19 replies to this topic

[danyeates]

Car is almost standard, it's a NA, precat removed, Courtenay sports filter and recently a stage 1 remap at Regal. The modding begins at least! The engine however seems to be pinking at light load. Have been recommended to try different plugs, platinum ones. My question is: what plugs should I use, make and part number and will it solve or help sort it. Thanks guys! I'm sure you guys can point me in the right direction!

[danyeates]

Oh also, got 3 electrode plugs in the blue 03 NA. Have these been upgraded? Will get make and part numbers if needed. The original car in question is 2001

[The Knobs]

pinking wont be cured by plugs, only higher octane fuel might do it. The ignition timing for that area of revs and load are not quite right i would imagine. That should be taken care of bythe ecu i would have thought. Pinking is not a good thing, so i would speak to regal about the remap, and if its designed to be run on high octane fuel.

[danyeates]

Thanks for that. Regal said it might do it for 30 miles or so until the car "learns" the remap. It did, and it has been much better after the initial 30 miles. Regal said that platinum plugs would sort the problem out? Maybe they're just trying to sell me some £40 spark plugs? Better start using Optimax anyway, see if that helps.

[speedster]

I have a set of Denso Platinums, PT16VR13, in my NA. Found them an improvement on the standard item. I also run with shell V-Power and it appears to work ok with my mods.

[vocky]

the standard vx plugs are now tri electrode, vx figured out the 2.2 runs better with them they are the best plugs for a 2.2 and only £4 each triple electrode part no 91158431

Edited by vocky, 18 September 2005 - 06:29 AM.

[speedster]

the standard vx plugs are now tri electrode, vx figured out the 2.2 runs better with them

they are the best plugs for a 2.2 and only £4 each

triple electrode part no 91158431

Should I undo my Plats??

[vocky]

Next time get the vx plugs or buy a set and see if you notice the difference. It seems most z2.2se owners prefer the tri-electrode over any other

Edited by vocky, 18 September 2005 - 11:12 AM.

[Jim_Cross]

I'm surprised they sent you on your way with a car which was pinking. When Courtenay mapped mine they ran it on the rollers for a long time to make sure that when the ECU had adjusted to the new map, all the fueling was fine. Initially it looked a bit lean, but did eventually learn. However, I'd personally feel much safer seeing the Tech 2 showing that everything's OK than relying on feeling like the car's not pinking. Give Regal a call

[danyeates]

OK thanks for that will do. They said the ECU will learn the map and it did. I would have thought the ECU would sense it was pinking and back the timing off accordingly. Will call Regal again and see what they say. So the standard plugs are best yeah? Where can I get a tech 2 readout? Anyone in Soton or Ringwood got one, or can I buy one?

[Jim_Cross]

You either need to Regal to run the car on a rolling road with a tech 2 plugged in, or do what TMS do and run it on the road with the Tech 2 plugged in. You really need to be able to run it right through the rev range numerous times to see what the situation is with the air/fuel ratio etc

Regal should be perfectly happy to do this if they're confident that the ECU will have adjusted to the new map

Edited by Jim_Cross, 18 September 2005 - 03:54 PM.

[minime]

from what i remember the regals map for the vx and vxt are based on using optimax at least.. regal do have a tech 2...

Edited by minime, 18 September 2005 - 04:06 PM.

[danyeates]

Running on Shell Optimax and it still pinks. Also put Platinum plugs in to see if it made any difference, drives better but still pinks! Will be tking it for it's service this week anyway so will see what Tech 2 says.

[Thorney]

The ECU should not have to 'learn' so much as to avoid pinking, its simply not that clever. It can advance 1.2 points ignition only and pinking shows a greater ignition gap than that. I'd get it remapped again by Regal to make sure it is ok, running a car that is pinking is very bad. We tried after market plugs on the NA's and frankly found the OEM ones are the best. We fit iridium plugs to modified VXT's as the temp issue is greater but NA's work best on stock. Plugs will not affect ignition timing to the extent to erradicate pinking.

[Dave]

I had two NA's with Regal remaps that both had the same problem. TJA Tim also had the same problem I think. It was very annoying but I not sure if it was pinking. It went into Picador and they could not identify the problem. I'm convinced it was the remap. I now have a Turbo - problem cured - out of interest The VXT remap (Regal) is designed to work on Optimax or similar. It is a good remap for my turbo. Ask Snoopster he has had a Stage 1 remap from Regal I think. Dave

[danyeates]

OK thanks, its got its service on Thursday I think at Picadors so will see what the Tech 2 says. Have been running it on Optimax, not really any difference.

[paulf-cam]

Out of interest, what does pinking sound like? Loud/quiet, when would be able to hear it etc? Dumb question, i expect...

[sworks]

My car has been suffering with pinking too (although a standard n/a). Had my ecu re-programmed by Vauxhall and although it is alot better, I can still slightly hear it pinking! Any suggestions? - I am going to have to take it back to Vauxhall, but wondered if anyone had any suggestions i could pass on to try and get it fixed. Cheers Chris

[theturbs]

Mate IMHO you should not have to resort to using Optimax in order to prevent the pinking - the cause of the problem should be addressed by Regal. The engine should run properly on regular unleaded post-remap.

[danyeates]

Yep, that's what we thought and what Regal told us originally. Apparently Regal have a tweek for the map to get rid of the pinking. Unfortunately, when we took it back the ECU blew up whilst transferring the data. Regal did however tow the car to Picador Vauxhall and pay £600 for a new ECU, which was good of them! At the moment it's running fine, but on it's standard Vauxhall map at the moment. Will take it back to Regal I expect to get it mapped again and hopefully it should be OK. Will be taking the blue VX to TMS for its map though! Seem to have a much better reputation.