"Clicking" on WOT shifts with an auto? Help! :(

[Red03Mustang]

Hey guys. I have been hearing a clicking sound when my car shifts from 2nd to 3rd at WOT. It happens right when it shifts, such as right before the RPM's drop and it finishes going into 3rd.

It has this accelerating click. It's like "click, click, click click clickclickclick!" But it does all that in about 1 second. I guess it's a click, and not a grind. I don't really know how else to say it other than a "click" sound. It sounds like something is loose, and finally coming together or something.

From the driver's seat, it sounds like the noise is coming from the middle of the car, slightly in front of me.

Any clues about what this is??? TIA.

 

[Red03Mustang]

No one had the "clicking" sound before, huh?

 

[tarch]

sounds like detonation

try putting better gas in

 

[Red35th]

Why would it ping only when it shifts though?

Mine used to make a slight whine when it shifted prior to the shift kit and my other mods.

Mabye someone else can chime in.

 

[mcmmotorsports]

Maybe a bad torque converter?

 

[propellerhead]

Might be pinging. With that Diablo Predator, I'm assuming you are running 91+ octane fuel already. Try back off your timing a bit.

 

[tarch]

mine only pinged when it shifted as well

 

[Red03Mustang]

Pinging, or something else?

I'm not sure that it is detonation. When I install the diablo tunes, I only use the "Factory HP" tune. That one is not supposed to alter torque or HP #'s. All I do is adjust my shift firmness, take off traction control, and set the torque upshift modulation to 100%. The way I take that, it means that it doesn't modify the stock air/fuel mixture or spark timing, which means I shouldn't have to run on higher than regular gas. I could be wrong though! If anyone knows more about this than I do, by all means let me know. I sure don't want to hurt my car.

The only mods I have on my car are a MAC catback, C&L Trueflow pipe, and the diablo factory HP tune. I am planning on new spark plugs and a high-flow catted X pipe.

Yeah, it's weird to me. I've never noticed it in stock form before. I'm thinking I might just reset the car to the factory defaults in the predator tomorrow, which will un-mate it from the unit, and then run it and see if it does the same thing. The only time I hear this "clicking" is right before it shifts! It's like a click, or a tick, or something right at the peak of the RPM's from a 2nd to 3rd WOT gear shift. I don't recall hearing it at all in a 1st to 2nd WOT shift.

Any other ideas? Is it possible that I'm hearing pinging? I have never heard a car ping before, so I wouldn't know what it sounds like. I've heard people say I should hear it when the car is under stress, or going up a hill, or something like that. So to me, this seems like it isn't that if I only hear it right at the shift point of 2nd to 3rd. More ideas of what the problem could be would be extremely helpful though!

 

[mcmmotorsports]

Diablo Factory Tune requires 91-93 octane

 

[mustangbru8]

same thing happaned to me once on a 1-2 shift when my gas was a little old. Put fresh gas in and never heard it again.

 

[Red03Mustang]

My gas has been old for the past 2 weeks then. I don't think that's it since I fill up about every 3-4 days.

I'll try higher octane gas and let you guys know what happens.

BTW, I restored the factory settings from the diablo, and it still makes this sound.

 

[YtnGT]

Like others have said the sound is likley pre-detonation (spark knock). If I remember you were turning off the torque modulation in the Predator. Doing that will allow the computer to run more timing during a shift (like 5 speeds). It is great for leaving rubber 1-2 but puts a load on the engine so if it is on the verge of knocking already the hard shift can cause it briefly.

Even stock 87 octane (during the summer) would cause knock right when I got on it then clear up. I decided to try awsf-22 sparkplugs and the knock cleared right up with 87 octane. Since I have been playing with the predator I have not experienced any detonation. I attribute this to the one step cooler copper spark plugs. You might want to give them a try if raising the octane is not an option (cost & availibility).

Not likley (at all) but the 2-3 accumulator hitting the end of travel sometimes can produce a single click.

 

[Red35th]

The EEC V pulls timing during the shift?

I heard this is what the 05 is going to do but I have never heard of 96-04 cars CPUs doing it.

Next time I datalog I'll watch the total timing number a little more closely.

 

[Red03Mustang]

I'll try higher octane and see what happens.

Thanks for the input guys. It's really helpful to hear what everyone has to say.

What I'll do is see if a higher octane gas fixes the problem. If so, then that is probably what it is. Like I said, I reset the car to stock so that the predator isn't even mated to it anymore, and it still does the 'clicking' thing.

Honestly, it sounds like some sort of synchronization is out of whack, or something, with the 2 to 3 shift... like something is just slightly off enough to make the car sound off with these "clicks". I just hope it's the octane gas, and nothing else. It is just strange that it would do that after I reset the car to factory - especially since it never did that before.

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks!

 

[Red03Mustang]

It appears to have been pre-ping. I put 93 gas in, and it's been great ever since. I'm going to try 89 next.

Thanks for all your help guys!