Ping, surging, revving?

[trinogt]

Update:
Ping issue never solved. It's a real PITA these days. Temp gauge still doesn't work, and I still have poor heat. (just got cold enough here in Florida to test that lol)
Coolant overflow is dry, gonna add coolant again.
Going to fill up with 100% gas today, with no ethanol. 87 octane costs $2.88 a gallon, but I wanted to see what it would do.
I am only getting an average of 15 mpg on a truck that is supposed to get 19-24 mpg EPA!
Also, I ran the propane bottle around all intake areas, and no idle change.

 

[trinogt]

Replaced ill-fitting thermostat with Motorcraft today. Temp never reads over 180 degrees, using my scan tool, which uses the temp sensor for a reading.
No known leaks or water pump seepage.
1998 Mazda B2500

SAME PROBLEMS! Is it the water pump???

 

[Spitfire1975]

Maybe this has been already asked, but is the thermostat the correct temperature for your truck? I thought those trucks required 195 degree thermostats but 180 degrees was available. Does the 98 have a knock sensor? I was having problems with a bad one. You should be able to squeeze the upper radiator hose when it is warm and feel the coolant flowing through it, but I would think a bad water pump would lead to Overheating, not under heating.
Have you ever pulled codes?

As for the poor heat, have you checked the heater core inlet/outlet hoses to see if they are fully or partially clogged?

Where is your coolant going? Any white smoke from the tailpipe? If there are no leaks you need to find out where it is going.

 

[trinogt]

No codes, ever...
No smoke from exhaust. Temp is correct, 195, or whatever factory stat is.
Heater core may be partially clogged, as top hose does not get very warm like bottom hose, but should that affect engine driveability???

 

[kimcrwbr1]

not sure on your system but on a EEC-IV ford you need to reset the computer by disconnecting the battery for 15 mins to reset the values when ever you change a sensor. then the computer sets new values it might be running on old values just a thought GL

 

[Spitfire1975]

not sure on your system but on a EEC-IV ford you need to reset the computer by disconnecting the battery for 15 mins to reset the values when ever you change a sensor. then the computer sets new values it might be running on old values just a thought GL

+1

 

[trinogt]

not sure on your system but on a EEC-IV ford you need to reset the computer by disconnecting the battery for 15 mins to reset the values when ever you change a sensor. then the computer sets new values it might be running on old values just a thought GL

Funny you mention that... I just replaced the battery a month ago, so I guess that should have worked?
This thing has OBD II, btw.

 

[modelageek]

Replaced ill-fitting thermostat with Motorcraft today. Temp never reads over 180 degrees, using my scan tool, which uses the temp sensor for a reading.
No known leaks or water pump seepage.
1998 Mazda B2500

SAME PROBLEMS! Is it the water pump???

I would recommend this tstat, motorcraft f8cz-8575-aa. this is a 190/192 degree tstat. The gauge, sensor could be off. THE COOLANT MUST BE COMPLETELY FILLED and the air out of the system OR THE GAUGE/SENSOR WILL NOT WORK. these engines run cool but in florida with a 192 tastat the gauge should read warm and the upper rad house should open and get hot. if I was you first thing I would do is get the correct tstat in and then check that it is working by feeling the uppper hose as the engine warms up. it should be cold for a a while and then open up and get hot.

in these engines a 180 tstat will just give you less heat because the heater hoses are always on thus opening the tstat sooner and cooling off the engine/heater hoses.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Funny you mention that... I just replaced the battery a month ago, so I guess that should have worked?
This thing has OBD II, btw.

Was the battery dead and how long was it disconnected (15 min minimum) if you have the code reader and your still not getting any codes the computer could be bad or have a bad connection I would check all the connectors everywhere clean all the grounds physically take them apart and scrape/sand to good metal. with no codes your running on limp mode and probably not advancing that accounts for the ping. Get a good manual with a wiring diagram so you know what wire goes where and eliminate all this guessing and find out for sure what you are doing. 15 mpg is good for a motor in limp mode.

 

[modelageek]

Update:
Ping issue never solved. It's a real PITA these days. Temp gauge still doesn't work, and I still have poor heat. (just got cold enough here in Florida to test that lol)
Coolant overflow is dry, gonna add coolant again.
Going to fill up with 100% gas today, with no ethanol. 87 octane costs $2.88 a gallon, but I wanted to see what it would do.
I am only getting an average of 15 mpg on a truck that is supposed to get 19-24 mpg EPA!
Also, I ran the propane bottle around all intake areas, and no idle change.

