P0325 Knock Sensor 1 Circuit Malfunction

[scolberg]

I just had my car tuned after having its head built. It is a SOS supercharged car. I used a different tuner this time. We road tested the car and I had a 5 hour leisurely cruise on Sunday. Car ran good and no CEL. Yesterday I took it out for a short spirited drive and got P0325 Knock Sensor 1 Circuit Malfunction. Prior to the tune I was getting a fair number of Knock count but never any knock retard. Playing the log I noticed that the knock count drastically increased yesterday while under hard acceleration but still there was no retard. After I let off the throttle shortly after the Knock control% moved from 56 to 144. It is then the CEL came on. I went home and cleared the code. Later I went out to test the car again. I barely got out of my subdivision when I got the same CEL. The log shows that it started out with Knock control % of 56. It took 37 seconds of driving for the CEL to resurface. Knock count was zero and a when the CEL was reported the Knock control % shot up to that same 144.

My question is this. Does this look like a faulty knock sensor or could this code be thrown from the way my car was tuned? I see lots of settings under Knock Control but I don't have the skill/knowledge to read and interpret them. From my reading I understood Knock Control % would help indicate what fuel octane the car is seeing. If I had bad gas I would have expected to see knock retard but it always shows as zero. Last two fill ups were 93 octane. Since there is no knock retard I am wondering if it is a calibration/tuning issue. Before I spend money on a new sensor I thought I would ask for opinions.

Thanks

[Spunkster]

Without the calibration and a datalog showing the issue it is impossible to speculate.

[scolberg]

Attached are the two logs and the calibration file.

[Spunkster]

You have more timing than the supercharger calibration we have provided as a base map in the software (about 7 degrees more). You may want to discuss this with your tuner. What fuel are you using....octane and brand?

[scolberg]

I'm in Canada but my tuner is in Michigan. Prior to the tune I filled at a Michigan Shell with 93. On the way home I filled with Speedway 93 also in Michigan. Last night I filled at home Petro Canada 94 (which is Sunoco).

[scolberg]

If the sensor is no good wouldn't the ECU be pulling timing out and dropping my power? How can I tell from the logs? The reason I ask is that the dyno results were poor even taking into account this tuners Mustang dyno reads much lower than the dynapack I originally had it tuned on 2 years ago. Plus I am running 3 pounds more boost now. So with a built head and smaller pulley (more boost) I am making less power than I had before doing the head work.

[scolberg]

As a test I loaded up my prior calibration. The car reported the CEL at the exact same time as my last test. Within seconds of leaving. It is now throwing the code almost immediately upon driving. This to me indicates it isn't a calibration problem that is throwing the code. I ordered a new sensor hoping it will resolve the problem and find my missing power.

[scolberg]

New sensor lasted 10 minutes.

[Spunkster]

You may also have a mechanical problem that is making a lot of noise inside the engine.

[scolberg]

You might be right. I never had any of these problems prior to getting the head work done. Car didn't run right after the installation of the head. First clue something was wrong was the ECU began pulling timing out.

[scolberg]

Well it turned out to be mechanical. When the head was installed a rocker arm piston (vtec pin) found its way out and was bouncing around. Timing was being pulled from the very beginning but why it took so long to kick out a CEL I don't know. The sensor did blow when the CEL was reported. We tested the existing sensor after putting the vtec pin back into place and clearing the CEL. It reported the same error. Replacing the sensor was required and my problems are gone. Thanks for your assistance.

[Hondata]

Thanks for the follow up. We hope that nothing was damaged.