QuestionHello Robbie,
Thanks for your help. I'll have to check the Olds spark plug brand out tonight, and also see if they are oily/crusty and that their gaps are correct. Interesting that it's Delco brand that works best. Here's what I noticed while driving the Olds today, after the engine was thoroughly warmed up. When climbing the hill where I live, the car engine doesn't ping in first gear while climbing the steepest grade (maybe 45 degree angle hill). When it was closer to level driving the car shifted into second and third gear fine, with no pinging. I then accelerated pretty rapidly and didn't hear pinging. Then I had to slow down for the next 10 degree grade, and at 15mph the engine downshifted into second smoothly, but the pinging started. The pinging continued the last .4 miles up the various grades in second gear at 15 mph. When I accelerated in second gear the pinging would get worse. Hope this lengthy description helps.
When driving out on the freeway, and/or near level ground there was no pinging. I'm replacing the spark wires tonight and will test drive the car on Monday to see if that improves performance. I forgot about the grounding cable and seeing if one is connected between the block and the chassis. My father says he has one on the car, but we'll check tonight and see if it's corroded or not. Your further help is greatly appreciated.
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Followup To
Question -
Hello,
I have a '66 Olds Delta 88, 425ci/300hp engine, 2-barrel. Before I had some work done on the car there was no pinging. I had the single exhaust pipe replaced, from a 2-1/4" to 2-1/2" with new muffler. Then I brought the Olds to get the timing corrected, as recommended by a diagnostic center. The mechanic said he adjusted the timing from zero top dead center, to 8 degrees before top dead center. Now the engine on a steep hill will start to ping lightly. The mechanic claims it's the regular grade gas (which is recommended in the owners manual). Is the timing too far advanced, or is it something else? I'm replacing the spark plug wires as recommended from a mechanic a year ago. This was my fathers car and I'm restoring it to a tuned car. Thanks.
Answer -
With my knowledge and a bit of research from the garage, we were able to come up with 2 possible solutions. 1) You can make sure that you are simply using a sprk plug designed for your car. In a '66, you should definitely be using DELCO spark plugs, you can use whatever wires you like though. 2) I don't believe that regular grade gas could be the culprit, your engine was designed for regular. I do believe however, that your timing may possible be a bit to sophisticated for an engine built in simpler times. However, I would rather see you try less drastic changes. My second solution is, try to listen to the engine very very carefully, does the engine ONLY ping when going up hill? If this is the case, we have seen this before and it can actually be your transmission. Sometimes the throttle valve will stick and not let a vehicle upshift as it should and the engine will try to work too hard in a higher gear than recommended.
If, by some chance, it is also pinging when you rev it or when you are driving on a flat surface...The only logical solution is to give the car a complete tune-up, like you are doing...plugs, wires, distributor, cap, etc. And make sure your ground connection is not corroded as well, this has been linked to engine knocking and pinging.
If you need more from me, or if these solutions stil fail, please send me a line again, and I'll get ahold of the Service manager and we'll disguss it and get back to you.
I know this is a lot of info...best of luck to you.
AnswerWell Finn, I really appreciate the follow up, It really does sound like the transmission now, I believe ot's not upshifting when it's supposed to, 15 mph, is touchy, it could go either way 1st or 2nd. Try those plugs and check the ground wire/connection and let me know, I'm interested to see the outcome.
Thanks
