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law

New Member
Aug 6, 2003
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I have a big problem I need help. I have a 95 GT with a little over 90,000 and auto. It pings very bad...talking like at 1500rpm's and over. The work that was done before it was pinging that bad was I had a friend who is a mechanic put in a new dizzy (car would die randomly & random no starts), new plugs and wires, and PVC and he cleaned the MAF, knocked the timing to 8*, and checked the fuel pressure which he said was okay. Before I had this work done it would ping at 3000rpm's and over. As of now it only pings at 1500rpm's when it reaches operating temp. Currently the CEL is not coming on, but I ran codes and I got 211 which failure of the PIP, which makes no sense since I just had a new dizzy put in. Also at start up, I can smell a lot of fuel or it is running rich. It does shake slightly at idle, nothing major but noticeable. Car has a new ignition coil, ignition control module, dizzy, plugs and wires, PVC, cleaned the MAF, cleaned IAC, 8* timing, fuel pressure okay according to friend, cap and rotor is still good, fuel filter is 1 1/2-2 yrs old, IAT or ACT less than a year old, ECT less than a year old, just did a coolant flush 2 months ago, new TPS sensor. Any ideas? I just paid this off in November and I would hate to sell it...just very frustrated.
 
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Have you checked your balancer? If it's the stock one, it's about time for it to start going out. Make sure the rubber isolator isn't coming out of it.

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The balancer has the timing marks on it for when you're setting base timing. When that rubber starts to go, the outer ring (with the marks) can spin loose from the inner ring, causing the marks to be way off.

THIS CAN DETROY YOUR MOTOR!!! CHECK IT QUICKLY!!
 
Did you check static FP or FP under load?
So it pings at 1500 RPM and not much under or over that RPM? Does it matter what gear the trans is in? Does it not do it if you are accelerating harder (since the puter divvies up trim based upon load, it helps to diagnose things)?

Good luck.
 
Not sure what my friend checked as it pertains to the fuel pressure. No it pings at anything over 1500 rpm's. I have tried it just in the drive gear. Should I try it in another gear, would that tell me anything or narrow the problem done?
 
law said:
Not sure what my friend checked as it pertains to the fuel pressure. No it pings at anything over 1500 rpm's. I have tried it just in the drive gear. Should I try it in another gear, would that tell me anything or narrow the problem done?
Ok gotcha. No, you dont need to manually shift or do further testing. I just was curious if it pinged in all the gears (as you leave from a stop and accelerate to like 50 MPH, for example). The mechanical advantage diminishes with each gear change, so you could ping in OD at 1500 RPM, but might not in 1st and second gear. And part throttle stoichiometry tends to be kinda lean, so pushing further into the pedal can sometimes help (sometimes not. Depends upon what is failing).

I would really want to check fuel pressure under load. It might be falling on its face. That is, assuming the balancer has not spun (otherwise who knows what the timing is really set at. That obviously can do it, as everyone said).

If you do a quick search in here, you will find more info than you ever wanted about the HB and how to R/R it. It is not hard.

Good luck!
 
R/R = removal and reinstallation. Or what you do after completing the task, Rest and relaxation. :D

If it pinged even worse under load, I might infer that it is a fuel-demand issue (you are not supplying adequate fuel). If the pinging is better (not as bad) under load, that suggests to me that it is a stock tune issue, which is exacerbated by artificially high compression, a whacky sensor, etc.

This is nothing real scientific - just my take on how I see things.

Good luck!
 
law said:
R/R it? What do you mean by that?

r/r = remove/reinstall, or sometimes written as r/i, where I=install.

The best way to check your fuel pressure is to get the gauge and adapter from summit racing. Then you permenantly mount it in place of the schrader valve on the fuel rails and you always know.

The fuel pressure gauge at auto zone may not work. I think the one at harbor freight works. It needs to fit the 1/8 NPT schrader valve on your fuel rails. If the tester doesn't accomadate that fitting, make an adapter at Home depot.

Do you know where your crankshaft is? The harmonic balancer bolts to the crankshaft. It's behind the very bottom pulley.

Now here are some VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONs. Does the car only ping when it's cold, or warm, or both? Does it ping at part throttle acceleration only, WOT (wide open throttle, pedal literally to the floor), or both? Part throttle & warm only, part throttle and cold only, WOT and warm only, WOT and cold only???

If you can't answer my questions, you need to test your car to find out. There are seperate sensors that are used for your engines' operations, and I need to isolate the problem. Don't continue asking any more questions until you can answer mine, please. It will help us a lot, and yourself in the end.
Scott
 
No I do not know where the crankshaft is. I assume I have to get under the car right? The car pings when hot not cold. Pings part throttle and WOT. It pings at part throttle and when its warm. Pings WOT when it is warm. The only thing I am not sure is if it pings at WOT when it is cold. I will have to test that tomorrow. Thanks for all the input.
 
I was gonna say EGR since you said it does it when warm, but you mentioned it does it at WOT too, and EGR is shut off at WOT, so it's probably not that.

EDIT: Oh yea, you can see the balancer from the top of the car, although you'll need to crawl under to R/R it.
 
As always ..... don't forget to pull codes. That may reveal something diagnostically vital.

I just gave up on the pinging & started running mid-grade fuel. But mine wasn't that bad. You may or may not have a serious problem .... so check things out. Answer ALL of Scott's questions ..... as I'm sure he knows alot more about it than I would.

Let me try to explain the HB. When looking down into the engine bay .... between the radiator & engine .... look for the BOTTOM pulley on the engine (center). That is the crank pulley. The balancer is between that pulley & the crankshaft (which runs through your engine & you will not be able to see). You will probably have to look at the balancer from under the car to properly inspect it.