EGR, DPFE, and pinging!

[trinogt]

Thought I would start a new thread and abandon the old for lack of replies...

I still have ping. Just replaced EGR solenoid. EGR works when I pull vacuum on it, so thinking DPFE might be bad? Don't want to replace both EGR and DPFE, so if anyone has an idea what I should take a chance on first?

 

[trinogt]

Premium Gas for 4 cylinder truck?

I finally found a solution. I put a tank of premium octane pump gas in. No more ping! Truck runs its best in the time i've owned it, over a year. Fuel economy has also picked up. Anyone else have to use premium gas in their 4 cylinder trucks?

 

[cmikee]

I had this problem a long time ago. I had some serious pinging going on. I ran some cleaners through to get rid of the carbon build up on the pistons and I bought the correct heat range plugs from Ford. Then I could run 87 octane with no problems.

I think the theory is that if carbon builds up on the pistons then it will heat up and "glow" then it will detonate before the plugs get's a chance to. Of course I think the major thing that fixed it was the plugs.

 

[trinogt]

I did the whole SeaFoam thing on the engine, and only the exhaust side spark plugs. I need to do the intake side plugs now, but looks much more difficult to get at them. Gonna need some universals, for sure!
Will report when I get to them. Hopefully Wednesday.

 

[tbirdsps]

I'm certain that if either the EGR or DPFE were bad you'd get a check engine light. My 92 pinged one day years ago when I left off the oil filler cap. I have never had any pinging.

 

[Earl43P]

A "bad" DPFE can take a while to throw its code, especially if you drive short trips.

There are some excellent EGR troubleshooting steps over here: http://www.tomco-inc.com/techinfo.aspx

Running premium fuel is simply masking the problem.

 

[bduke23]

The pinging stopped maybe because higher octance gas is more resitant to pre ignition? I think I read somewhere something about octane tuning, basically you use higher octane gas and on some vehicles can advance the timing a few degrees above whats recommended. So perhaps your timing was a little bit advanced, and the higher octane gas matched the timing? Better fuel economy I remember was one of the benefits of octane tuning, as well as a slight increase in power. Just a thought.

 

[modelageek]

I used Bosch DP plugs( I know slap me) about a year ago. I alos did a couple of sefoam treatments after that. the Bosch plugs got holes in the tips of them and the truck misfired.

Do the seafoam treatment before you replace plugs and or o2 sensors. ONLY USE AUTOLITE OR mc PLUGS AND WIRES. I have changed my plugs twice with the intake on. it is really not to bad as long as you have the oem style wires. I changed the driver side #3 and #4 with just a few extensions.