I reread your first post and you said you checked for leaks with propane. But your coolant overflow was empty. IMHO you first should bring the maitance of the vehicle up. Clean iacv, maf, TB etc . Check all fluid levels, look for cracked hoses. Plugs and wires. Etc. Install the correct MC tstat. Also I would make sure the CEL comes on koeo. Check for codes if cel is working

 

[trinogt]

The thermostat I just put in is a YS4Z-8575-AA Motorcraft.
The top hose does get hot once the thermostat opens. Lower hose takes a while.
With the scan tool hooked up, I can watch the timing advance as I drive. CEL comes on with key-on, then goes out. I have cleaned everything related to MAF sensor, IAT sensor, etc. I switched to pure gasoline with no ethanol, and am getting pretty consistant 20 mpg mixed driving. It's been cool in FL for a few weeks, and it would sure be nice to have heat, but I am more concerned about ping.
The only other thing I have yet to do is replace/check exhaust side spark plugs. I plan to remove upper intake to do that. Looks like a pita to get to those plugs! Besides, gives me a chance to rule out an intake gasket leak after I replace it. I don't suspect a bad sensor connection since no codes, and I would rather sell this truck than go through all the wiring lol.
Any other ideas?

 

[jmmaxus]

spark plugs

the two hard to get to spark plugs on the driver side....you can get to them from under the vehicle....some people remove the oil filter but i was able to do it with it in place. you also need a pretty long extension.

 

[trinogt]

Did some more testing today. For the temp gauge which never rises up, I unplugged the sender connector, and shorted the lead to a ground. Gauge in truck pegged hot. So, that seems to be working. Next, I measured resistance of the newer sending unit at normal temp, and I get 11,000 ohms. (or at least what I think is normal temp, engine ran for a long time)
Do I need a new sending unit? I know it won't be related to the pinging problem, but I would at least like to read the temp from the factory gauge.

I am attempting to flush the cooling system with 'Peak' flush liquid. Gonna take 3 hours of driving before I can water-flush and refill the system with coolant. I also reversed the heater core hoses to change flow direction to help with the flushing.

I also noticed ignition timing at idle is 21 degrees. Revving to 2800 rpm I get 30 degrees advance. No idea what is 'normal' on these engines, or how you can even change it if you had to.

 

[modelageek]

Next, I measured resistance of the newer sending unit at normal temp, and I get 11,000 ohms. (or at least what I think is normal temp, engine ran for a long time)
Do I need a new sending unit?

I just measured the resistance on my trucks temp gauge sending unit. I measured at normal operating temp( i have a 192 F tstat)and I believe mine is functioning properly. I got 130 ohms

I do not know what the timing is suppose to be.

 

[modelageek]

Did some more testing today. For the temp gauge which never rises up, I unplugged the sender connector, and shorted the lead to a ground. Gauge in truck pegged hot. So, that seems to be working. Next, I measured resistance of the newer sending unit at normal temp, and I get 11,000 ohms. (or at least what I think is normal temp, engine ran for a long time)
Do I need a new sending unit? I know it won't be related to the pinging problem, but I would at least like to read the temp from the factory gauge.

ok I just spent 30 minutes reading this thread and then testing my sensors. I have the same engine. something is not right here. you are either testing one sensor and thinking it is the other sensor or you have the wiring hooked up to the wrong sensors.and/or you have a bad sneder/sensor. The original sender and sensor have little plastic bumps on them so that you can't mess them up. Some after market sensor and senders don't have the bumps and thus it is possible to connect the wrong wires to them. both "sensors" have 2 wires and look the same.

this is about what you are looking for. with the engine at normal operating temp you want

coolant temp sender( the one for the gauge) about 150 ohms
engine coolant temp sensor(the one for the pcm) you want about 3,000 ohms


the other confusing thing is that you measured a sensor at operating temp and it was 11,000 ohms. that number makes no sense even if it was the ect sensor(pcm) 11,000 ohms converts to about 122 degrees F. that is not normal operating temp.

Check both your "sensors" see if they have the bumps on them. if they have no bumps it is possible they are on backwards.

keep us posted on what happens.

*I forgot to add this link this will show the resistance readings for the ect http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=28