I recently got a Xcal3 and it's program caused detonation with 87 octane gas from a local gas station which I would think is a reputable company. The tech support suggested I back off the timing by 1 degree and I did so and it seemed to fix the problem. They suggested that this was caused by poor quality gas.

OK, that fine, this place sells substandard gas. What worries me now is that periodically you're gunna get substandard gas either by accident or because no other gas stations are available. I keep think about vacationing this summer in the mountains. I might be miles away from a major highway and might have to fill up at some Momma Poppa station that buys "brand X" gas. What choice do you have when in the middle of nowhere. Now I'm driving down the highway with my holiday trailer behind and the motor starts knocking. What a pain in the but to have to pull over to re-program your truck. Especially if you get custom tunes and don't have the choice of backup off the timing by a degree or so. You are stuck with going back to stock. And then you have a power interruption and the update isn't successful and now the truck doesn't start.

This scenario is not that far fetched. How the heck are you guys dealing with this problem? I'm not sure if I'm right here, but I'm thinking I can buy gas from a reputable place and feel safe buying the correct octane (87 for argument sake). But if I'm at a questionable station, can I buy mid grade or premium just to be safe? I understand you can't put in less octane then the tune allows for, but can you put in more octane then the tune allows for? Cause if I can then I'd just use my 87 tow tune and get 89 octane at questionable stations, and 87 at trusted stations.

Any opinions on the matter. Thanks.

 

This is a very good question! i wish to know this as well since i plan on buying custom tunes in the future..

 

Ya, hopefully somebody can give us some insight into this. I got very vague answers from Troyer when I asked them (not Mike).

 

I was going to say...that doesn't sound right. lol

That guy will talk your ear off.

I can't help you with your problem because I never go anywhere where there isn't a brand name gas station around.

 

spike747 you can back off timing with a custom tune. I have Troyer and VMP tunes and Mike won't let you add timing but will let you take it out. He limits the XCal ability to push the limit further but still allows it to be used to back off. I can't remember if Justin sets it up the same but I know you can make adjustments with his tunes as well. If you have detonation with the custom tunes and can back it out then just leave it there and you should be fine.

 

Correct. Or another option would be if you've got a tune for say 93 octane and 87 octane. If you're running the 93 octane tune and you've got pinging. Just switch out to the 87 octane tune until you can get the problem resolved. If it's the other way around than it's some really bad gas. You can buy some octane booster or back the timing down on the Xcal2.

 

Wow, Mikes tunes have a menu like the canned tunes? That's awesome. What other parameters are in Mikes menu?

 

LOL. They'll all talk you ear off. I can't believe how much I've learned over the phone from them. Could also be why tunes are taking 2 - 3 months to get.

You don't always have a choice of gas station brands. I'm a big camper and I love to take the backroads to my destination. But the backroads can also leave you with little choice of gas stations. I just want to be prepared this summer so that I can avoid any problems that could arise with poor gas. My biggest fear is re-programming my truck on the side of a road a few KM's down the road from a questionable gas station and having trouble re-programming my truck. Imagine being stranded on holidays just because you can't re-program the truck. MY family would be so pissed at me.

 

anyone can tune for a different octane. and in all fairness, not all tuners have one month plus waits, in fact most don't. A lot of people will tell you experience is worth waiting for, but I doubt there's much difference between anyone who's worth their salt in tuning. if time's important, pick a tuner with a quicker turnaround, if not go with who you trust. personally I would go with the turnaround, there is no way there's enough difference to warrant a month longer wait

 

I agree!

 

It's no different than any other tuner, they all have the menus, it's part of the firmware in the device. The tuner can just change what you can edit, etc.