having trouble with supercharger install

[fdlt305]

just recently i had a procharger installed on my 97 mustang gt. i allready replaced the engine with an 03 gt. my problem started when i was traveling down the road in third on a pull up to 5000 rpms. i had noticed that my car started spark knocking like crazy. almost immedately after i noticed the spark knock something let go in the engine. it started to knock and skip like crazy. so i shut the motor down. when i started the car back the knock stayed around for like 3 seconds and then went away leaving just the skip. i carried the car back to the house and started pulling plugs. i noticed that one of the plugs had the gap closed on it and the stone insulator broken off,"a very small piece". so i replaced the plug and started the car back up. the car run like a champ when i started it and left it at idle for about thirty minutes. no knocks no smoke, nothing!! i then took it down the road and on a slight pull at 3200 rpms it done it again with the knocking. a second or two later it's gone. i go back to the garage and pull the same plug and nothing happened to it. i pulled the valve cover to see if i could see a broken valve spring or any scaring on the cam and there is none. it's gotten me stumped. i've been told that it may be some pre detonation from some crappy gas. is there anything else that i may be overlooking???? PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[blacksheep-1]

Well, something had to beat the electrode flat and break the porcelain, something like a foreign object in the motor.
It sounds like it might still be bouncing around in there some place. I'd pull the intake and take a good look around. You might try a small light and see if there's any dents in the piston top before you do that, if so then that's the answer. It's possible, but not likely that if the engine had a lot of mile son it or was run at low speeds then it might be a piece of carbon that loosened up (a very big piece). In any case I think there's something in there.

 

[LaserRed01GT]

It's pretty common on these PI headed 4.6's, for the piston to make contact with the plug. I've seen it happen a millon times, even on some of my Mustangs. Usually the insulator will be immediately blown through the exhaust valve, but sometimes they can stay inside the cylinder and cause some damage.

Did you check the rest of the plugs? For whatever reason, bank 1(passenger side) seems to be the worse at tagging the plugs.

Any codes? What plugs are you running? What gap? Has the car been tuned for the blower?

When you say "knocking", are you physically hearing a mechanical metal to metal knock? Or is it just a dead miss?

 

[jimfitzgerald]

Is it a stock or forged shortblock. Who tuned the engine for the supercharger or was it actually tuned. You may have done some major damage to the engine.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

What plugs are you running? What gap? Has the car been tuned for the blower?

Hey Kevin.....a little off topic here, but have you got any experience with the Kenne Bell Boost-a-spark set up? The reason I ask, is that I bought one under their advertised ability to significantly open up the spark plug gap without worrying about spark blow out. I gapped my AWSFA-12C's to approx .052 under the impression that the Boost-a-spark would prevent blow out, but I'm still the stuttering at the top end of the tach in the higher gears and am wondering if this thing is nothing more than the usual Kenne Bell advertising hype, or will it actually help and I just need to turn up the dial a little more. Or should I just close the plug gap back up to about .035-.038 and consider this a $220 lesson learned?

....sorry about the thread hyjack.

 

[LaserRed01GT]

Hey Kevin.....a little off topic here, but have you got any experience with the Kenne Bell Boost-a-spark set up? The reason I ask, is that I bought one under their advertised ability to significantly open up the spark plug gap without worrying about spark blow out. I gapped my AWSFA-12C's to approx .052 under the impression that the Boost-a-spark would prevent blow out, but I'm still the stuttering at the top end of the tach in the higher gears and am wondering if this thing is nothing more than the usual Kenne Bell advertising hype, or will it actually help and I just need to turn up the dial a little more. Or should I just close the plug gap back up to about .035-.038 and consider this a $220 lesson learned?

....sorry about the thread hyjack.

PM me a little more info on your car and I would be glad to help....and I'll tell you what I think about the KB BAP.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

PM sent.

 

[the98stang]

just recently i had a procharger installed on my 97 mustang gt. i allready replaced the engine with an 03 gt. my problem started when i was traveling down the road in third on a pull up to 5000 rpms. i had noticed that my car started spark knocking like crazy. almost immedately after i noticed the spark knock something let go in the engine. it started to knock and skip like crazy. so i shut the motor down. when i started the car back the knock stayed around for like 3 seconds and then went away leaving just the skip. i carried the car back to the house and started pulling plugs. i noticed that one of the plugs had the gap closed on it and the stone insulator broken off,"a very small piece". so i replaced the plug and started the car back up. the car run like a champ when i started it and left it at idle for about thirty minutes. no knocks no smoke, nothing!! i then took it down the road and on a slight pull at 3200 rpms it done it again with the knocking. a second or two later it's gone. i go back to the garage and pull the same plug and nothing happened to it. i pulled the valve cover to see if i could see a broken valve spring or any scaring on the cam and there is none. it's gotten me stumped. i've been told that it may be some pre detonation from some crappy gas. is there anything else that i may be overlooking???? PLEASE HELP!!!

You need to get the AFR checked ASAP. Don't drive the car anymore.