Vulcan heads redone ..now this.

[BamaPanda]

The head gasket on one side went bad on my '98 3.0 Ranger. Had the mechanic pull the heads, and I took them to be rebuilt.

All done ...new valve seats on many of the valves. Heads replaced. Runs good ...except...fairly extreme pinging under load.

Would the valves being set deeper in the head contribute even more to the pinging issue that Vulcan 3.0 motors already struggle with?

When the mechanic replaced heads, he commented that he thought the valves had been set in a bit deep.

Thanks

 

[RonD]

No, but maybe

Valve seats do two things, they allow valve to seal the combustion chamber of course, but they also "cool" the valve.
The angle of valve and seat are made to create the most contact, this helps seal and transfer heat.

Intake valve gets benefit of cooler air/fuel flowing in to help cool it, exhaust valve just has the valve seat contact.

Exhaust valves being recessed slightly shouldn't cause an issue as far as compression if stems were also ground so valve train opening and closing stayed correct.
And if seats and valves were ground for maximum contact area, valve job.

If pinging only happens after engine is fully warmed up then yes it could be a few exhaust valves are getting too hot and igniting fuel mix early.

If pinging happens cold or warm then most likely a fuel mix issue, lean mix from air leak.
Could also be spark issue, delayed spark

If you have an EGR system then it also needs to be working well or engine will get pingy.
EGR systems helps cool cylinders, so prevents pinging on regular gas, 87 octane