Knocking and Pinging
Knocking and Pinging
My '03 maxima knocks and pings pretty severely at 2K RPM, especially when I am going up hill or giving light throttle. Is this common and is there a common fix? Thanks.
Last edited by Wheelie King; Nov 3, 2007 at 08:17 PM.
new NGK plat spark plugs and premium octane should take care of it
Newbie - Just Registered
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1
I seem to have the same knocking problem. Thinking of going to NGK iridium one step cooler. Trying to get Nissan to talk to me about it but all I get is that they run the fuel very lean and the timing advanced for economy. Any way to use a bit more fuel in the 2k-3k rpm range to cool things off?
Nissan tech says we can retard the timing a bit but will loose power that way. What's with the 17* timing update?
Nissan tech says we can retard the timing a bit but will loose power that way. What's with the 17* timing update?
Last edited by Shu2k2; Oct 30, 2007 at 01:26 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,113
From: NY
Guest
Posts: n/a
weird how its a different experience for everyone. i run my car pretty lean under high throttle (im at -10 on the vafc for everything over 4100) and i dont ever get pinging, even with 17* timing. in fact, the only time ive gotten pinging for the whole life of the car is when the dyno guy went 15.0 on the dyno after like 4 runs 
I gotta ticking initially when starting then, it goes away. Low rpm tapping is there and I use premium fuel. I need new plugs and im i need to definitely do the timing advance!
What is the favorable heat range on the cooler plugs that have been mentioned??
If i turn the radio up the problem never seems to be there!
What is the favorable heat range on the cooler plugs that have been mentioned??
If i turn the radio up the problem never seems to be there!
Not new, I re-registered.
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 12
From: North Carolina
Same thing happened to me after I put in a couple (maybe more) tanks of 87 octane gas. It went away as soon as I put in the higher octane.
I use super unleaded/93 octane gas.
I checked my plugs this evening. I currently am using NGK R PLFR5A 11. I think NGK PLFR5A 11 are stock. I'm not sure what difference the "R" makes. I don't think it's a colder plug. As I understand plugs, a colder one is NGK LFR6AIX 11. Is that what people are using for colder plugs in their maximas?
I checked my plugs this evening. I currently am using NGK R PLFR5A 11. I think NGK PLFR5A 11 are stock. I'm not sure what difference the "R" makes. I don't think it's a colder plug. As I understand plugs, a colder one is NGK LFR6AIX 11. Is that what people are using for colder plugs in their maximas?
Originally Posted by Wheelie King
LFR6AIX
I'm bored and the ToT's are a little lean this evening, so here you go:
IX = Iridium. Use this chart and plug a 6 in where the 5 is and you will have the equivalent plug in a colder heat range.
http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...&postcount=120
A little background on heat range:
http://www.ngk.de/Spark_plugs.649.0.html
More background on catch cans:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=312377
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=357109
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=351891
I added an oil catch can and changed my front 3 plugs. I'll change the other 3 next week. I also added some oil, a bottle of injector cleaner and reset the ECU. I'm driving it hard thinking that thousands of miles of highway driving in 6th gear may have resulted in weak ECU signals. From what I can tell, the pinging is a little better. We'll see once I replace the rest of the plugs run the car for a while.
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 17
Solution to 02/03 Maxima Engine ping at 1800-2000rpm
Guys...the problem that causes the ping under load really lies with fuel delivery and carbon buildup in cylinders. To fix these problems you need to replace your in-tank fuel filter every two years/40,000km(cost is $8.90). I know that Nissan says that it's a lifetime filter because of it's location in the gas tank and the filter is built into the fuel pump, but the filter itself is made with regular paper that develops sediment/gunk buildup as the mileage rolls on and therefore there is a slight slow down of fuel delivery to the engine under load with light acceleration(2000rpm). This causes a lean fuel mixture in the cylinders and the pinging starts. Under heavier throttle, the fuel pump kicks up the pressure and sends more fuel, so therefore no pinging. To keep the cylinders carbon-free, use seafoam motor treatment every 5000km. Carbon buildup contributes to engine ping under loads.
i'll second this.... i also had to replace the MAF on my 2k to get rid of pinging that came on suddenly. If was pinging only under load and usually if i backed off the throttle it would stop. New MAF fixed it.
Guys...the problem that causes the ping under load really lies with fuel delivery and carbon buildup in cylinders. To fix these problems you need to replace your in-tank fuel filter every two years/40,000km(cost is $8.90). I know that Nissan says that it's a lifetime filter because of it's location in the gas tank and the filter is built into the fuel pump, but the filter itself is made with regular paper that develops sediment/gunk buildup as the mileage rolls on and therefore there is a slight slow down of fuel delivery to the engine under load with light acceleration(2000rpm). This causes a lean fuel mixture in the cylinders and the pinging starts. Under heavier throttle, the fuel pump kicks up the pressure and sends more fuel, so therefore no pinging. To keep the cylinders carbon-free, use seafoam motor treatment every 5000km. Carbon buildup contributes to engine ping under loads.
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 17
My '03 Maxima also had a slight pinging from when it was brand new, but the pinging got louder and more constant when it went over 40,000km. I changed the fuel filter and the pinging reduced, but was still not exactly like when it was new. I then did a series of seafoam decarbonizing treatments and then it came back to normal. Remember, that it is normal for all high compression engines to exhibit slight ping under load because of the high cylinder temperatures.
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 17
Read page 9-4 of owner's manual. It says to expect pinging under loads for greatest fuel benefit..Nissan wouldn't make these things up. Other high compression engines like the viper, corvette, ferrari..just to name a few..also experience pinging under load. If your engine is ping free, it means that it's running rich.
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 17
