I have this vague recollection that I did check the base timing and it was OK, but it's always worth checking. That said, I'd expect more knock all the time if the base timing was off.

I actually had the knock sensor fitted by a local mechanic who I trusted at that point. They found a wiring issue which caused the fault mentioned which were fixed by then and made the sensor functional again. The sensor was a NAPA OEM-spec one...I would have another good look at the sensor...

I think Harbor Freight sells it, but I don't know how good it is. Keep in mind that you need a compressor for that type of equipment.

You can have that sort of compression numbers and I'd guess the engine might still start and run. I've seen a car with a four cylinder engine run OK with zero compression on one cylinder, but I don't think I've seen one with numbers this low across the board.I think using another compression...

Depends if they tabbies or not :).OK, stupid feline jokes aside, I would say you can get that sort of power with a cat - after all, there are plenty of examples out there that do. I would probably get a high flow cat instead of an OEM-spec one simply because they pose less of an obstruction...

I'd hazard a guess that the OP is more worried about Johnny Law having a look under his car and noticing said straight pipe and the absence of a cat :D.

I'd just get a high flow cat fitted then.Usually turbo-back or cat-back exhausts reduce the back pressure, which is especially important with a turbo car as less back pressure helps the turbo spin up a bit quicker/better because you have a bigger pressure difference to work with.

Was that compression test done warm or cold? You're supposed to do those with the engine hot as the piston rings tend to seal a little better that way.I think 30 psi might be a little iffy, but there are a couple of factors that might influence the result:Engine temperature Throttle...

Can you provoke it when going around corners?

That aside suggests to me that you probably have an issue with the clutch hydraulics.How old is the fluid? Any leaks? Have you recently bled it? How old is the flexible hose?

Keep in mind that there are two scales for measuring octane at the pump out there. In the US, it's usually AKI at the pump whereas chances are that he's quoting RON.91 AKI is approx 95 RON (see Octane rating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).The UK also has a couple of suppliers for 99...

Given that a 1g runs somewhere around 40psi stock I would also vote for a broken gauge. Running at 120psi over intake manifold pressure would most likely do interesting things to your mixture, but running lean is most likely not one of them.

If your ECU can't read the coolant temperature, fix that before you try starting the car again, otherwise you'll feel like it's Groundhog Day all over again.

It could be more or less anything, including the new O2 sensor. You really need to read the fault code to see what ECU thinks the problem is.

I/C to intake pipe has a GM MAF in it by the looks of it so it might not necessarily be running SD."Needs laptop to tune" can mean pretty much any standalone ECU or DSMLink/ECMLink. Hard to tell without looking at the laptop :).

My gut feeling would be valves or rings. I'd check the valve clearances first though and it might be something simple like a valve that needs lapping in a little.That said, even with those compression numbers I'd expect the engine to fire up, even if it won't run that well.I'd also expect...

Some plugs don't like getting wet with fuel - I'd try to dry them out well before reusing them or just get a new set of standard plugs.

If you've been cranking it a lot and you have a decent fuel supply, chances are that the plugs should be wet or at least smell strongly of gasoline.

Oh, I agree with that :), I was just trying to point out that you'll see *some* temperature difference between the hoses in case someone uses a thermometer on them and thinks the radiator isn't working because the two hoses are different degrees of hot.

If the radiator is working (and especially the fan is running), you'd hope that the coolant leaving the radiator is of a lower temperature than when it enters the radiator so on a non-blocked radiator I would expect to see a temperature difference.

I'd definitely try to see if it holds decent pressure for a while - say 15-20 Minutes minimum.

If you're not leaking out from the engine or anywhere else in the cooling system, the coolant can only go in one other direction - into the engine.If you're seeing a constant stream of bubbles at the filler neck, that suggests you get exhaust gases into the coolant. And there are only a...

Did you have the head checked if the gasket surface is still true?

Definitely check the waterpump very closely, mine was having exactly the same symptoms and it was leaking quite heavily from the waterpump.Also check if all the ducting is still in place, otherwise you might have an issue getting air through the radiator in the first place.

Thanks for the comments. Just a little clarification:The fans are coming on as they should. For some reason the car seems to suffer from what I'd consider insane underhood temperatures (if you've driven it for, say, 20-30 minutes the valve cover gets so hot you can barely touch it, even if...

First, I'd like to point out that I bought the car this way so the mods I know about are either based on what the PO told me or what I've found out in the meantime.The relevant specs as far as I know are:FP Green "spec" turbo (I have a suspicion that it's not an original FP one as it...

Well, looks like the new sensor that I finally fitted is duff (I'm getting an error code the the knock sensor circuit now) - back to square one, pull it and try again :(.

Seriously, playing with the engine map without any means of verifying what you're doing is a *bad* idea, especially with turbo cars.Put on a wideband and some means to log the data before you blow the engine.

I can't currently tell if there's any sealant leaking out as I had to do most of the investigation by feel and not by sight. It didn't feel like there was much if any sealant missing, it was rather soft at the current ambient temperatures (around 90F).Do I need a special socket for the knock...

Finally managed to spend a little time with the Talon last night and noticed that the 'sealant' that's filling the knock sensor is definitely pliable and gives when you apply finger pressure. I guess that's a sign that I want to replace the knock sensor? Keep in mind we had temperatures in the...

Thanks for the advice everybody - I'll try to check the knock sensor this weekend.@GSXMan98, didn't even think about that but the MAF on the car awfully looks like a GM MAF, which would make sense with the rest of the mods. I guess I'll better add an IAT to my shopping list.

Quick background summary: I'm trying to trace another issue, namely the engine running hot on prolonged light-medium load (uphill at 40-50mph with up to 5psi boost). I data logged a slow drive and noticed that under mild load I was getting loads of knock retardation. So I figured I'll start with...

Looks like an aftermarket overflow tank to me.Does it have any coolant in it? Any way to add coolant?

Valve stem seals would be my first suspicion, too.Does the engine also smoke when you take the foot off the gas at fairly high revs while driving? That should create a large vacuum and with bad valve stem seals you should see some smoke out of the exhaust. It's often not enough to see in the...

Ah, was just wondering as mine started to run rather hot once the temperatures around here hit 75.The fact that it takes a while until the engine gets that hot would suggests that you're probably dribbling coolant out of the connector for the overflow tank until you're a little low on...

Guess I should be saying hello first :).I've bought a somewhat modded Talon[1] a few weeks ago which promptly turned itself from OK driver into a headache. The mods appear to be pretty well done, the car is running ECMlink v3 but it's got some fun problems with engine knock and running way too...

When you remove the rad cap on a cold engine, is the filler neck full of coolant or is there some air in there? If there is, you're losing some coolant due to the fluid expanding when it gets hot (which is normal). That's basically what the overflow tank is supposed to prevent.You won't...

My GSX had cooling issues when I got it, partially due to the missing header tank. Once the engine got warm enough to open the pressure cap, it would just spit out coolant and when the engine cooled down again, you'd end up with slightly low coolant and air in the engine instead of fluid...