QuestionWe have a pinging problem after the vehicle warms up. It just got a new timing belt and tensioner. As well as a knock sensor and a EGR selonoid. It has 106,000 miles on it.
Thanks Mitch
AnswerHi, Mitch. I'm sorry it's been so long for you to receive an answer. It appears that a previous expert left and the questions he didn't answer were simply dumped into the system. I didn't check here very frequently because the questions all appeared to be at least six months old. If you are still having the issue and need more information than I've provided, please follow-up with me.
Pinging typically occurs due to overadvanced ignition timing or excessive combustion chamber temperatures. Your vehicle is equipped with a knock sensor, which has the function of detecting spark knock so the engine control module can adjust ignition timing accordingly. So, the first thing to check is whether the knock sensor is operating properly. If it's not properly detecting spark knock, then your ignition timing may be overadvanced.
Combustion chamber temperature can be adversely affected by a malfunctioning EGR system, too lean a mixture, carbon buildup (effectively increasing compression) or engine temperature higher than normal operating temperature. So all these things could be contributing as well.
A step you can take to control engine knock is to use a higher octane gasoline. By definition, octane is the ability of gasoline to resist spark knock. So higher octane gasolines should result in less pinging.
