I have about 130k miles on my 2003 Maxima.
Over the last 2 weeks, my car is pinging a lot more than usual. It used to ping only around 1800-2000rpm, but now i can hear more persistent pinging in the range 1800-2500rpm.
If i have to put it in different words - it feels/sounds like i put 87 octane.

I always put 91 octane(highest avail. in California). Last time, i put a full tank of Shell 91 Premium. I am starting to wonder if this is the problem.

4 days ago, i did the Seafoam treatment. It did not help much, maybe a little.
On Saturday, i put a new full tank ot 76 Gasoline.
So far - no improvement. Car pings especially bad when engine is warm and/or the weather is warm. In the morning, it is all good.

So....why is this happening? What should i suspect?

- Bad gas?
- My engine oil is kind of old (6k miles +) but i use Mobil 1 Synthec with nice filters. Could that be the problem?
- Time for new spark plugs? Mine are about 60k miles old....Denso Iridiums

What can i do to troubleshoot this?

Thank you!

 

Low oil!!! get an oil change!! your timing chain system isnt getting the lubrication it needs!! so get an oil change or pop more fuel in there and it should go away!!!

 

Would the timing chain tensioner be a problem? Sometimes I get some chain slap on startup (or whatever the technical term is), do you dansmax?

 

Mine makes a noise, buts its at like 3000rpm and it only does it at like no acceleration or letting off the gas, when it passes 3000rpm, its really annoying and i dunno where its coming from.

I have searched all over the forums and most people have the one in the lower rpms like you and they say its either the cat or ypipe shield. But i haven't had any luck finding a case like mine, at least not with a solution.

 

Complete cooling flush (removes any hot spots), new plugs, tuneup, injector cleaning via seaform/techron, new air and fuel filters. Lastly the knock sensor which is quite expensive and haven't yet heard of this issue in this gen of vehicles.

 

Does your car use oil? Could be deposits forming on top of the pistons which would increase your compression ratio. We have 93 octane here and I still get the light pinging between 1700-2000 rpm under light throttle.

 

I am pretty sure that what i am hearing is "pinging". Very common problem here on the 'org' and lots of people have reported that they get it around 2k rpm. I was one of them and since it was happening only once in a while, i ignored it or i blamed it on so-so gas.

Last two weeks, its been very persistent. The engine pings at a wider range of rpms.

Some of you mentioned the chain tensioner and now it made me wonder if this could really be the problem.
** If it's the chain tensioner, why do i get the "pinging" noise only around 1800-2500rpm??
** Why do i get it ONLY when the car is warm/hot?

My oil level is "normal", but yes, the oil is kind of "old". I would expect more from oil that costs $7/qt and a $10 Mobil Filter. 6.5k miles on this oil should be a joke...but, oh well. Oil change is cheap - i'll put fresh oil and oil filter tonight.

-- Coolant system is fresh - i put new radiator 2 months ago and flushed the whole system.
-- Fuel system was treated with BG44 fuel system cleaner 5k miles ago.
-- Fuel filter is 50k miles old
-- Air filter is 2k miles old
-- I did Seafoam IM cleaning 4 days ago.

Other than my 60k old Denso Iridium spark plugs and my "old" engine oil....i am not sure what else to suspect. Any Other ideas??

Scottwax, yes, my car does burn some oil. I add about a quart every 3-4k miles or so. Sometimes, it burns less.
I used to have a small, (Home Depot) Oil catch can and it was collecting a decent amount of oil every week. I removed it because i got tired of emptying the small catcher every week. I guess my engine has a pretty strong oil blow off to the IM. Not cool.

Yesterday, because of the severe pinging i am getting, i decided to put a larger oil catch can. Now i will monitor to see how much oil it will collect. I hope this will help. It's amazing how such a sofisticated engine like the VQ35 can have so much oil been blown off to the IM via the PCV valve.

Thank you!!

 

try different gas station, maybe?

 

To the originator of this thread.......your "pinging", if that is what it is, may be worse if the ambient temp has increased, and it may expain why it's worse when the engine is warm/hot. Is this a manual tranny car, which tends to dump more oil into the intake? Stock intake? If you are not already using it, try a 10W-30 oil for the next oil change. If you look at some of the history of this problem (pinging) some have had an improvement or eliminated this pinging by going one step colder with the spark plugs, and others state that a replacement MAF fixed the problem.

 

Part of the problem might be that most gas stations still have winter blends in their tanks and maybe they don't burn properly during warmer weather in engines already prone to pinging.

 

can someone please tell me what 'MAF" stands for?


Tks

 

MAF= Mass Airflow Sensor

 

I've noticed a more persistent pinging in mine as well @73k, 1500-2000k rpm, only under load while in transit.

Without telling every detail of my car history, suffice it to say i've always used 93octane gas, done regular service, and babied the car. Recent coolant flush, etc, etc.

Some suggest that this knocking/pinging is coming from a loose heat shield on the cats, but I'm not convinced of this.

I'm to the point where I don't feel like worrying about this issue (like my oil consumption) but I have to wonder, just exactly WHY this is happening now??

Haven't had too many catastrophic issues with the car so far...but now that the warranty is gone - I'm dreading what happens next.

keep us posted with any realistic solutions, please.

gr