it so clean had I left it on!
so I was frustrated and skeptical that replacing the fuel filter and cleaning the tb would help/resolve my issue, but after doing both and replacing my air filter (despite my imminent purchase of a CAI) my problem got much better and my 93 race tune pinging is almost eliminated! I would like to express my experience so that it can be further documentation.
I began by purchasing a fuel filter from the dealership (even though AM.com was much cheaper) and an air filter from auto zone only because I'm buying cai next payday. I forgot to by the tb cleaner but I replaced both air filter and fuel filter on Saturday and then loaded 93 race tune. Took it out for a spin and immediately around 4k the rattling began. I almost feel like it got worse. Obviously I was bummed.
Today I picked up the crc tb cleaner and took off my tb. I was hesitant to use a cleaner on my tb as I did so in my Nissan and had a cel and high revs for months. I saw some YouTube vids and saw one about covering the sensors to prevent these issues. I covered both of the electrical connection openings and thoroughly cleaned the tb. I think I got it 99% spotless. There was buildup behind the openings and it made 2 dark rings. There was small buildup on the flaps. I was happy to have a clean tb but didn't think the buildup was significant. Again didn't think it would have an impact. I loaded 93R and away we went. It made a huge difference! It made a slight ping at WOT somewhere around 5k but I haven't really been able to notice it. I still would like to take it Back a notch bc I don't want to always keep an ear out for pinging!
Anyways, on a side note can I say what a joy it is to work on these cars! My Nissan would literally get you frustrated and angry. Also, take the tb off to clean it, it's so simple and I don't believe I could have gotten it so clean had I left it on!
Last edited by shinerttu; 01-12-2014 at 10:22 PM.
01-13-2014, 08:22 PM
#22
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 223
Ok I don't mean to hijack OP's thread but I'm just going to post another update.
I drove this morning to work and didnt notice any noises even though I went wot in 3rd. On my way home I had an opportunity to go wot 1-3 gears (m/t) and let me tell you that first gear shocked me (93R tune) it was a very noticeable difference and 2nd gear felt good too. But....in 3rd gear I got the pinging at even lower rpm than before starting at like 4krpm... I noticed 1st and 2nd gear doing it as well and I've gone back to 89 street tune. I'm not sure if I wasn't hearing pinging before or if it just started up again. I will say I do see the potential as I felt something pretty exciting when I wot in first before I noticed the pinging again.
Anyways the guys from AM pm'ed me that bama
Will be contacting me tomorrow so I should hopefully be getting some new tunes. I might just hold bc I'm placing an order for cai this week but I kinda want to get this thing figured out.
I drove this morning to work and didnt notice any noises even though I went wot in 3rd. On my way home I had an opportunity to go wot 1-3 gears (m/t) and let me tell you that first gear shocked me (93R tune) it was a very noticeable difference and 2nd gear felt good too. But....in 3rd gear I got the pinging at even lower rpm than before starting at like 4krpm... I noticed 1st and 2nd gear doing it as well and I've gone back to 89 street tune. I'm not sure if I wasn't hearing pinging before or if it just started up again. I will say I do see the potential as I felt something pretty exciting when I wot in first before I noticed the pinging again.
Anyways the guys from AM pm'ed me that bama
Will be contacting me tomorrow so I should hopefully be getting some new tunes. I might just hold bc I'm placing an order for cai this week but I kinda want to get this thing figured out.
01-14-2014, 01:01 PM
#23
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 223
Update not that anyone is following this anymore, but this might help someone else down the road.
So. I spoke with Bama and they pretty much told me to retard the timing by a degree until it stops knocking. I tried retarding it 1 degree during my lunch break but I'm pretty sure it was pinging at like 5.5k rpm still (really hard to hear when your exhaust/engine are so loud at those high rpms). Will go down to -2 degrees otw home, but even the Bama guy said I won't be getting all the gains I can. Again this is kind of depressing but oh well.
So. I spoke with Bama and they pretty much told me to retard the timing by a degree until it stops knocking. I tried retarding it 1 degree during my lunch break but I'm pretty sure it was pinging at like 5.5k rpm still (really hard to hear when your exhaust/engine are so loud at those high rpms). Will go down to -2 degrees otw home, but even the Bama guy said I won't be getting all the gains I can. Again this is kind of depressing but oh well.
01-28-2014, 07:06 AM
#24
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 223
Well I got my FRRP 85mm CAI last night from Brenspeed. and although it was a breeze to install, the stud they sent me was the wrong size because it does not thread into the ABS bracket thread.
Anyways, I got a new set of Tunes from Don at Bama Performance and I loaded them up for my test drive. There is no doubt that CAI + tune wakes up the car and again much better than stock throttle. I thought I heard a slight ping at like 6k rpm in 2nd gear (at which point I wasn't sure if I was just hearing things). As I got on it hard in 3rd gear I definitely heard a few pings around the 4k range. So.. I just took her home. I've been car pooling to avoid putting miles on my car so its sitting at home. I'm going to datalog my car and send it to Don at Bama and see what they say. I'm starting to feel like there might be something wrong with my car.
On a side note, if I never went through this whole struggle and was so clearly able to hear the pinging...I don't think I would have been able to recognize the pinging I hear now. It's definitely significantly less, and tends to only happen under high load so I think it would have been difficult to hear if I didn't know what to listen for. It makes me wonder how many people might be running a tune that might ping at like 6k rpm...its not easy to hear.
