The most common cause of engine knocking and high-performance vehicles is problems with the engine’s detonation. Detonation is the point at which the air and fuel in the cylinders are ignited and fire up. Ideally, you only want one fireball in each cylinder. If there are multiple fireballs in each cylinder, your engine will knock. Excelerate Performance is going to list the common causes of detonation knock below. There is also one additional cause that signals serious engine trouble.
Bad Sensor
Your high-performance automobile has a knock sensor in the engine designed to alert the engine control unit if there is a detonation knock in the combustion chamber. This allows the engine control unit to make adjustments to the air and fuel to stop the knocking. If the knock sensor is malfunctioning, it may fail to notify the engine control unit of a problem. Consequently, your engine will knock.
Bad Timing
Engine timing is the point at which the spark plugs detonate the air and fuel. If your spark plugs are worn, they may misfire and cause multiple detonations in the cylinders. This being said, today’s high-performance automobiles rely on the engine control unit to fire the spark plugs in a specific order. If the unit is malfunctioning, you will end up with misfiring spark plugs and engine knock.
Lean Fuel Mixture
Too much air in the fuel mixture can also make your high-performance engine knock. Things that cause a lean fuel mixture include a clogged fuel filter, problems with the fuel pump, a malfunctioning mass airflow or oxygen sensor, or clogged fuel lines. Your high-performance engine needs just the right amount of fuel in order to fire once in the cylinder. Too much air will cause multiple detonations.
Low Octane
High-performance engines need high-octane fuel. If you are putting fuel that has an octane rating of 89 or 87 and it, this is the reason why your engine is knocking. This fuel fires slowly. Consequently, it will fire multiple times in the cylinders. Fuel that has an octane rating of 91 fires quickly.
Worn Bearings
Finally, as we mentioned above, there is one cause of engine knocking that is not related to detonation. If your rod bearings are worn, the knocking sound that you hear is the pistons crashing against the cylinder walls. Unfortunately, this can cause serious damage to your high-performance engine’s cylinder block.
Call Excelerate Performance in Branford, CT, today if your engine is knocking constantly. We will find the problem and fix it.