I started a thread about two months ago, about my truck pinging. I have had the superchip for about two years now and I am very happy with the improvement over stock, but it has always pinged. To be honest I thought it was just a trade off, (improved performance get a little pinging). Talking to other people they dont seem to have that problem at all. The things Ive done to my truck are: Airbox mod, 33" tires, 3" lift, and flowmaster exhaust, 4.10 gears. I installed the gears for the obvious reasons, but I also thought that the 33" tires were straining the engine, almost like going up hill and you get pinging. To my surprise after the in stall ( 5 months ago) the pinging is just as noticable. Ive got a good understanding of vehicles, I managed a Checker Auto parts store for four years and would push the superchip since we could get our hands on them and sell them. I think Ive tried everything, tune up wise and cleaning, even colder plugs.
What its doing is soon as it gets under load it starts pinging. Shifting from 1 to 2 and stepping on the gas a little its very noticable. It will continue through all gears. Just coasting down the road its fine give it a little gas and it sounds like marbles bouncing on the intake( maybe not that bad). All this goes away as soon as the chip is removed. Put it back in, it will start to ping. Ive loaded my truck down with out the chip and gone up steady inclines in the wrong gear just to see if my truck is prone to pinging, and nothing, quiet as ever. Ive also tried every different type of fuel we have in Phoenix, at least 90 and higher octane. I know the fuel on the west coast isnt the best. I have to admit what ive done is just got used to driving it like this and change the way I drive to reduce the pinging. I never really noticed it until my wife started driving my truck. She likes driving it and i would ride passenger. One day she asked me what the noise was and it really started bugging me what was going on. Dont get me wrong im not putting the chip down i know it works, I just want it to work quietly in my truck. I apologize for the long post, but i will probably not be able to reach you by phone until late April, unless your available on the weekends. In my last post you asked if i purchased the chip from you, and i did purchase it from the link on this website, so yes i did by it from the company you work for. I also mentioned in my last post that i tried calling superchip directly and they seemed concered about my problem they just never got back with me on the times ive called. Any advise would help, thank you!

 

I am certainly no Mike T and I am sure he will have a lot more insight into this topic than I, however, I was just wondering if you ever tried changing gasoline brands. The only time I have ever heard about pinging with the SuperChip is when using less than 92 Octane or when using "some" gasoline brands.

Hope you get your problem resolved...

 

Hi Shooter

Yeah, not good. Did you see the thread on engine bd...tn triton 4.6L pinging/fix?

I havent had an pinging (yet) Our highest here 91oct...even tried others..no pinging.

Good luck...OT

 

Hi Shooter!

Well, there's no reason to "miss me," though it's a nice sentiment and I thank you for that, we are readily available.

All you need to do is to give us a call and we'll be happy to help with this. We can certainly talk over the weekend if need be (though we aren't officially open so that won't happen on a routine basis), most Saturdays I can spend some time with you on the phone. I'd suggest giving us a call and if it's after hours, just leave us your name & phone number in our voicemail so we can return the call, etc.

Getting detonation (or pinging, as it is sometimes called) is not normal with the Superchip, and I do suspect that this is a simple fuel quality problem, as we have many people in every state using the Superchip, with virtually no problems with detonation as long as proper fuel quality is used.

Just to go over fuel quality a little bit here............

One thing that has to be remembered is that you cannot use anything less than a high quality 91 thru 94 octane premium gasoline at all times with the Superchip. The fact that the truck is not detonating on the factory program but is with the Superchip in this case means nothing, as the engine is tuned for much lower quality and octane level fuel in the factory program, 85-87 octane gasoline in the factory program, where it is tuned for 91+ octane in the Superchip.

90 octane is not going to work, neither will anything less than a high quality premium gasoline of at least 91 octane with the Superchip. Also, there are large differences in various brands and even sources of fuels, and we recommend using only Chevron, Texaco or Amoco in your area. Exxon, and a number of other "name brands," as well as virtually all the no-name & off brands have lower energy content, and can cause detonation as a result, even though it may say 91 or higher octane on the pump. Just FYI.........

Talk to you soon!

 

As far as 'energy content' of gas, I saw a post where someone said that they thought the best gas was 1-Texaco, 2-???, 3-Shell. In your experience what are the top 3-5 gasses for energy content? Also, I'm in VA, which ones are best here?

Thanks!

 

Hi drm7,

It is a bit of a moving target, but as a loose general statement, Texaco is, in most areas od the coutnry, one of the if not the highest in energy content (BTU's) and has about the best quality additives, along with Amoco, and depending on where you are, other brands such as Chevron, Shell and a couple others can do a great job as well.

Out in the Western states, Chevron is generally doing the best job, with Texaco & Amoco close second & third.

Since you're in Virginia, even though there is some variance within this state in fuel quality, I'd stick with either Texaco or Amoco, with Citgo or Shell as alternates.

There are always going to be exceptions (for example, Shell isn't working as well out West as it is here in parts of the East), as this does vary from one geographic location to the next, but overall, it's not hard to identify the fuels doing the better job, just track your mileage and keep an eye on how clean the fuel system stays, from the fuel filter to the injectors, etc.