O.K. gang, unleash your expertise. I have had an engine ping since November. I have switched exclusively to Texaco premium. I used a bottle of Techron, followed two tanks later with Gumout injector cleaner, folowed two tanks later with STP injector cleaner. Now, if I am correct, I just pulled apart my air cleaner box and gently cleaned the two little filaments on the mass air flow sensor with windex and cotton swabs.(Someone please let me know if I'm wrong about that, it may be embarassing, but I really, really want to fix this problem!). After I test drive my truck I'll post the results. Mike Troyer and I talked about this, and one possibility may be the winter gas formula here in the Houston area. Anyway, this only happens at WOT and my little 4.6 only has 40,000 miles on it. I have babied it with the fluid changes and cold morning warm ups, filters, etc. Do I need to replace the injectors and fuel pump? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rick

Gotta change my sig, the headers are on!

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1998 F-150SC,4.6 liter 5 speed.
S&B air filter+home made air box mod.
2.25 inch true duals w/Dynomax superturbo mufflers.
Superchip!
Pacesetter armor coated headers on the way!

 

Littlericky,
sounds like you've done about all you can do,
outside of trying different brands of premium gas. What's a S&B air filter? Is that like a K&N oil and gauze filter? If it is I've heard some people have had better luck with the OEM paper filters. Couldn't hurt to try. Cheap too.

Hobbit

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99 XLT,4.6L Auto,4X4,tow pkge,Factory Side Steps and Mudflaps, K&N filter,BugflectorII, Amazon Green/Silver, Pace Edwards Rolltop Cover.

 

Could be a faulty EGR valve too.

 

Littlericky

I am working on a slight pinging too.

How much do you like your headers? Did they fit well? Sound? Performance? All necessary hardware for installation included? Did you get yours from JCWhitney?

Any information will be appreciated.

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My Ride: 1998 F150 4x4 Lariat Supercab Flareside 5.4L in Oxford White/gold, ORP, Tow Package, 3.55 Gears.

Modifications:
Split Fire Spark Plugs
K&N FIPK
Gibson Supertruck Exhaust System
Stepshield door sill protectors
Performance Accesories 3" Body Lift
Superlift 3" lift blocks
Performance Lift Lips
Gabriel Gas Ryder LT VST Shocks
Daystar Front Anti-sway Bar Polyurethane Bushings
Heckethorn Steering Stabilizer
35x12.5R16.5LT BFG All Terrain KO's
16.5x9.75 American Eagle 589's.

Photos at: http://www.communicomgroup.com/jmtruck

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm going to figure this one out even if I have to switch to racing fuel. Hobbit,cool username, I have been a J.R.R. Tolkien(hope I spelled that right?)fan for about the last 25 years. An S&B air filter is very similar to a K&N.The only difference is it has more pleats in it to allow more air through. Thats their sales pitch anyway. It's also about $15.00 dollars less than K&N and supposed to be made of the exact same materials. Thanks Dennis, I didn't realize the EGR valve was a possible cause. I will Check it out in morning. JMTruck, I like the headers pretty well. I noticed a little more in the seat of the pants, but not as much as I'd hoped for. Maybe 8-10 HP. Still, not bad for the cost. The passenger side bolt pattern was a little snug, but that may just have been a thick spot in the coating. The collectors didn't match up perfectly and I had to get a second set of gaskets because I rolled one of the first ones. My fault for not tightening the gap evenly. The sound is the best part. My exhaust has a really nice throaty growl now. They came with all the hardware and gaskets, but I tossed the bolts for some locking ones I saw in Sport Truck magazine. If I can Find the reciept, I'll post the name. I just can't remember the name off the top of my head. I have had to tighten the collector flanges up a little bit a second time and the gaskets were fine. I believe it was about a four hour install with me and a buddy. All-in-all the fit was O.K., finish looks good, sounds good,and feels a tad more powerful. Not too bad for $279.95. Well, I'll keep posting progress on the pinging. Maybe my solution will help someone else.
Thanks, Rick

 

Hi Littlericky,

We may find that we need to do an adjustment to your Superchip program to compensate for your local fuel quality. We've had to do that for a few other Texas residents, though they're primarily Lightning owners. It's not any big number, most Texas gasolines are good enough quality, but every once in awhiel we'll find that yet another change was made to fuel formulation as part of the air quality monitoring campaign, and that energy content was reduced as a result. That in itself can cause detonation, even though the octane number may by sufficient, there just isn't enough raw energy content in the fuel to support those same conditions in the combustion chamber.

