Karl-AL

This might seem like a stupid queston but what is a knock link

AlanPPP

iTrader: (2)

http://www.dpmotorsport.com/parts/knocklink/home.htm

Here you go buddy..well worth having

pslewis

As far as I know its a £150 Knock Sensor (like the one thats on your Scooby now) - however, the electronics convert the signals to a set of lights ...... louder the knock the more lights light up??

I am guessing as I haven't felt the need for something that costs £150 and just tells me in light form what the Subaru sensor tells the ECU - let the car sort it out is my answer!

If you crap your pants over the Petrol you put in your tank, think you hear voices and cannot walk over cracks or under ladders then maybe its just what you need??

Pete

16vmarc

All very well Peter, but what if his car is heavilly modified from standard and the ecu no longer picks up these things?

Karl-AL

cheers lads

pslewis

The ECU and Knock Sensor is DESIGNED to pick up pinking - whatever the state of tune ...............................

Its a peace of mind purchase .... no-one can say that it saved their engine because by definition no damage was done (maybe no damage would have been done?)

If you need a £150 device to tell you what the ECU is being told then go ahead - but please don't get the idea that it saves engines ..... driving sensibly saves engines!

Pete

16vmarc

Good point!

GC8

Your faith is misguided Pete; Subaru ECUs are notoriously bad at reacting to det. A Knocklink on a standard UK may well not be necessary but anyone who has modified their car, or who runs a JDM would be well advised to fit one.

Simon

pslewis

Subaru ECUs are excellent at reacting to pinking ....... 1,000's of undamaged 150,000mile Subarus stand witness to that fact.

Whatever the state of tune the knock sensor will pick up pinking and the ECU will react to that signal .................... the state of tune doesn't affect the knock sensor!!

An Engine either pinks or it doesn't - its an on/off situation ..... not reliant on the state of tune at all!

Pete

16vmarc

Youre my hero

GC8

The information isnt difficult to find for a man with an open mind Pete. The Subaru ECU is SO slow to react that engine damage can easily occur before it retards.

pslewis

Again I repeat myself ............ there are 1,000's of Subarus running about with 150,000mile Boxer Engines NOT damaged ... the ECU has reacted fast enough for all of them!!

And it will act fast enough for a modified Impreza Turbo, because, as I said, an Engine either pinks or it doesn't!

The trap you are falling into is that the modified Impreza is a Special case and needs special measures ...... it needs to be driven with care as its finely tuned BUT when it comes to pinking its simply the SAME as a Justy!!

It pinks or it doesn't .......... ECU's operate in milliseconds - MUCH faster than a Knock Link could energise one of its LEDS!!!!

Therefore, if the Subaru ECU is too slow - certainly the Knock Link LED to Drivers eye to Drivers Foot time is MANY, MANY, MANY times slower!!

Pete

scooby-si

please show me these 1,000's of subaru's with 150,000miles on the clock's that havnt had any problems with det,a knocklink will pick det up and show the driver before the standard ecu one will thus the driver can ease off the throttle and letting the ecu catch up the link knocklink was made due to go with the LINK ecu due to it not being able to sort det out,(not 100% on that) like gems and mo-tec can

scooby-si

+ a lot of people dont now what det sounds like,the standard ecu need to learn when it gets det and sort it out the knocklink tells you its there before the ecu,so now the driver can now drive slower and let the ecu sort it out THATS HOW SLOW IT IS,

pete your car will never get det due to it being that dam slow and a slow driver as well

Rob D

If you modify your Impreza a Knocklink is a very handy tool, most tuners will not remap your car without one for obvious reasons.

pslewis

No, the reasons are not obvious .... unless they are selling the knocklink thats is.

Its difficult to see why you cannot understand that ANY engine, in any state of tune will at some time pink .... my car does, I hear it and drop into a lower gear - it stops!

How the hell you can think that a driver reacts quicker than a ECU is utterly laughable It just ain't happening!!

Another SN Myth blown a hole in then??

Pete

pslewis

I get pinking when I use NUL petrol - its not a big deal as I just drive in a higher engine speed range ........ taking it off load

The ECU will ALWAYS act faster than the driver!!

I don't know ..... how many more SN Gems will I unearth?

They are all designed around the Impreza being, in some way, 'special' - they are there to give a wiff of mystique, a sense that this car defines its own laws of physics ..

Its a GREAT car ......... but it is agricultural remember?????

Pete

Gary C

Interesting point about the knocklink to foot action time, it will of course be slower than an ECU.

However, if the ECU has retarded the timing back as far as it can and your still getting detonation then the knocklink would tell you this.

Det is not quite an on off thing, change in fuel/air temp/load changes the severity. Low speed det is quite easy to hear, high speed det virtually impossible.

