Mine pings a little with shell gas. That is with the 91 tune and 89 in the tank. After switching it back to the 89 tune I thought I heard it a little but I'm not sure.

I just put the hughes plate on my truck a few months ago so I know my gasket is good.

 

Ethanol will also make you ping more than normal. I used to run Shell 92 all the time, no pinging, and then they decided to put 10% ethanol in it at 95% of the stations around here, and it started pinging during acceleration at speeds above 50-60 mph.

I switched to BP, no pinging issues until I went to the SCT. Now he's got me cranked up using a 93 tune with 92 gas, so I get a tiny ping every once in a while going up a hill in OD at 65+ mph.

 

nah superchips is good, just make sure you run the colder plugs and a 180 t-stat and it shouldnt ping , mine doesnt ping

 

Lastrights, what plug do you recommend for a 180* and SCT?

 

I actually am planning on doing my timing chain this week sometime just for the hell of it, along with my thermostat gasket since it is leaking some.

I put some fuel injector cleaner through the gas tank today, and I tried turning superchips off, and it doesn't seem to ping at all with it off, so I'm thinking it's just the tuner? Maybe need a little higher octane?

If I put a cooler (180*) thermostat in it when I do the gasket and that, will it harm anything (heat in the winter?)

 

Your programmer is advancing the timing which is pushing you past the point where your engine begins to ping. My Hypertech did the same thing. You asked about going to the 91 tune... my suggestion is to review the dyno results for the tuner and compare both tunes to see where each tune gives the most HP and torque; then compare that against your goals and driving style.

Hypertech 87 tune gives more HP and torque than the 91 tune in the 0-3,000 rpm range... this is what I need for daily driving and towing. Hypertech's 91 tune puts more HP and torge in the upper RPM range for performance driving. I suspect SCT will be similar or the same.

As for pinging, my 87 tune pinged like a sob under load because of the advance... I run 89 octane and the problem goes away. You may need to bite the bullet.

If your plenum is bad and you get it fixed, you may want to test 87 gas to see if you can get away 87 gas and no ping. I suspect you will find that the timing advance is the issue and not the plenum.

I have tested my plenum and it is fine at 117k. I am the original owner so I know it was never changed. I know the tuner is the cause because when I untune the system the ping goes away.

 

My truck has almost 300k miles. Ive replaced the plenum 2 different times. Still seems that it still has an issue with the VAC... Vac gauge tested the plenum today and ready 0. Which means the gasket is doing its job. I still do see the loss of oil but it is not near as bad... Would another VAC leak create this small loss of oil or could it just be the rings are worn? I do hear a high pitch whistle when the engine is running. B12 chem tool will find that for me tho...

Anyone have a thought on this oil consumption?

 

I've decided to pass on the plenum for now. I can't justify spending the money on that now when there are other things it could be used for. I returned it, and after a little bit of hassle from Hughes, I got my money back..Not sure if I would buy from them again :\

When the plenum finally is definitely blown (I'm actually losing oil, or the pinging gets significantly worse), I'll be ready to replace it. Until then, It's just fine. So it goes to show 2 things. 1) Not every single plenum in every single one of our trucks is bad as fast as everyone likes to say. and 2) Never assume things.

How much oil are you losing? 1/2 quart a week? 1 quart? 2?

 

Its about a quart every two weeks....

 

theres also the very likely event that a PO repaired it already..... mines got 140k on it and doesnt burn any oil...I looked down the plenum and it looked ok to me....of course my truck is far from stock so who knows...