Yup thats me, i have no idillio what it is or how i change it but my mechaninc (nice guy, Todd) tells me to retard my timing with the stillen stage 3 setup. So, what is this timing thing and how do i change it?

P.S. What is the knock sensor, ive heard it really lowers power if it senses...something...wrong but i dont know what it sees or how to reset after the knock sensor drops power.


Sorry, I am just a little r

 

Okay, when running boost or really high compression, you can detonate. Detonation is when the fuel/air lights before its time. You can control it one of three ways. Cool the engine, retard timing, or run higher octane. Many choose timing retard, which lowers temperatures and a small bit of power. If you don't do something, detonation will blow your engine.

So, you need a piggy back computer that hooks to your stock ECU. Something like the J&S Safeguard might work. It allows you to program the ECU for retarded timing based on boost level. It can also detect the knock(detonation) sensor and retard timing further. Many boost kits come with something to control timing, but you need to ask.

Knock is detonation. The knock sensor retards timing automatically when it detects knock/detonation. The stock knock sensor and ECU do not need to be reset when they go off. Occasionally it will cause a "check engine" light. However, the knock sensor CANNOT help you when running boost. You have to use something else and there are many options. Safegaurd, Greddy eManage are some.

 

Are you getting detonation ? If you have the Stillen stage 3 it should already have been set up to have timing retard .