A tuned car's ECU may not have the range of adjustment required to suppress det and driving such a car at high engine speed (and therfore being unable to detect it) could lead to rapid engine failure.

pslewis

Excellent points Gary - I like someone who has actually thought about rather than just following the crowd like a sheep!

I am not sure there is a limit on the retardation? Why would there be? Its all electronically controlled these days .... with its inifinate limits.

Low speed pinking is what I hear - thats when I am in a too low gear and loading the engine ...... not come across it at high speeds (but, maybe you are right, and I couldn't hear it?) .... but, even then, the ECU would react accordingly.

Blown Subaru Boxer Engines are not common (or that issue would be on 5th Gear, Top Gear, Car webSites, etc. and it isn't!)

Its actually not even common on ScoobyNet - although the way some go on you would think that it was happening to everyone!

Lets assume that, at the outside, 1 SN member blows their Engine every other day - thats 182 a year ( thats very high, but we will run with it for now) ... out of 48,000 members thats 0.38%!!!! ...... lets say 95% are due to modifying and generally pissing about with it ... that leaves about 8 unmolested engines that have gone in a year - and there are many reasons for those going ( mileage, age, wrong servicing, cambelt snap - maybe pinking)

So, I reckon about 1 engine - at the outside - is destroyed due to pinking in a year out of all the SN members ............ worth crapping ourselves about??

Pete

paul w

Pete mate,

You are one of not many on here that talk any honest sense and i agree with alot of stuff you post,There are a lot of brain washed muppets out there that need educating so keep up the good work and help these sheep.

Just like to pick up on one point though,if your subaru ecu is excellent at picking up det and coping with it why can you hear it and have to react before ecu does?if some of these chavs with a boot full of ice blowing out can't hear that det at least they will see there KL light up like the local fruit machine and then react accordingly (probably nail it even more to keeps the lights glowing though!!!!!!!!!!!)

Cheers

Rob D

Pete , your right all cars do det at some stage or another but when when you are tuning a car outside a general remap for all cars i.e PPP then you need to see how far the igintion can be advanced without det, this varies from car to car.
Exactly the point what Gary has said above, the ECU might have retarded the timing back to the furthest point but the car still dets, what can the ECU do at that point???
So in your expert opinion det cans are a waste of time?

Leave the advice to people who know what they are talking about.

PALATINE

When are the mods here gonna hit Pete with the ban stick??
He always takes the opposite side and yaks on about ****e he know FA about
Pete **** off to the muppet section where you belong

scooby-si

so why has my car had 3 engines??(in standard form) not by me though, this is due to the ****e ecu and people running it on ****e fuel when its mapped for 100 octane fuel,and not hearing det or not nowing what det is the reason i have a knocklink is because i cannt hear my engine due to my exhaust but i never get more than 2 green lights because ive got a gems ecu with a proper map and 100ml of NF

ps you dont need a knocklink on a uk car if you have the exhaust done

AlanPPP

iTrader: (2)

FFS i'm so confused now! lol

I will be getting one at the end of the day sooner or later because i don't know what pinking sounds like PMSL i run MY94 WRX on Optimax and millers booster with an ECU reset so just to set my mind at rest.

AlanPPP

iTrader: (2)

I probably wouldn't hear it either scoobysi with my zorst

scooby-si

lmao

pete P1

must admit,i agree fully with pete.its very refreshing to hear someone whos not just jumping on the horror story band wagon.also if your scoob is modified or standard ,there should be no need to worry about pinking unless a sensor has given up or poor fuel being put in.the ecu will be more than capable of advancing and retarding in any other normal day to day situation.

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

Exactly,I have a knocklink.A month or to ago it started lighting up like a christmas tree.No managment light on the dash car seemed to drive normally.
Had a check done on the ecu no faults shown although car was running dangerously lean. Found to be the air/fuel ratio sensor at fault.

This car was detting all the time at over 4000rpm. Would never have known except for the knocklink. Maybe no damage would have been caused or maybe the engie would have let go.Who knows? The point is i was able to detect i had a fault before there was a problem due to having a knocklink.

Was the £150ish well spent?In my opinion YES

And yes i do know what det sounds like,And no it couldnt be heard with just the human ear.

CyprusScooby

I have an unmodified (apart from full de-cat!) STi Type-R V5.

Should I get a knocklink when I ship it back to the UK?

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

Some people think there a waste af money,Others wouldnt be without one.

Its your choice,I have one on my present car but didnt on my previous scoob,The reason i chose one on this car was because of a hole in a piston on the last car(Probably due to det).I just went on the side of saftey and bought one.As you can see from my last post i think it was well worth the money.