P0301 code on new EBM with E30 tune

[Busser48]

I would try and take it up with him personally first. Even further than you have before you come to the message boards. I don't mean that in a rude way, just give the guy a chance. Tell him your not comfortable with his response and u need help. Then if he doesn't get back, which I'm sure he will, then air out your grivience. Good luck. Oh I don't care what your charge temps read. Don't push e30 without proper supporting mods

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[PRG3k]

First of all I think your mix could be off. I use the 4 to 1 ratio on 93 octane, is it the same for 91? You really need to test the ethanol content before you use your source. You could be getting shitty content. I hear the words 'California' and 'shitty gas' in the same sentence very often. Your 91 could also be shit. That's why I love the OAR gauge on the access port. It's easy to locate a good station and stick with it.

Second with no catch can you could be diluting your fuel and or fouling your plugs from oil blow by, and with the stock intercooler in this heat trying to run that much power damn straight you are probably going to get a boatload of knock.

Please halt while there still time to save that poor car. Catch can, intercooler, then test that E85 pump and do some rethinking. You are on the fast track to becoming just another blown motor statistic.

Keep your eyes on the for sale forums to see if you can pick up a used Intercooler. A good dual valve catch can will run you close to 230 bucks. I would not go single valve if you plan to run E30.


Lastly, Adam probably would not tune you at this point. He covers his ass by not tuning people if they don't have supporting mods. Because eventually shit like this happens and some people get very turned off when they are told that it was their own fault that the car is not acting right. That's why he has stickies/FAQs on his website and Facebook group. I'm surprised Torri even tuned you. Didn't he explain how things were going to work?

 

[Slow89]

I've heard..
But I already had the SCT X4, and I paid $150 for 2 tune files which also adjusted the transmission shift firmness from another notable tuner
if I were to change -
$500 for a new tuner plus $300 for the tune, and then $150 more for the transmission adjustment tune too ... almost a grand. That's a lot of money, not to mention, I've heard he is not the nicest/friendliest person to work with. As far as I'm concerned, the customer service is just as important (if not more) than the product itself. I don't want to spend that kind of money to deal with someone who is known as a jerk (and I'm not speaking from any personal experience, just what I've seen/read from other people's interactions)

If you want the best of EVERY WORLD.... Go Lund. Jon is a genius when it comes to his tunes and his customers service is second to none. ALSO he's the cheapest. Buy the ngauge ($550) and FREE lifetime tunes with a Trans tune. Oh and Adam, he's a douche so that's all I'll say about that lol.


This is just a typical conversation with Jon. Can't say enough about him.

 

[Slow89]

But back to your problem.... I'm surprise no one has picked up on this but your e30 mix is a bit off. And not because the octane rating but because your ethanol content is too high. Mixing 4 gallons of e85 and 10 of 91 brings u to 31.4 Your tune is probably not liking the mix and doing a little crazy dance.

 

[Slow89]

First of all I think your mix could be off. I use the 4 to 1 ratio on 93 octane, is it the same for 91? You really need to test the ethanol content before you use your source. You could be getting shitty content. I hear the words 'California' and 'shitty gas' in the same sentence very often. Your 91 could also be shit. That's why I love the OAR gauge on the access port. It's easy to locate a good station and stick with it.

Second with no catch can you could be diluting your fuel and or fouling your plugs from oil blow by, and with the stock intercooler in this heat trying to run that much power damn straight you are probably going to get a boatload of knock.

Please halt while there still time to save that poor car. Catch can, intercooler, then test that E85 pump and do some rethinking. You are on the fast track to becoming just another blown motor statistic.

Keep your eyes on the for sale forums to see if you can pick up a used Intercooler. A good dual valve catch can will run you close to 230 bucks. I would not go single valve if you plan to run E30.


Lastly, Adam probably would not tune you at this point. He covers his ass by not tuning people if they don't have supporting mods. Because eventually shit like this happens and some people get very turned off when they are told that it was their own fault that the car is not acting right. That's why he has stickies/FAQs on his website and Facebook group. I'm surprised Torri even tuned you. Didn't he explain how things were going to work?

Actually when it comes to e85 California is one of the best states when it comes to enthanol content. Our pump piss gas also known as 91 octane, not so much lol.

 

[TEXAS HEAT]

Car has a cat-back exhaust, Roush CAI, and a tune that I am managing with SCT X4 tuner. I was running the 91 Tune (I'm in CA and 91 is the best we have) with no issues.. ran good. Decided to give the E30 tune a shot - put 4 gallons of E85 (minimum 70% according to label at pump) in the tank with 10 gallons of 91, and installed the E30 tune. Today on my 3rd day of driving it with the tune, I was going to work this morning (cool air, low 70's), and on one of my acceleration runs (I was data logging at the time so I could send it to the tuner to fine-tune it), it sputtered really bad and lost a lot of power .. I immediately let off the gas .. the check engine light was flashing/blinking at me .. after maybe 20-30 seconds, the light went off, and the engine smoothed back out. I completed the data log, and then checked to see if I could retrieve a code, but no luck.

