got a 16v engine that pings on 87 regular. i use 92 premium which stops the pinging. question is what is causing it ? do i need to get the valves adjusted ? normally i wouldn't care but with the price of gas going up, i'd like to switch to 87 octane like the owners manual says to use.

thanks 

Check your timing and plug heat range,
or rather just make sure the plugs are
the right ones for the trucklet

You might have some other oddity like
low fuel PSI and a lean condition, but
this would be a rare condition

Wild

It could also be a cloged cat keeping the heat in, but I think that it is the new fuel now that the chemicals are cheaper than the oil they make the fuel out of your going to see it get alot worse with them adding all kinds of things trying to make more money,I carry a 12 mm wrench next to my seat for my 16 valve when I tow my trailer I retard the timing a little bit and I also add a little bit of diesel fuel(you may not want to I'm trying diffrent stuff out!) to a fill up(thats whats in most of those octane boosters you can smell it.)just like a small bottles worth, you can add mineral spirits and some benzine, toluline(spell check) and some other stuff if you want to get creative but I can tell on mine that the fuel here sucks, I filled up in the next county over and got 10 mpg better, go figure.

got 10 mpg better, go figure.

That's because it was all down hill back to the house 

Wild

That would of been nice if it was down hill both ways to Idaho and back  mine started pinging real bad a couple of weeks ago, I even tried some seafoam in it but did not go crazy with it being that I have a high mileage engine but it could also be carbon build up.mine did not get much better with it but still trying diffrent things out on it. maybe nos would help? 

My first best guess is timing.

     If it's running great otherwise and there are no problems you haven't mentioned I would just tickle the distributor back a titch.
     
    Pinging.....aka pre ignition comes generally from poor fuel quality or too much ignition advance. You are trying to go to a lower grade fuel that is more prone to pre ignition so you ignition is saying too much...back me down a tickle.

Zag

just tickle the distributor back a titch.

   

Heck, I've been messing with that 12mm
bolt all of these years, I'm just going to
tickle that Dizzy now. Will any feather do
or have you found one that works best

 
Wild

Will any feather do
or have you found one that works best

You know, I have friends that SWEAR by Ostritch feathers, but in my personal experience, I believe that the wingtip feather of a Common House Sparrow, caught during the full moon, closest to the Spring Equinox works amazingly well.  Too bad it's almost 7 months to the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere, but only ONE month until the Spring Equinox in the southern hemisphere, so mayhap some of our members in Oz can help you out?

Just for those of us not up to speed on this, which way would I move the distributor to back it down a tickle? The Goblin does this as well...

Use a feather from a common house Teradactyl, perfferably 15'-20' span....

     Line it up real carefully and beat the dizzy till it breaks off or smartens up.

Back to reality.....IMHO
     Loosen it so it just moves and retard it a little (1/16" +/-), if I remember right thats clockwise (8v) counter clockwise (16v). If you don't get it on the first pass retard it a little more.

Zag

Quote from: wildgoody on August 26, 2005, 08:11:39 AM

Will any feather do
or have you found one that works best

You know, I have friends that SWEAR by Ostritch feathers, but in my personal experience, I believe that the wingtip feather of a Common House Sparrow, caught during the full moon, closest to the Spring Equinox works amazingly well.  Too bad it's almost 7 months to the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere, but only ONE month until the Spring Equinox in the southern hemisphere, so mayhap some of our members in Oz can help you out?

I'll see what I can do 

How about this feather? You could leave it permanently mounted around the distributor for ease of adjustment. 

Back to the pinging. Another cause can be overheating. I've had this happen to me on hot days driving around town after I fitted the winch and a shield underneath. It was not letting enough cool air to flow so the temp increased and pinging started. Removed the sheild and it went away. I've been thinking about venting the hood as it can get pretty hot down here in the Summer.

With the Goblin, the 33" Swampers seem to be the root cause because when I was running around on stockers, I could use 87 octane without any hint of ping. Once I put the Swampers back on, I had to go back to super to get rid of it... My g/f's lifted Explorer pings on 87 as well, but runs perfect on super. It's running 32's... I figure it probably needs a tuneup, fresh plugs and wires and such. Goblin could probably use that as well, once I stop throwing money at the brakes LOL!

Also sucking hot air from an under hood
cone filter could cause ping as well