If using gasolines such as Texaco or Amoco doesn't take care of it, the injectors are clean and you don't have any EGR issues, which can easily cause detonation, then we should maybe take a look at altering your program a bit.

Keep tabs on this and let us know in an email or phone call if this continues after checking everything else, ok?

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Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com
Performance Products F150Online Superchip ordering system: F150Online Superchip Ordering System
First National F-150 Online Rally Event Organizer

 

I had the same problem with little luck with the dealer. They kept trying to fix it but could'nt. Last year the replaced the MAF and that seemd to help but it eventually came back even worse than before. Well I took it back in a couple months ago and this time they said there was actually TSB on this problem, They are supposed to reprogram the computer and retard the timing. This seems to have takin care of about 99% of the problem. BTW I run nothing but 87 octane in mine and it seems to run bad on AMOCO. My truck is a 98 4.6 built in june in KC, still under warranty. Sorry for the long post, I hope this helps

 

I am so glad to see this pinging topic is still alive, for those of us with the problem. My dealers answer for pinging was to remove the shorting bar and then say goodbye, I still have some slight pinging and power is down abit. I think there must be other fixes than shorting bar removal. Thanks again for keeping this open maybe we will find a cure.

 

Thanks for responding Mike. I have not been able to get out and open it up over the weekend. I tried it out on a short piece of desolate blacktop Saturday night, and cleaning the MAF elements seemed to help. I got up to about 85-90 MPH, downshifted and punched it a couple of times. It clattered for about 1/2 a second and lined out. The oil from my air filter may have been the problem. I have a 90 mile round trip on the Sam Houston Tollway tonight so I'll check again and let you guy's know if it really helped.
Thanks, Rick

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1998 F-150SC,4.6 liter 5 speed.
S&B air filter+home made air box mod.
2.25 inch true duals w/Dynomax superturbo mufflers.
Superchip!
Pacesetter armor coated headers

 

Have you changed your plugs? Injector cleaners are hell on plugs. I usually run injector cleaner through a tank or two before I change the plugs, and that's it.

-Jay
98 F150 4x4 SC ORP

 

I have the same problem with my '97 and '99, the both have 4.6 . My dealer adjusted the timing and recalibrated the octane, but the still do it (not as bad though). Keep us posted!!!!!

 

i'm another guy w/ the same problem except i'm in the northern part of ohio. we have really tight emissions standards up here and i wonder if a winter additive could be to blaim for my problems. any ideas? i have a 4.6 w/ 36K and it only pings when i hammer it. i've tried several different additives w/ no significant improvement. the dealer has gone through the engine thuroughly and can't find anything abnormal. they say "bad gas." i seem to think that the gas may be the problem bc i've bought a tank of the same octane level from the same place several times. most of the time it still pings, but once or twice it did do it at all.

if anyone comes up w/ an answer, please keep us posted.

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98' 4x4 S/C F-150 Flaireside, ORP, K&N FIPK

 

Been browsing around here since I'm waiting on my F150 HD special. I currently have a 98 Dodge Dakota. Lots of pinging also. The dealer could not solve after 3 trips. They indicated a reprograming would be available soon but I'd loose about 15hp. I posted to a Mopar site and got some feedback to remove my 195 thermostat and put in a 180. I did that and problem is gone. No reduction in gas mileage or anything. Just no more pinging and I swear I have better power. I'm not going to argue it worked where all the Techron's etc. didn't seem to help.

Can't wait for the HD. Soon, I hope, Soon.