On my way home from work (it was warmer - mid/high 90's), I got on the gas again at one point, and the same thing happened .. sputter at higher RPM (about 4800-5000 or so) and loss of power. Check engine light stayed on this time (I was not data logging) - code was P0301 - cylinder 1 misfire. engine smoothed out again after about 20 seconds.. got home, and per the tuner, I checked my plugs for proper gap - they were all at .028, where he said they should be. Sent him a copy of the data log file from the morning run and he couldn't conclude what happened... said he could turn the boost way down if I wanted. I let him know I was a little concerned about damaging the engine in my brand new car - his response was "put it back to stock".. I was hoping for a bit more assistance in figuring out what the issue was here... of course, I am nervous about damaging the engine in my 2 month old car, and I'm trusting my tuner to sell me a tune that will improve performance but not blow up my engine .. is that too much to ask?

I still have about 1/3 tank of E30 - is it ok to put it back to a stock tune with that in the tank? If the engine is about to blow, I want to have it on the stock tune if that happens.

You haven't mentioned which plugs you're running. On cool mornings with Ethanol blends in the tank, it's not unusual to experience a cylinder misfire on a cold start. Are you running the factory plug, factory heat range or something else? Also, it does sound like your mixture maybe a little off, you should be able to see this in your STFT and LTFT's. However, a 31% blend shouldn't throw things too out of whack if your tuned for E30. That's well within the ECU's compensation abilities.

Just baby your car on the E30 tune until you can get the fuel level down to an 1/8th of a tank then refill with normal 91 and reflash with your 91 tune. If your plugs appeared to be in good shape, it's unlikely that you've damaged anything.

I would recommend talking with your tuner to make sure that you're set-up is compatible with running ethanol blends. You don't necessarily need an upgraded intercooler to take advantage of blended fuels. You just need to make sure that your tuner actually adjusts your tune based on the fuel you intend to run, and the existing modifications you have. Creating a custom tune for your set-up should be well within the capabilities of any qualified tuner if they review your datalogs and make's the necessary adjustments.

Invest in an ethanol tester to make sure your blends are truly at the intended percentage. A little diligence here will go a long way.

:cheers:

 

[16DIBEBM]

You haven't mentioned which plugs you're running. On cool mornings with Ethanol blends in the tank, it's not unusual to experience a cylinder misfire on a cold start. Are you running the factory plug, factory heat range or something else? Also, it does sound like your mixture maybe a little off, you should be able to see this in your STFT and LTFT's. However, a 31% blend shouldn't throw things too out of whack if your tuned for E30. That's well within the ECU's compensation abilities.

Just baby your car on the E30 tune until you can get the fuel level down to an 1/8th of a tank then refill with normal 91 and reflash with your 91 tune. If your plugs appeared to be in good shape, it's unlikely that you've damaged anything.

I would recommend talking with your tuner to make sure that you're set-up is compatible with running ethanol blends. You don't necessarily need an upgraded intercooler to take advantage of blended fuels. You just need to make sure that your tuner actually adjusts your tune based on the fuel you intend to run, and the existing modifications you have. Creating a custom tune for your set-up should be well within the capabilities of any qualified tuner if they review your datalogs and make's the necessary adjustments.

Invest in an ethanol tester to make sure your blends are truly at the intended percentage. A little diligence here will go a long way.

:cheers:

Thanks - yeah, I'm running stock plugs. My only mods are:
Roush CAI
MBRP cat back
Tune

Levels IC has been ordered

He knew this when I ordered the tune from him (because he asks for all mods) and never indicated that an E30 tune shouldn't be used yet...

The engine had definitely warmed up by the time I got on it - I don't ride it hard until it's up to normal operating temps (180+), so the misfire shouldn't have been related to it being cool.

And the plugs looked ok - coloring was even on all of them. I cleared the code this morning (check engine light was still on for the cylinder 1 misfire) and drove to the gym and back home - no issues, but then I never got on it either.. I'll baby it for the rest of the tank and fill up with 91 and put it back to the 91 tune tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help!!

 

[TEXAS HEAT]

Thanks - yeah, I'm running stock plugs. My only mods are:
Roush CAI
MBRP cat back
Tune

Levels IC has been ordered

He knew this when I ordered the tune from him (because he asks for all mods) and never indicated that an E30 tune shouldn't be used yet...

