Scantool? lemme know

[Sinister86]

I bought an 86 gn a little while back and theres a little something under the steering column that has me wondering... Its a little grey plastic piece with 8 lights (they are little bulbs sticking out)
theres one green one on the far right, 3 yellow ones in the middle and 4 red ones on the left side. it has black wiring coming out of the back of it. the green light stays on all of the time untill i get on it and the boost gets in the ballpark of 14 psi, then all the red and yellow lights light up. obviously, seeing red light come on when i get on it freaks me out and i would really like to know what this little things is. it was on there when i got the car and the previous owner didnt know what it did either. it seems like some old school scan tool or guage type thing but if anyone knows what it is id really like to know. i cant see having something on my car that i dont even know how to interpret what its trying to tell me. give any suggestions, thanks, Taylor

 

[salvageV6]

I got one of them.

It's a knock detector.

You have a problem when the red lights are on at WOT.

I think I bought mine from Kenne-Bell back in '92-94 somewhere about that time.

It works ok. Red lights seem to start at 6-7KR on the scanmaster.

 

[Sinister86]

thanks a lot for the info, that info is gonna help me prevent any damage lol. what do you think the knock could be coming from? detonation killed my last engine unfortunatly so i'd like to pinpoint this problem before anything bad happens. thanks a lot, taylor

 

[WarpSpeed]

Definitely a knock gauge. Red lights are bad, of course.

Could be not enough fuel pressure, could be a bad coil pack or even wire or plugs.

 

[salvageV6]

I would consider a scantool such as a Scanmaster or one of the laptop tools such as Turbolink, or Direct Scan.

Much more information available.

What chip are you using? Timing in it?

Motor mounts good?

My old Kenne-Bell chip used to light up the Kenne-Bell light bar meter pretty good.

 

[Sinister86]

unfortunatly i dont have a fuel pressure guage, or a scanmaster.... i know, i need the scanmaster. its next on my list and hopefully somehow i can pinpoint the problem without buying every possible part as i am getting chin high into debt with this car. i have a red armstrong xp pump and bluetops with a te-44. i thought you guys might wanna know this if you had any ideas as to what it could be. how much is a coil pack? also, i have kenne bell wires, and new spark plugs. sounds like fuel pressure is probobly the culpret but i am not sure. any advice would be great, thanks, taylor

 

[azgn]

more than likely the problem is lack of octane, not fuel pressure...how much boost are you running and what kind of gas?

 

[Sinister86]

i only use 94 octane and the problem is occurring at 14 psi
i know it shouldnt be this way, as far as the chip goes, im going to have to check it out tomorrow and see what kind it is, because it is the chip the previous owner put on i do not know at this time which it is exactly. ill keep you updated on this

 

[Sinister86]

i forgot to mention, it has a new coil pack so its not that either, at least it shouldnt be that but who knows

 

[salvageV6]

Check that chip and be careful with it if you have to take it out to look under it for markings.