Bye Bye Valve Ping!

[nitrofan1]

With 185,000 miles on it the old 4.0 was getting pretty noisy under acceleration, I'm sure just about everyone has heard it. Well, a very experienced mechanic told me to OHM the coil to see if it was in spec. It was. I tried every little trick to get it to stop short of cam / lifter change. Well he said to change the coil anyway. Got an Accel 140035, put it in and no more ping! Dogged the snot out of it and it wouldn't ping at all.

Don't know if this has been covered ( I'm sure it has ) but I've never ran across a thread on it. If anyone else has solved this problem the same way let me know.

 

[94STXRanger]

Do you mean the ping that is caused by the carbon build up on 4.0s? Ford has a TSB on it and it basically says do a SeaFoam cleanse to it. Did it ping and rattle when you acc. or go up hill? Because thats what mine does and i would buy a coil to stop the rappage on my piston.

 

[AllanD]

Ford also says to romp the shit out of your 4.0 a couple times a week...

For me no problem I just drive to Hazelton ONCE

It gets all the "romping" it needs in that first 3min climb up to
the top of broad mountain to get from Nesquehoning to Weatherly on PA93.

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[94STXRanger]

Are you serious? The more i dig into it just trying to climb highway hills the worse it sounds. What is that supposed to do? clear the carbon build up somehow?

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Yeah, "romping" (that is scientific, mind you) on it will help it clear out all that carbon build-up... I just sea-foamed my truck, and my mom's car, you wouldn't believe how much hers smoked, and mine made a little blue puff when I restarted it... Make sure you take it up to at least 4k once a day... Mine sees 4k several times a day (that's just how I drive)... 94STXRanger, I'm sure AllanD is talking about winding it up going up the hill... If you keep it in the same gear and lug the engine going up the hill it will ping more (combustion chamber gets hotter, pre-ignites more)... When you go up a hill, downshift, let the transmission do the work...

 

[Stranger ranger]

i was always under the impression that it was due to a dirty MAF or leaky intake gasket.

 

[AllanD]

Ford suggests taking it to 4000rpm WOT atleast ONCE daily.

It doesn't reliably remove carbon but it prevents more from building up

My engine doesn't ping at all...

Then again on every engine I've ever owned you can remove the heads
and remove a thin layer of black carbon off the piston crowns
(With a rag wet with carb cleaner) and see bright shiny aluminum...

AD

 

[Otto]

I gotta try this seafoam stuff, sounds like a miracle worker!

Also taking the the truck on a 20-30 mile hike on the freeway is good for the cat. Emissions build up when the cat's cold and doesn't fully operate until its red hot hot(after about 6 or 7 miles). That'll free up the cat pretty well if you're an around town driver.

 

[Otto]

Question for OP:

How exactly does replacing the coil help with valve ping??

 

[nitrofan1]

Well, first off, I do use seafoam every 6 months via the booster vacuum hose. My engine with 185,000 miles had the original OEM coil on it. Even though it OHM out ok I asked some mechanics about it. Mind you I have been in the parts business for 24 years. My thought was what the hell, give it a try. The Accel coil is 20% higher voltage over OEM. now that's 20% over a new OEM, not my 15 year old unit. Also a telling sign was the truck was taking longer to start after turning the key even though I did a major tune up last fall. Right after I installed it took it out to I-75 and romped on it. Needless to say zero ping. I figured the ping was detonation issues from lack of voltage to the plugs. I'm running MSD wires, NGK Irridiums. Seafoam is the Mac daddy for carbon removal but it wasn't enough.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

I like the wire brush in a drill method of carbon removal better. But you have to have the heads off to do that.

 

[94STXRanger]

The fact that it takes longer to start it up doesnt sound much like the coil. A lot of times your pump will bleed off after pressurizing and it will take a few seconds longer for it to build PSI. Just a possibility.

 

[RyanD2]

I gotta try this seafoam stuff, sounds like a miracle worker!

Maybe it's just me but when i used Seafoam it followed with troubles. Followed what the parts guys said, sucked it in through the brake booster line, was smoking out the exhaust, drove it around after. About 10 min into the drive it started doggin real bad. Turns out it dumped all that carbon build up into one of my cylinders and I was only running on 5 not 6. That wasn't a fun trip to the shop, would have worked on it myself but where i live they bitch about that. Just my experience.

 

[94STXRanger]

How much did it cost to clean it up? And how did it run after?

 

[Otto]

So I tried the seafoam today...I was so exited lol

Wasn't too impressed though

Slurped up about a little under a cup on the first go, put the pcv back on, engine pooped. Started up about 10 minutes later, got nothin. Tried again with same amount, after drivin around a bit. Let sit for about 15 minutes and got a little smoke but not a whole lot. Put some in the gas tank and a few drops in the crank case.

Any noticable effects would be that of premium octane fuel from the gas station. Not worth the ten bucks. Engine feels slightly less stable now.