Just purchased a 2002 SCREW with 4.6L. It has 729 miles and when I accelerate the engine pings. Is this normal for 4.6L to perform like this and should I get it to the dealer?? I really trust the input from the users at this site. Any help would be appreciated.

 

My 5.4L pings a little on acceleration........as long as the ping doesn't occur while cruising at a steady speed it's normal. I had a 92 Ranger with a 3.0 V6 that pinged, clanged and rattled for 200,000 miles before I sold it, as long as it is not real bad...................I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Welcome to the pingers club! my 98 4.6 pings like hell with 87 octane, thats why i run 91 normally. I have run stuff like 104+ and STP fuel injector cleaner through it, but it still pings. It pings while your accelerating at 70 mph with 91 octane. So far no problems, but i believe it could be a sensor or something that has gone bad.
Go and search for the "pingers club" or other pinging articles and read up on it. its not an uncommon problem with 4.6's especially.
Patrick

 

Personally, I disagree.. Regardless if Ford claims light pinging is not a problem or not, if I had a brand new $30,000 truck with less than a 1000 miles on it that was pinging, I'd be up there raising hell untell they had it figured out. If it is pinging today with less than a 1,000 miles on it, unless you just got bad gas odds are your going to have this issue for the life of the truck. All of the common fixes such as cleaning the MAF sensor, DPFE sensor, carbon deposit cleaning, spark plugs, etc. that everyone else spends there time working on trying to eliminate pinging is pretty much out the window since it's a new truck. IF Ford ever will be able to correct your problem, odds are best they could do it now with so much of the normal fixes (such as dirty sensors) out of the way with it being new. Stay away from cheap gas from the typical 'high volume' gas stations such as RaceTrack, QT, Diamond Shamrock, Stop and Go, etc. My dad has a new Camry that will ping on RaceTrack gas. Get 87 octane gas from Texaco/Shell/Mobil/Exxon and if the problem persists go visit with your service manager ASAP. If you get the run around I'd ask to speak with the owner of the dealership. I've had to go this course before getting anything done before. If after talking to the owner of the dealership you still get the "they all do that run around" I'd ask to drive any other F-150 on the lot with less than a 1,000 miles and see if you have the same problem (they won't.)

 

look down at the message board screen under "engines" where you started this article and theres another article on pinging and knocking. One guy on there said to "pull the cam sensor and clean it. Location: front drivers side of the cylinder head"
Dont know if itll work but i think ill give it a try. One guy even said that the manuel says that some pinging is normal, due to poor octane and gas quality,... check that article out might have some helpful info.
Patrick

 

Cam sensor??? Never heard of it.... Here is a link to a pretty good thread on pinging:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...t=Pingers+Club


In short, here is the list of possible fixes we came up with:

1) Chevron Techron or other EFI Cleaner
2) Clean MAF Sensor with Q-Tip or Electrical Spray
3) Clean DPFE Sensor
4) Change Spark Plugs and Gap Correctly
5) Clean EGR System and Intake Manifold
6) Clean Throttle Body
7) Program to compensate for pinging from Mike
8) Remove Octane Compensator/Bar

In all honesty, none of these 'fixes' should help you out on a brand new truck. I've felt from day one that the issue with pinging is somehow related to the computer program settings put into our trucks brand new. They are all setup to advance the timing as much as possible without knocking to get the most power and fuel milage as possible. I think the stock programs put in our trucks are possibly setup to maximze gas milage so much they are just a little too 'conservative' for real life driving. A brand new truck that is pinging with no carbon deposits or dirty/clogged sensors or other tuning issues in my opinion pretty much proves this or at the very least points to it.

 

TX for all the replies, since it is a new truck I,m going to take it to the dealer. The truck had 12 miles on it when I bought it and it has pinged since day one. TX again for your help.

 

some pinging is normal mine like i said has been pinging at higher speeds since 25k, and now 23k later, no problems so might not be a big deal after all
-Patrick

 

My 4.6L started pinging around 13-15K miles - changed brands of gas and ran prem fuel - no change. Been to the dealer 4 times (read my problem 8/29) and they can't figure it out - they say it's normal and that the ford engineers in Dearborn said it will ping.
I agree w/ the response earlier - if my $30K truck w/ 729 miles pings - I'd take it back and complain!! I filed a complaint w/ Ford - they told me to try another dealer. By what I'm reading from everyone else, this is a common thing that we may have to live with. Keep us informed on what you find out!

 

Update: Went to the Dealer on 8/29 and they said other 2002 4.6L have been brought in with same problem. They had to reprogram the ECU. I'll let you know, I think he's blowing smoke!

I did find a post from TED'98 where he purchased a custom Chip and he had the chip programmed for 87 octane. He has a 1998 4.6L and his ECU code is FOU1. Will the dealer reveal to customers what there ECU code Rev. is?

TX

 

DEAN246 - you can find your ECU's code on the back of the ECU or on the passengers side door jamb (at least that is where my code was located). It should be a 4 digit number.

 

TX TED'98 for the info.

Dean246

 

Ted'98, is that custom chip you had burned still taking care of all your pinging problems you had beforehand? If I remember correctly a couple people tried to get a chip from the same place you got yours and had quite a bit of problems with the manufacturer.

 

Still no pinging, and I've run some pretty poor gas lately. CustomChip had problems getting blank chips and that caused their demise, their coding was excellent though.

As they were going out of business, Dennis Reinhart picked things up and has kept his customers very happy. He uses the same code as CustomChip did, so his chip would be very similar to what I have. I'm thinking about getting a reburn from Dennis in a coulple of months once I make some more changes.

I believe this is his email. If not, you can do a search on the crownvic boards.

DReinhart1@aol.com

 

I was just about to say with a new truck...computer, computer, computer!!

2 other possabilities on a new truck, 1) a bad tank of crappy dealership gas 2)10w-30

When the engineers tell you it is normal for the truck to ping they mean for a very short period of time, say seconds. When you accelerate all of the sensors are sending info to the computer and it is adjusting everything at the same time. Your current climate could have an affect as well!

I would bet that the re-burn of the ecu will fix it!

Let us know!

Good luck-