now that i have the money for tires, of course something problematic needs to come up. ive got a valve ping in the 5.2 and its seems to be getting louder and more consistent. it is at its loudest in overdrive cruisin at about 1100 - 1300rpm at about 45 mph. it gets really bad if i go up a hill or something and it doesnt down shift. im runnin 87 octane and i shouldnt need to go any higher, all shes got is an air filter and exhaust. before i drop it off somewhere and drop a buck or two on it what to yall think, possibly something i can fix. ive got a pretty good idea on everything but i am by no means an expert. still learning and doing everything i can myself. the highschool budget is quite low so if i can keep her out of the shop i will.

preciate the help
- eric

 

Talked to a guy that turned me on to this site, and he changed his rocker arms. He said the factory ones had serious variation in their ratio. Not sure that this could be the problem, but he changed his to the early Viper R/T versions with I think he said a 1.6 ratio. Less than a hunded bucks. He said it was one of the best improvements he made to his engine prior to the supercharger. Like a cam change by pulling the valve covers.

 

ill look into it

 

Try going to 89 octane.
Pinging usually results because of the timing being advanced.A streched timing chain can cause this.
You may want to invest in a tune-up, if you have not already tried it. Burnt or corroded plugs can also cause a ping.

 

the rating fuel gets.. like 87 octane or 93 octane is for 2 purposes.. one for how "clean" (and i use this term loosly) the fuel is refined and also the higher the rating it has. (87,89,93) is in relation to resistance to uncontrolled combustion, such as detonating due to compression. (spark nock, vavle ping,).. think of it this way... deisel... doesnt even rate an octane number.. it gets a Cetane number.. like #1 or #2 diesel...(#2 Diesel fuel is commonly used in large trucks, tractors etc.. diesel fuel is commonly called Kerosene or home heating oil. It burns easier and cleaner than #2 diesel... also known as JP5 or JP8..jetfuel... yea jetfuel is just diesel with a die and thinner) one is thinner then the other.. ever try to light deisel fuel with a match and get bored doing it? b.c it doesnt react very well to open flame.. only when the fuel is compressed will it become violently combustable... IE: extreme compression ratios in diesel engines and require no spark to run... wicked cool how they work... but anyway... the reason for this little science class? little insight to what kind of gas will do what in your motor... if you expeirencing pinging.. it could be a number of this... dirty fuel injectors,,dirty throttle body,,, blown intake plenum gasket (extremely common in the 2gens) .. could be a number of things to cuase it... best thing to do first is to pull your TB off and clean it good-n-tight with some TB or carb cleaner and put it back on.. run a bottle or 10 of injector cleaner through the tank.. while the TB is off peak down the intake plenum (affectionaly aka the "kegger") and see if your poolin oil on the pan.. little film is normal from excess oil being deleiverd through the passenger side breather and the driver side PCV valve...but if you got a puddle your plenum gasket is blown.. search for that topic and you can get a few thousand topics coverd on it... steve ( diesel lover) did an awesome write up on the fix if you check out the DIY section... also if you notice any excessive oil consumtion... like up to a qourt for every 3000 miles or so.. then thatll also tell you your kegger gasket is shot (obvioulsy if you have no external leaks and puddles on the ground of course)

with all that mumbo jumbo said if you have basic to intermediate means of mechanical/engine knowledge and acces to proper tools (ie tq wrench and verity of hand tools) you could fix the plenum gasket yourself and save yoursefl LOADs of cash...

hope this helps and post back on what you find!!!!!!!

 

I'm with shott, its probably your plenum. If it is I would really try to do it yourself so you can save like a few hundred bucks.

It pings in OD going up hills and when it won't downshift because the engine is working really hard at those times. Just cause the RPM's are really high doesn;t mean it isn't working hard.

Oh yeah, if I just said everything shott did, its because I didn't have time to read his whole post

 

alright well im going to go buy some fuel and injector cleaner from wal-mart, check all my plugs and wires, then check my timing and finally pull off the throttle body and clean it up. i guess ill just use carb cleaner and scrub it. then since im not 100 percent sure on the gasket ill just look down in there with a flashlight and hope everything looks alright. she isnt buring an oil though. when you say bring it in and get a tune up. what will they actually due that i dont do every 3,000 miles.

 

Use that injector cleaner more concentrated then its suppose to be, but don't go over board. No running it straight or anything

 

yea i tend to type a lot when im bored

that sounds like a good start to finding out whats causing your pinging..let us kow how you make out

 

alright ive got a half day on wed. so ill doo everything then, besides i need to run down the gas alittle bit in order to get a little bit more concentrated cleaner. ill let you guys know how it goes, im hoping the timing is just off alittle bit that would make things easy, but of course as im sure yall know if things can go wrong they will.