The engine had definitely warmed up by the time I got on it - I don't ride it hard until it's up to normal operating temps (180+), so the misfire shouldn't have been related to it being cool.

And the plugs looked ok - coloring was even on all of them. I cleared the code this morning (check engine light was still on for the cylinder 1 misfire) and drove to the gym and back home - no issues, but then I never got on it either.. I'll baby it for the rest of the tank and fill up with 91 and put it back to the 91 tune tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help!!

Usually when running ethanol blends, most tuners recommend going to one heat range cooler plug than stock because of the elevated cylinder temperatures and pressures.

 

[wsfrazier]

Funny stuff, currently having Adam tune my car with E30, doing a log this morning, got a P0301 as well. Got ATM I/C and catless 3" DP from CP-E. I can usually feel a misfire or a knock ping, and I felt neither when doing the pull. Seemed smooth as can be, so couldn't of been much.

Will just try different plugs and see if it returns.

Good timing on this thread.

 

[TEXAS HEAT]

Funny stuff, currently having Adam tune my car with E30, doing a log this morning, got a P0301 as well. Got ATM I/C and catless 3" DP from CP-E. I can usually feel a misfire or a knock ping, and I felt neither when doing the pull. Seemed smooth as can be, so couldn't of been much.

Will just try different plugs and see if it returns.

Good timing on this thread.

This does seem to be a very popular topic this morning. The weather must be getting cooler everywhere except here in Texas.

Misfire's occur sometimes when running ethanol blends and aren't necessarily a major concern. There seems to be some paranoia associated with misfires on the EBM. It doesn't necessarily mean that damage has occurred. Be diligent and pull the offending plug, hell pull all of the plugs and inspect the overall condition and verify your gap, replace plugs and/or re-gap as necessary. Also, make sure you're running your tuners recommended plug and gap settings. Depending on what type of driving you do, a colder or hotter plug maybe necessary. Anytime you deviate from traditional fuels and start running elevated cylinder pressures, a good practice is to adopt a 5k mile PM to inspect your plugs. It's just a little added insurance to make sure you catch potential problems before it develops into a bigger one.

 

[evin5]

Car has a cat-back exhaust, Roush CAI, and a tune that I am managing with SCT X4 tuner. I was running the 91 Tune (I'm in CA and 91 is the best we have) with no issues.. ran good. Decided to give the E30 tune a shot - put 4 gallons of E85 (minimum 70% according to label at pump) in the tank with 10 gallons of 91, and installed the E30 tune. Today on my 3rd day of driving it with the tune, I was going to work this morning (cool air, low 70's), and on one of my acceleration runs (I was data logging at the time so I could send it to the tuner to fine-tune it), it sputtered really bad and lost a lot of power .. I immediately let off the gas .. the check engine light was flashing/blinking at me .. after maybe 20-30 seconds, the light went off, and the engine smoothed back out. I completed the data log, and then checked to see if I could retrieve a code, but no luck.

On my way home from work (it was warmer - mid/high 90's), I got on the gas again at one point, and the same thing happened .. sputter at higher RPM (about 4800-5000 or so) and loss of power. Check engine light stayed on this time (I was not data logging) - code was P0301 - cylinder 1 misfire. engine smoothed out again after about 20 seconds.. got home, and per the tuner, I checked my plugs for proper gap - they were all at .028, where he said they should be. Sent him a copy of the data log file from the morning run and he couldn't conclude what happened... said he could turn the boost way down if I wanted. I let him know I was a little concerned about damaging the engine in my brand new car - his response was "put it back to stock".. I was hoping for a bit more assistance in figuring out what the issue was here... of course, I am nervous about damaging the engine in my 2 month old car, and I'm trusting my tuner to sell me a tune that will improve performance but not blow up my engine .. is that too much to ask?

I still have about 1/3 tank of E30 - is it ok to put it back to a stock tune with that in the tank? If the engine is about to blow, I want to have it on the stock tune if that happens.

i think I might be experiencing the same thing you are. have mostly full bolt ons and decided to go the meth route. problem is when meth is on my car starts sputtering like yours in the upper rpms as well and still trying to figure out the problem is for close to 2 months.

 

[chadhtx40]

Do you have any logs you could share. It would be interesting to look at AFR during WOT. On E30 mine is right about 11.91 and for the most part always has been and she runs great. I've only had one fill up where I was running lean because of the mix and I just put it in economy slot during that week until I could refill. Also there is no guarantee that e85 is 85% ethanol. In some cases it may be 80%, 85%, 90%, or even in the 70's% during colder months. It's important to measure that with the ethanol tester tube.

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