| After, closer examination of the last dyno pull, I'd say my tune looked a little lean when I left, as I don't think 12.4:1 is the standard from 5500-6000 RPMS. 
And yes, going from a number 8 to a number 6 plug, under your strong recommendation, could have created a condition of up to 400 degrees hotter under high boost conditions. This is according to the NGK website, Greg Dupree at SZ, Kyle at IPP and Harry at ztuner.com. Have you heard of them? Running 400 degrees cooler in cylinders 5 & 6 (hottest cylinders already-where detonation occurred for me) could have helped prevent detonation as cylinders 1,3,2 & 4 were fine. I'm not saying that many other cars out there, making much more power than mine, haven't used the #6 plug with success, but I personally would have been in a better position if I didn’t have them in my car at that time. It was obviously a heat issue and running colder plugs could have given me a little bit more of insurance, but you refuse to believe that because you insisted I remove them. Yes, I should have installed my A/F meter before making my trip to the track. I take full responsibility for that, but you assured me that my set up was "super safe" when I left that day and I didn't think that my motor would blow a week later after 3 runs down the strip. I ran 18lbs of boost with race fuel on a stock/stage III set up for 2 years and probably made 100 passes with no problems on Harry’s tune. I did nothing, but run my car the way you set it up. I guess I trusted you during this whole process way too much. As far as me being an extortionist, well that's just F%*^@)+ stupid! Below is the exact quote from part of an email that I sent to you when I was frustrated after being blown off for more than a week and having you talking in circles the weeks prior to that. I figured, if you weren't going to help make my situation right, than people should know about it. "I'm giving you one last chance to negotiate compensation with me, before I blast you on every known Z related forum on the web. (Currently Occurring) I'm very well known in the Z community and have a very solid reputation. I'm giving you till Tuesday 8/19/08 to contact me and work this out. I've decided that I'm going to need at least $2000 from you for the damage incurred. I can provide receipts for everything, but I'm not charging you for overnight shipping to and from Kyle, which was $300 each way. Check out the info below and I hope to talk to you soon." The link I was referring to at the end of the quote took you to a post where Greg explains to me how running too hot of a plug can certainly cause detonation to occur, especially if the car gets a little lean. It's funny that you failed to respond to that. I also followed your instructions after the damage occurred to see if maybe something else could have caused the problem. I confirmed that there was no boost leak, before and after the damage. Compression test revealed no pressure in cylinders 5 & 6 after the incident. It obviously wasn't a fuel pressure issue, as it was cylinders 5 & 6 with the damage, and these are the entrance and exit points for fuel. You offered to send me the new and improved doolz set up, but I don't hear about people blowing their motors over intake design. I've already run the car since the repair, watching the A/F closely and it seemed OK, although I was only running 23 lbs of boost at the Pinks Event with the colder #9 plugs. When I left you from tuning, my race program was set up for 26-27lbs and I was running the hotter #6 plugs, so I guess I could run quite a bit leaner if I ran a couple more pounds of boost and the hotter plugs, so maybe the tune was even leaner than it looked on the dyno in real life conditions.
And last but not least, yes you offered to do free machine work on my heads and even fly up here to help out, but you weren’t available when I needed you and I had the PINKS event coming up within 2 weeks of the damage and needed to get things done ASAP. Did you really think I was going to even ship my heads out to you given my timetable? You would probably still have them today and I'd be sitting here waiting like everyone else. LOL
That brings me to raise another question. Why would you even offer to fly out here and help me or even offer free machine work if you didn't feel guilty or responsible? You must just be a really great guy! Attention everyone Ash Powers will fly out and help you work on your Z and do machine work, all for free in his spare time. You da man Ash! That’s all I really have to say, and I know you will respond with a novel to defend your honor, but I just thought everyone should know what really went down. Good luck in your future endeavors.
"All I heard was all of this air whooshing around behind me and then you blew by me, just when I thought I had you." - Disgruntled Mustang GT Owner :-( "I use to love speed when I was younger, but now it just scares me." - My father in-law after his first ride in my Z32 :-0 |