Anyways, I got a new set of Tunes from Don at Bama Performance and I loaded them up for my test drive. There is no doubt that CAI + tune wakes up the car and again much better than stock throttle. I thought I heard a slight ping at like 6k rpm in 2nd gear (at which point I wasn't sure if I was just hearing things). As I got on it hard in 3rd gear I definitely heard a few pings around the 4k range. So.. I just took her home. I've been car pooling to avoid putting miles on my car so its sitting at home. I'm going to datalog my car and send it to Don at Bama and see what they say. I'm starting to feel like there might be something wrong with my car.
On a side note, if I never went through this whole struggle and was so clearly able to hear the pinging...I don't think I would have been able to recognize the pinging I hear now. It's definitely significantly less, and tends to only happen under high load so I think it would have been difficult to hear if I didn't know what to listen for. It makes me wonder how many people might be running a tune that might ping at like 6k rpm...its not easy to hear.
02-04-2014, 12:45 PM
#27
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 223
Another update. I recieved a revised tune from Bama after they reviewed my data log. I was told I was running rich and my timing off, the running rich part doesn't make sense to me. Anyhow I put the new race tune on and my car felt sluggish down low, It felt slower than stock. I have given up for now and I will stick with my 91 Performance tune which feels pretty good. I just don't have the energy to go back and forth with this anymore.
I would like to say that Don over at Bama has been great to work with, I even got my tune late friday so I feel like he had to put in extra hours. I do appreciate the customer service but I have yet to find a solution. I'm going to focus on upgrading my sound sytem for now and may or may not revisit this later. Leaning towards a dyno tune though.
I would like to say that Don over at Bama has been great to work with, I even got my tune late friday so I feel like he had to put in extra hours. I do appreciate the customer service but I have yet to find a solution. I'm going to focus on upgrading my sound sytem for now and may or may not revisit this later. Leaning towards a dyno tune though.
02-05-2014, 06:17 PM
#28
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Palm Beach to South Carolina
Posts: 1,567
Another update. I recieved a revised tune from Bama after they reviewed my data log. I was told I was running rich and my timing off, the running rich part doesn't make sense to me. Anyhow I put the new race tune on and my car felt sluggish down low, It felt slower than stock. I have given up for now and I will stick with my 91 Performance tune which feels pretty good. I just don't have the energy to go back and forth with this anymore.
I would like to say that Don over at Bama has been great to work with, I even got my tune late friday so I feel like he had to put in extra hours. I do appreciate the customer service but I have yet to find a solution. I'm going to focus on upgrading my sound sytem for now and may or may not revisit this later. Leaning towards a dyno tune though.
I would like to say that Don over at Bama has been great to work with, I even got my tune late friday so I feel like he had to put in extra hours. I do appreciate the customer service but I have yet to find a solution. I'm going to focus on upgrading my sound sytem for now and may or may not revisit this later. Leaning towards a dyno tune though.
A while back I had pinging occurring at random times. When I installed my CMDPs, I noticed that the inside of my intake manifold was coated in oil. This oil from the PCV system effectively lowers the octane of your fuel charge and can cause pinging.
I installed an UPR Catch Can and my pinging went away. I can't say that will work for you as I have cams (not sure if my cams were causing more blow back or not). I empty my catch can every 5,000 miles and it is always 3/4 full!
HTH
Last edited by jdmcbride; 02-05-2014 at 06:20 PM.
02-06-2014, 08:29 PM
#29
So ive been battling this tune for year im using itsx 91 octane Race tune. ive got the free tunes for life but im not complaining. but i want im complaining about is that ive never had a single working tune for over a year!!! ive gave up so many times i cant take this anymore. and im sure its the tunes from bama not from my car or the gas stations.
that whole gas station thing is a load of crap. ive heard enough bullspit about that cuz i literally went to 500+ gas station and still pinging.
so in the beginning everytime i wot i get ping on 4.5-5.5k. sent my problems to bama and they finally fix it! for the 30 try. but wait im pinging again at 2-2.5k. so i send it bak to bama again. beautiful the 2-2.5k is perfect. its probably the best ive seen. but now 4.5-5.5k is back to pinging... WAT THE FUDG!!! i personally call bama and tell me wats wrong and they told me to go bak to 87 street tune so imma try that and do a data log.
that whole gas station thing is a load of crap. ive heard enough bullspit about that cuz i literally went to 500+ gas station and still pinging.
so in the beginning everytime i wot i get ping on 4.5-5.5k. sent my problems to bama and they finally fix it! for the 30 try. but wait im pinging again at 2-2.5k. so i send it bak to bama again. beautiful the 2-2.5k is perfect. its probably the best ive seen. but now 4.5-5.5k is back to pinging... WAT THE FUDG!!! i personally call bama and tell me wats wrong and they told me to go bak to 87 street tune so imma try that and do a data log.
When's last time you chnaged your PCV ? If it's been a long time do it.
02-07-2014, 07:38 PM
#30
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CA
Posts: 191
btw everybody i fixed my problem. tune wasnt perfect. best if u send in ur data logs to get the problem fixed. even though if u kno ur car is running good still get a data log and send it over to bama.
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