i just had the coils and spark plugs replaced.
i changed the oil to 5/30 weight.
i added lucas octane booster.
i put a little oil stabilizer in crankcase.

now the pinging is about 70% gone but i can still hear it when the engine is hot sometimes on accelleration.
i have a 2002 maxima gle. any ideas???
thanks in advance!

 

Well, this is a good question, but there is one very relevant fact that you did not even mention: Are you using Regular or Premium gas ???

 

ok. what if he's using premium 93 octane what then?
recommend race gas.
he runs it still pings. what else then.

 

I always lowered my coolant temp to 167 F .

183-200 + not good for an engine. This is done for emissions.

How does he drive? Try gas also from other places ?

Also injectors are loud even working propery, these cars are getting old things like injectors need replacing and cleaning.

Many things can cause actual pre detonation

 

Are you getting knock sensor code? What is your ignition timing on the OBD reader and how does it change with RPMs?

 

You don't seem to understand the principle of suggestions. You offer a suggestion the MIGHT or MIGHT NOT fix the problem. If it doesn't work, you move on. Asking what type of gas is a great thing to know because it's the problem most of the time.

 

VQ35DE is supposed to work just fine with regular gas.

 

You're right, but after so many miles and beating on the car for so long, it will more than likely start to ping if still ran on 87.

 

the 87 octane question is a valid question given what the op posted with limited data...lets see what he says and go from there. everyone in this thread it trying to help.

 

If you get the chance, pop a spark plug out and use a flash light to peer into the cylinder. If you see tons of black and no bare metal then you sir have carbon ping, which would happen more often of hot days.
double check you are using recommended plugs.(ngk)

best bet is to use an engine cleaner with a high pea concentration (Amsoil's gas additive holds the highest percentage) heck, there is a video of this stuff that shows what happens after a full tank of it, the carbon practically liquifies. I'll post links if anyone wants to see them.

 

This is Parker... I have been always using premium gas... Lucas octane booster, oil treatment and fuel treatment.
it still pings!

 

Exactly which amsoil product should I use?
any other ideas on how to clean it?

 

Do boltons like a man and have the ECU reflashed. Ignition timing needs lowered a bit down low.

 

I would suggest maybe changing the knock sensor and adding some fuel injector cleaner to the gas. I had the annoying ping no matter if i used premium gas or not, but it would ping worse on 89 and 87, but with the surge in gas prices sometimes 93 is not always the best option on a budget. I noticed that using different mafs would cause the car to ping more than others. I remembered ordering a maf from ebay that seemed to elieminate the ping almost completely. Now i can run off 89 without much ping, but of course retarded the timing a little bit.

 

my car has pinged for 12 years!

 

Well thanks everyone.... I still have the pinging. I've been using 92 octane gas and adding Lucas octane booster. It has helped for sure, but it still pings especially at a quick start. I had the engine scanned... They said injectors and everything was right at the reading it's supposed to have. I guess the next step is to get the ECU flashed?
Someone said it could be carbon build up and when they get hot it causes it to ping.
Kinda frustrating for sure....

 

I installed a CGR$ 3" intake without the breather nipple & did a PCV-delete which helps keep the octane high (no more sucking oil into the intake tract). I run a 91 tune with Full bolt-ons, and it had power loss & was pinging a bit before due to oil burning (especially in TX heat). Now it seems to burn no oil & gets way more power. I put a 3/8" vacuum cap on the UIM, and the two valve cover hoses are simply disconnected. It gives off oil fumes, though, so I only use the AC on recirc. With added HP these cars suck a ton of oil into the intake tract.

 

I forgot to tell ya that you can try 1 step colder plugs.

 

The carbon can get so hot that it can ignite the fuel mixture before the plug has a chance to ignite it.

 

ontop of the carbon getting hot, if you have too much carbon on the piston it can also raise the compression a bit from having physicaly less space in the cylinder, even if it is a few cc

 

I had pinging. It was my tensioner pistons rubbing against the cam chains. I had replaced my engine with an 06 89k altima engine a few years back. 30k miles later the cam chain tensioners were worn all the way through. Replaced and pinging sound is gone. Maybe its your chains.

 

That's should be a constant whirring noise and that problem is specific to the newer model VQ in those altimas, 6th gen maxima, and VQ40s.

 

Pinging or spark knock is common to high mileage VQ35DE due to failure of secondary piston ring. You need to install PCV oil catch can to minimize the blowby oil coming from the PCV valve contaminating the intake manifold thus lowering the fuel octane level that cause pinging. I recommend to use 5w/30 Mobil 1 High mileage synthetic oil with short oil filter OEM or Mobil M108.

 

interesting... can i switch to high mileage synthetic if i haven't the whole life of the car? i am at 223k miles.

i am not sure if I even have pinging though... i don't think i do.