30 hp lost do to pinging?

[JBS99HT]

Hey guys,

I have a 99 ACR with Belanger headers and exaust. The car was dynoed when it had 3k miles and produced 451 hp and 477 torque. This Saturday I took it to my friends dyno and it only did 421 hp, 466 torque. He told me the car was pinging, and that it was probably running too lean. The questions are the following:

1- Can pinging reduce the HP by that much?

2- I call the dealer and was told that they would take care of the problem . How can they tune the computer to make it more efficient without putting the car on a Dyno?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Jason-Middle Tennessee]

Pinging? Did the local dodge dealer tell you this or the dyno guy?

 

[JBS99HT]

Hi Jason,

The guy from the Dyno told me. He showed me the dip in the graph when it reached 421 hp. I'm not very educated on the subject which is why I'm trying to have you guys get some of this knowledge into my thick skull

 

[Russ M]

Pinging(Detonation) can cause your power to drop down to nothing if you keep it up. Put in some better gas if this is really what's going on. Try putting in some 100 octane to see if it helps or does the same thing.

If your friend has an air/fuel analyzer hook it up and tell us what the mixtures are. Or if you like post the printout graph on here and we can take a look at it. Detonation has a fairly distinct line and can be recognized easily.

 

[Mike Brunton]

JBS99HT,

When you put the headers and exhaust on, what did you do with the O2 sensors? The Viper does not have a knock sensor, so it shouldn't react to pinging by retarding timing. However pinging will always reduce power, even if the computer isn't compensating for it. However if the O2 sensors are not giving accurate data to the ECU, the car could certainly be running too lean.

I'd get Sean Roe's VEC1 and fatten up the fuel curve (using a dyno and A/F meter) and you might even get more HP than you did the first time.

P.S. Did you used to have a Vette HT? The user name seems familiar...

 

[JBS99HT]

Hey Russ and Mike,

Russ I'll get the graph this week and post it so you can give your opinion. Mike I did have a Vette 99 HT, sold it to get the best sports car there is (or that I can afford:LOL

. The car is goint to the dealer next Tuesday, I just want to make sure that I'm not wasting my time taking it to them if they can't fix it.

 

[Snake Bitten]

I personally would get a VEC1 from Roe Racing and find a dyno with a wide band oxygen sensor, and tune it yourself, take your cell phone so you can call Roe Racing if need be while you are strapped down...How is the dealer going to tune it without a dyno and no magic fairy dust? (He ain't!)