Pinging Fixed

[kosteniuks17]

Wanted to let you know that the pinging on my P5 (145,xxx,2003) has stopped pinging. Not sure exactly how, but it was pinging a good amount when accelerating and then I seafoamed it. 1 bottle in the gas tank and 1 through the vac hose, then changed spark plugs to Copper NGK V_power ones, and swapped out spark plug wires. Anyways it went a way a little and came back. And I continued to look at other stuff to fix it, put 91 gas in, and now it somehow stopped all of a sudden, and its hotter now than before which always made the pinging worse. So anyways in case you have similar problem then try these things out. Ill prob change my oil soon, then clean the egr valve, and possibly later might change fuel filter. But I'm happy now!

 

[ProjectBlack]

Good to know. I have 155,000 and I get pinging from time to time. Never changed the plugs or wires, but that's on the list. Also, EGR is a little tough to get to, but the process seems very easy so I'll clean that soon too.

 

[ProjectBlack]

Well, I did the fuel system clean out, changed coil packs, wires, and plugs (NGK Irridiums). Mine is running much better when idling and excellerating, but I am still getting a litte ping. I think I'll try 91...

 

[hotcracker69]

please keep reporting back...... will you keep on having to use 91 to keep the problem away?

 

[Ride92]

Gonna thread jack but ever since I had my coil packs changed my car has been pinging under load pretty bad. I changed plugs and seafoamed the engine today as well as dropped in a new air filter and nothing changed. Is it possible that I have bad coils? The plug wires were changed last year when I did plugs, could they be bad already? And just so I under stand the pinging kinda ounds like a rattling noise when accelerating, right?

 

[ProjectBlack]

Yes. It is definitely a rattle or ping under heavy load meaning at very low rpm's with the pedal mashed. At least that's when mine is the worst. I think the new coils and plugs probably deliver a bigger better spark. That might be why replacing things like this could cause pinging. I can say that performance improved noticeably (idle and excelleration are much smoother) when I changed the plugs packs and wires, but it did not eliminate pinging for me.

 

[winston3x]

again, check the accordion tube for cracks. The original ones are 8 or 9 years old now and are very brittle and can get hairline cracks when they get moved around for air filter changes etc.. The cracks let in more air causing lean condition and pinging. The 91 octane is just masking whatever the underlying issue is.

 

[Ride92]

I checked my accordion tube and it has a little brittlness to it, the don't look look they go all the way thru but I think i'll replace just to be on the safe side, No comes the question, stay stock, short ram, or cold air?

 

[ProjectBlack]

so...i pretty much burned through all the fuel additive that was put in as part of the fuel system cleansing I had done. Yesterday I decided to put 87 in. I'm not sure if it was the elimination of the system cleaner or the higher octane gas, but the pinging is either gone, or I can't hear it any more.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

FYI, you want to run the V-powers. Iridiums are not what this car was tuned for, and you'll see better performance out of that plug. Plus, they're cheaper. Running the long reach also helps (I think).

 

[ProjectBlack]

Good to know...i just put irridiums in too! Damn! I'll keep these for now, and in a few months I'll switch them out.

 

[Ride92]

An update, I replaced the plugs with NGk longreach v-powers, new air filter, seam foam - i can in gas and 1/2 can thru booster line. She smoked like always and this did nothing for my pining, it's still there. What are the chances that I jumped a tooth on my timing belt when the coils were bad and the car like crap, I mean it ran really bad on the way to the mech? I'm worried about that, should I be? If it did jump is there anyway of knowing for sure and getting back to the right place? The car has 86,000 miles so I should need a new timing belt just yet. It never pinged until after the coil packs were changed, bad packs? This is annoying as s***. Also when I picked the car up after coil pack install the car had rough idle, undoing the batt and reseting the ECU help that problem but then the pinging started. I'm not going back to that place again. Please let me know what needs to be checked next. Running 91 I know will reduce the ping but it never needed before so why now? Thanks

 

[ProjectBlack]

My thoughts are that it would be VERY unusual to get new coil packs that were bad. It seems like coil packs are a pretty straight forward peice of equipment. I think you should check into your timing belt. Just see if you can get in there and verify that it is still in good shape. I think I replaced my timing belt/water pump around 90,000-100,000. If you are boosted or if you drive it pretty hard, it might wear a little faster. If you can, the timing belt/water pump replacement is good to do BEFORE they go out anyway.