knock damage

[Todd King]

  <<<
  called is what I had.  I did experience what I consider to
  be normal clatter, on rare occasions, going up inclines at mid
  to WOT that could be cured by putting higher octane fuel.
  >>>
  
  Well, you see the results of this "normal" clatter. If you can hear detonation 
  its already pretty severe. The only reason you might call it "normal" is 
  because so many of the 70's-80'ish domestic junkers pinged alot after the so- 
  called "energy crisis" took the higher octane fuels off our shelves and the 
  automakers took so long to properly adjust, right?
  
  <<<
  .. I don't see how low-octane "pinging" can cause the above
  problem.  To me, that is "pre-ignition", which is what I was
  calling detonation.  I guess if I was to make up terms, I would
  >>>
  
  You should read what Smokey Yunick has to say about the damage he attributes 
  to "pre-ignition"...
  
  <<<
  So, I'm back to the question:  if lean running has worked
  for so long, what did I do wrong?  Was it something else?
  >>>
  
  Yeah- you let it knock! Too much advance/compression for the fuel or too lean. 
  Running lean for economy can be accomplished as long as the load remains 
  light. I guess if you are going to try it you at least need a way to sense 
  load if you want the box to handle these things for you. BTW a DFI can be had 
  for < $900 used; prices really oughta drop when the new Fel Pro full time 
  closed loop boxes hit the market...
  
  <<<
  and put it on something else?  Is their a way to do
  it cheaper than $450 ??
  >>>
  
  Well you could take a mid 80's GM unit and try it; it won't be tuned for your 
  application but it might be close enough for salvage yard bucks; no filter is 
  perfect. It would be the piezo sensor and the little black box that does the 
  analog filtering and provides a logic signal that indicates knock. Or find a 
  used Ford unit somewhere...
  
  Todd_King at ccm.co.intel.com