CAI, FWI, KR, Intense pcm and other terminoligy alike im having a hard time grasping. For instance. I seen a 3.3 pulley for sale and I wanted to buy it but I read that a pulley smalller then 3.4 will cause KR? then I see that if I have a CAI or FWI it will kill KR. Can someone help me along with my upgrade to a smaller pulley without killing my engine.

1996 ssei 114k

anything smaller then stock COULD cause KR...

but if intereested i have a brand new 3.4 aval....

a 3.4 will likely cause you KR too, 3.5 if your stock other than PCM+intake. You should get no KR with that setup and you should get around 2lbs more boost and 20more HP.

it all depends on the car.some people can run a 3.4 with 93 octane and no problems with KR but a lot of people do get kr with a 3.4 combined with an intake and pcm.

with rockers you can run a 3.3 or 3.4 no problem I'd imagine and with the stock exhuast..you 'd probably want to invest in a high flow cat but thats all you need...see the level 2 package or whatever it is from intense that includes rockers.

the level 1 from intense has everything you'd need to get another 20 or so HP. Its a good bang for the buck.

since your a 96, I'm not sure if you can get your PCM from intense..you will probably have to look elsewhere..I think DHP does the 96 PCM but dont quote me on that.

even everything but the PCM you may be just fine with a 3.5 on a stock PCM.

How about if I were to get the "colder plugs" I see everyone quoting a lot around here? would that help keep the KR down? Also what size is the stock pulley on the car?

stock pulley is 3.8"

colder plugs are required when going to the smaller pulley

If you don't have a scantool, don't even start thinking about smaller SC pulleys. They are NOT plug and play like some people thing.

NGK Tr55'* are one range cooler than stock. Running a 3.5 or 3.4 those are about right. Another alternative would be Autolite 104'*. Gapping would also need to be considered, you don't want to run .060 as the FSM suggests when no longer stock.

As for Hans' comments. Many run 3.4 without KR or much KR. KR is Knock Retard, it means that the sensors see predetonation or false noise and they are removing some timing to compensate for the knock.

To run a 3.4, an upgraded intake, a 180 T stat and a few other mods like a high flow catalytic converter are recommended. It is possible that when you scan you see knock and need to move up to a 3.5 pulley. Can't be sure until you try and scan.

Well how about a 3.5 puley, colder plugs, FWI, 180 T-stat and high octane fuel (93). Think that would give me a nice amount of boost with no KR? Granted I get hold of a scan tool to see if it is still knocking.

You should be running 91 octane MINIMUM at all times on a stock setup already.

You need access to a scantool YEAR-ROUND. You may not have KR in cool weather, and have tons in the heat of summer.

I've read several posts were people are getting more than 1 or 2 degrees of KR.

Take Gameover'* recent battle with KR as an example, 3.4 with the necessary supporting mods, yes he still gets it.

If you want to run the 3.4 without KR, make sure you have a FWI/CAI thats functional.

Make sure your fuel injectors are good to go and match eachother. (I think this is the reason for the KR on my 93, but not 100% sure yet)

Make sure your fuel filter is fresh, one heat range colder plugs, and you have a non-plugged cat (High Flow is best)

If you are not worried about your motor just throw a pulley on.

If you care about your motor invest in a scantool, dont even think about mods without one. Even if you get the aeroforce version your fine but get something.

Like willwren mentioned (not directly) but if your Knock Sensors (there are 2 IIRC) fail or something else goes wrong, that knock can mean BOOM to your motor.

Detonation is VERY bad if it actually happens and the PCM cannot pull timing.

My advice is to start with a 3.5, if you have 0* of KR, then step down a size. not vise versa.