I am from BC, Canada and we have the fortunate availability of 94+ octane from Chevron. I'm sure most people do.

Anyway, I noticed today that around 2k rpm, my car was pinging. It was just above freezing so it wasn't from high heat, nor was my engine hot.

My 04.5 just turned over to 30k miles.

What can be done? or better yet, what can I do ?

Darryl
TIA

 

Not sure what you are describing, take it to the dealor and see if you are throwing any codes.

 

so it was around 2k with light throttle / load and sounded like valves ticking?

if so, you need to get an oil catch can, and new iridium spark plugs.

 

Sorry, forgot to mention @ 2k I mashed on the throttle and accelerated hearing the pinging

No valves are ticking, no codes just classic pinging under load.

 

crap, then i don't know..... it could be bad gas...

 

Thanks anyways bro. I don't think it is, because on Shell's V-Power it was doing the same thing.

hmmm....

I think it has something to do with the timing.

 

can you duplicate this every time? hot and cold?

there is a ton of blow-by that accumulates in the intake manifold, and then enters the combustion chambers thus effectively lowering the octane... but that typically causes very light valve ticking sound under light load.

 

I actually noticed it with my window down driving by another car (sound echoing off of it).

Yes I can mostly duplicate anytime.

Is there a cleaner for this?

Also, I might be adding a plenum spacer soon so maybe this might help (by manually cleaning the intake).

Thanks for the suggestions so far

 

^
nop, the only thing that helps is an oil catch can. so when you do open it up you'll see what i am talking about. just get a few cans of TB cleaner and clean the whole thing including the TB. if it has never been done and it's an 04, it will be nasty !


so - oil catch can, and new iridium plugs ...


EDIT : clean the MAF too... MAF cleaner is on the same shelf with the TB cleaner.

 

found this for you https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ghlight=blowby

 

30k miles and it might have lots of buildup ? didn't know

Hmmm... Think I will try this.

Heard nothing but good stuff from Seafoam.

Thanks man.

 

Pinging can occur with any significant deviation from the intended fuel octane rating reccommended by Nissan. But 94 really is not far off from 93. Furthermore, even 91 octane produces no noticeable knock or pinging in my experience.

I would check to make sure that there isn't a significant ethanol content mixed in with the gas you're buying. I would stay away from anything containing more than 10% ethanol.