I programmmed my 1998 4.6L V8 with the hypertech power programmer, a while ago now I at first had regular fuel in it when I first tested it and it ran like crap. It made a bad pinging under hard acceleration only really. But when I put high octane in it runs great no ping but around 4800-5000 rpm somewhere like that it starts to make a funny noise like its hesitating and missing then changes gears and fine again until high rpm. Now is this ping?? How bad is it for your motor and can it cause damage fast?? Should I put in better plugs?? And what kind?? I have been driving my truck for about three months with the chip now and i love it except for this funny noise im getting which im thinking is very bad. If someone could help that would be great.

 

Yes. Pinging is bad for your motor. Don't allow it to persist.

 

To my knolodge the hypertech programmer has three diffrent fuel type settings. 87 octane, and two types of 93 octane. The two types of 93 differ in the way that one gives quite a bit of timing advance and the othet 93 octane cant use that much advance beacuse of additives in the fuel that makes it a little more prone to pinging. My suggestion is to reconnect your programmer and make sure your on the correct setting for your local fuel type. If that does not work I suggest adjusting your settings to accept 87 octane fuel, that way you make sure there will be no pinging. You will loose some performance form the timing being retarded back to factory but there should still be some perfomance gains from the programmer.

 

I just "installed" a Power Programmer III in my '97 F150 4.6L. I think I have the same symptoms as you are experiencing. I strongly believe that it isn't a pinging noise that we are hearing. It sounds more like a plastic clicking sound. I have been told that the EGR valve solenoid can make a noise like that when not operating properly. It happens at a certain throttle position as opposed to a pinging which happens more under load and at different throttle positions.
The solenoid is strictly an emissions issue and can be diagnosed by unplugging it using the clip that attaches it to the wiring and seeing if the noise goes away. The solenoid is located under the plastic cover over the intake just to the right and in front of the throttle body. FYI unplugging it might cause a check engine light. This is merely a suggestion and not a guarantee that this is your problem.