engine pings

[nctom]

I've got a 95 Ranger 2.3 that runs great with one exception.At highway speeds with the A/C on,it pings like craky unless I'm running premium gas.It has new plugs.No help.Is this just something I have to live with?Other than that,it's a great truck.Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[RangerSVT]

The pinging you are hearing is fuel knock, when the engine is under a heavy load and is running on low octane fuel, it will "knock" or ping...You will need to run a higher octane fuel...
SVT

 

[steve63]

sounds like you might have some carbon deposis in youre combustion chamberss/valves ,when these deposits get hot the cause the fuel/air charge to pre-ignite causing a ping,try some fuel injection cleaner or seafoam,to clean some of those deposits out,you shouldnt need premium fuel on the 2.3 to run.

 

[v8318cid]

I have driven several later model Fords of various makes and engine designs. All of them pinged. Even more interesting, Ford actually discourages using high-octane fuel because they say it leads to heavy carbon deposits. Not sure I understand why... Anyway, I have a 2010 2.3 liter with 5k miles on it that pings under a moderate load. Its not horrible, but apparently its normal. Heavy pinging or knocking could suggest a timing issue, but you'll have to use your judgement as to whether you consider it harsh or not.

 

[RangerSVT]

The heavy deposits from high octane fuel is coming from the ethanol mixture in the fuel...As far as I know, Southern States Co-op is the only fueling station (at least around northwestern TN/south-western KY) that has no ethanol mixed into the fuel...
SVT

 

[TastySloth]

I have a similar issue in my '86. I already tried retarding the base timing 2 degrees, it helped but it still pings at low rpm. What should the computer should be bumping the timing to at an idle?

 

[v8318cid]

Would love to find a no-ethanol fuel locally. No one here sells it without unless you want to buy from a no-name station whose reputation is less-than-stellar to begin with. Who knows what else you might be getting... Then again, big gov wants to up the ethanol content to 15% in the near future. That should really get the engines going eh?

 

[ZenXtra07]

I had similar problems, then changed the timing belt and water pump and it all disappeared. Until about 20k miles later.

 

[RangerSVT]

Timing will help, but you can only get so much...
SVT

 

[steve63]

theres a variety of things that can cause pinging-timing,carbon deposits,fuel,dont know what they do to the fuel here in calif.,but mine hasnt pinged in the 5 years ive owned it,and i just use 87 octane reg. unleaded.

 

[SMTGREG]

Pinging, knocking and detonation are all terms for a condition known as "pre-ignition". That means some of the gas and air mixture is igniting in the cylinder before it's supposed to. And when that extra flame front crashes into the normal flame front (created by the spark plug), you hear a noise, and that noise is pinging.

There are four major causes of pinging. The first three are related to excessive heat.

The first is severe engine overheating. If the engine is running too hot for any reason, the temperature in the cylinders can simply be too high. In that case, some of the mixture can ignite before the spark plug fires just from the intense heat.

The second major cause of pinging is carbon buildup inside the cylinders and on the pistons. When too much carbon collects, it can reduce the size of the cylinders (increasing the compression and temperature of the cylinder contents) and retain excessive heat itself.

The third cause of pinging is a malfunctioning exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system. The EGR is supposed to send non-combustible exhaust gas into the cylinders to lower the temperature of the mixture.

How does 800-degree exhaust gas LOWER the temperature in the cylinders? Because it doesn't burn, and it crowds out some of the oxygen that would have burned and made an even hotter flame. And if that EGR is not working properly, the cylinder temperature can be too hot and the engine can ping.

And finally, incorrect ignition timing can cause pinging. The ignition timing determines when the spark plugs fire. And if they're set to fire too early, the stuff will begin to burn too early.

 

[steve63]

well i got 2 out of the 3 right,lol

 

[v8318cid]

That is the most detailed explanation I've seen for pinging yet. Thanks. Does sort of bother me that after only 5k miles I've got pinging. Based upon your descriptions, sounds like carbon. Is there a good way to clean it out, especially with low mileage?

 

[steve63]

ive heard pretty good results with seafoam,sold at most auto parts stores,ive heard u can unhook you're vacum booster hose ,rev up the motor and the motor suck it in,but u might wanna second opinion on that,lol

 

[escort_gts]

the seafoam works but with alot of miles and carbon buildup it will take a couple trys. That's what I did, did it four times with two cans of seafoam and still runs like crap.