a little pinging when I accelerate after

[wusthof]

I let go of the clutch into the next gear. I'm not bogging her and it's happens with moderate throttle. I have a small CAI (K&N style) and axleback....thats it (It happened b4 the CAI as well). I don't have a tuner so I haven't been messing around with the tune and it happens all the same with any octane of fuel I run. Needless to say, it's very disconcerting. Should I take it to the dealer and get em' to check it out (put on their scanner)? Has this happened to anyone else? Any opinions would be great guys! TIA

 

[AvalancheSVT]

i would think that for a newer car it'd go into limp mode. take it to the shop!

 

[wusthof]

I'd also further say that it only pings/detonates (@ least that's what I hear) for about a second then goes away and when she's warm/norm operating temp - man, I don't have the cash right now to grease a dealers' rates. Any1 else?

 

[wusthof]

$hit! no one else

 

[TheVat]

Im not engine expert but pinging means the engine is running lean. My 01GT did that. I was told lean is when there is too much air going in the engine not enough fuel. When happens you get piston slap which means the piston violently shakes within its cylinder. Bad news. I also had an 05 montego that did what you describe at moderate and WOT. The ford techs told me that it was normal or acceptable if it was only momentary not constant. I traded both those cars in. I understand air temp, rpm, fuel delivery all play a factor in smooth power delivery but a car should never ping. If you take it to the dealer, they may hook some device up to you car and try to electronically record the ping to see if it is within specs. I would take it in. If they give you a NPF (no problem found) at least its documented in case of a serious problem down the road.

 

[bradleyem]

I hate to say it but it's probably the CAI that's the culprit. I have seen several people try to use "no tune required" CAIs with very poor results. EVERY ONE of them has resulted in detonation (at best) to going into limp home mode. The only one that I've seen work without a tune is a K&N drop in filter, which uses the stock airbox and tube, so the air flow is really not changed by much, and is still restricted by the diameter of the stock air tube. It would be easy enough to verify by reinstalling the stock air box. The other problem with using off brand CAIs is that when you DO get a tuner, its harder to get a tune written for the off brand CAI if the tuner has no experience with that particular one, so the result is that the tune is written to be extremely conservative, or you have to do a custom dyno tune to get the most out of the CAI.

 

[Sparty92]

I have a K&N drop-in replacement filter.

Sometimes at higher RPMs I can hear a bit of "spark knock" or ping, I guess. It can also be heard sometimes when engaging into the next gear as I let off the clutch.

I took it to the dealer and the dorky service SUPERVISOR said this was normal, and that it can't be heard outside the car (or some crap like that). Well, if I'm driving alongside another car or wall, I can hear bounce back.

I might have my stock air filter laying around, maybe I'll toss that puppy back inside and see if the problem goes away.

I plan on getting a CAI/Tune next year anyway...

 

[billfisher]

make sure you clear the PCM's fuel trims by removing the negative battery cable for a while. that should help.

 

[bradleyem]

I have a K&N drop-in replacement filter.

Sometimes at higher RPMs I can hear a bit of "spark knock" or ping, I guess. It can also be heard sometimes when engaging into the next gear as I let off the clutch.

I took it to the dealer and the dorky service SUPERVISOR said this was normal, and that it can't be heard outside the car (or some crap like that). Well, if I'm driving alongside another car or wall, I can hear bounce back.

I might have my stock air filter laying around, maybe I'll toss that puppy back inside and see if the problem goes away.

I plan on getting a CAI/Tune next year anyway...

What kind of gas are you running? Running high octane gas on a bone stock car really has no advantage at all, since you need a tune to advance timing and adjust fuel trims to make more power. The higher octane just allows you to make those adjustments without creating knock. BUT if the K&N filter increases airflow enough to create knock, then using a higher octane gas may help.

make sure you clear the PCM's fuel trims by removing the negative battery cable for a while. that should help.

x2 always a good idea

 

[The Fang]

No tune? yip listen to the guys above that say your prob is probableee with a un tuned add on.

 

[Sparty92]

What kind of gas are you running? Running high octane gas on a bone stock car really has no advantage at all, since you need a tune to advance timing and adjust fuel trims to make more power. The higher octane just allows you to make those adjustments without creating knock. BUT if the K&N filter increases airflow enough to create knock, then using a higher octane gas may help.

I was running 89 octane because I was getting some knock at higher RPMs and sometimes between shifts. I didn't up the octane for power, just hoping the knock would go away (sometimes it did).

I dug out my original OEM filter that had very (very!) low miles on it and put it back in. The K&N was very dirty and I don't feel like cleaning it, so I'm running the stock filter until spring. I *think* my knock problem has gone away. I can shift between gears and even if I slightly drag the clutch on engagement, the knock I would mostly hear before (for 1.2 seconds) is now gone.

Also gone is the snappier throttle response, but MPGs seem to be up by 1 or 1.5 average on tank overall, amazingly.

My plan is to get my spark plugs done in the spring (59K on the clock now), then get a CAI and Brenspeed tune(s)...and some 4.10 gears.

I think the car will pretty much change my life at that point.