sounds like loud injector tick?

 

naa its probably tappet noise... but thats not my main concern.. its only done 43000 miles so things shouldnt be worn/dead yet! lol!

 

If the PCM thought that the engine was cold, it could be running too rich. Does the thermostat appear to be working properly? The dealer's diagnostic machine should be able to check the temperature as perceived by the PCM. Also, the short and long term fuel trims should be verified as being within normal ranges.

 

yea thermostat is working fine... it goes into closed loop according to my scanner.. fuel trims are also normal. both stft and ltft are within +3 and -3.

 

I hear no ping at all. All I do hear is the normal injector tick and tappet noise, also basically normal.

I'll go with what the mechanic said and blame your driving habits, citing your comment about overtaking a car and that a .9 liter car is faster. I'd guess you drive with a heavy foot to begin with.

Try this to prove me wrong.
Fill the tires with 33 pounds of air pressure.
Drive the posted limit, or not more than 5 over.
Accelerate using no more than 1/2 throttle.

It does take a few tanks of fuel for the computer to readjust to the new habits so say run 3 tanks of fuel through it. Bet you anything driving my way will at least get you over 200.

 

I have to agree, sounds pretty normal to me.

 

issues that could cause pinging are:

overheating, carbon buildup in the pistons,cylinders, or intake, malfunctioning EGR system, an improper ignition timing.

but it looks like you have replaced some parts, an if a mechanic cant seem to find out what the hell is wrong, then like the guy above me said,must be normal then

 

I also don't hear pinging, but tappet noise. If you regularly run the car at high RPMs, that tappet noise will slowly get louder as your lifters wear.

---[Edit]-----
In fact, your lifters sound kind of worn to me, although I'm not a Focus owner. I have, however, had to replace lifters in my 240SX.

 

errm.. can i just say.. i dont floor it all the time.. i guess that vid isnt informative enough.. but the thing that confirms that it pings is when i drive it up a hill... 2nd gear... i HAVE to push the throttle close to WOT because it just wont have the power to go up easily.. it also pings like crazy when i floor it up the hill... that my friends is NOT normal... my mechanic failed to test it on a hill.. hence i was livid! and come on.. strictly speaking, even if u floor it all the time, i doubt u'd see a complete halving in fuel economy? i know somebody who has the same car as me.. he gets well over 300 miles on a full tank.. even when i try to drive economically and do what iminhell told me to do, the most i can get is 200 miles!! >< and i hope you were not implying that im a boy racer or anything like that iminhell.. mate.. just cos i said i cant overtake a car, it doesnt make me a crazy speed freak.. EVERYBODY needs to overtake a car.. like.. on the motorways?? i cant do that!! -_-

 

as i said.. the only thing that hasnt been checked is the timing.. i still have a suspicion that the belt may be off a few degrees... would that cause my engine to ping? and the poor fuel consumption because it cant make the power needed efficiently hence making me push the pedal more?

 

See if you can get a friend to take an in-car video as you go WOT up an incline.

 

If the timing belt where off a cog you would notice it even at idle, there would be an audible miss to it. It'd be a puh puh, smooth smooth, puh puh, smooth smooth


I hate to tell you to throw parts at it, but it could be a simple poor Oxygen Sensor. They won't always throw a code if they fail.

Another thing you could try is some Seafoam through a small vacuum line to clean any carbon out of the chambers. It could be that the carbon is insulating the chamber too much and the added heat is playing hell with the ignition timing, ping retard timing via knock sensor ... ?

Guess I should also ask because I don't see it, but is the engine stock?

 

Did this occur quite suddenly or was it progressive? It sure sounds like an initial pinging or knock as soon as you cracked the throttle........especially with essentially no load, it ain't normal. How many miles on the timing belt? I suspect that if the timing belt had "slipped a cog", that the engine would be running worse than it is, but I'm not sure about that, or if it would actually set fault codes. Why not just go ahead and check the basic camshaft timing and put that argument to bed? Removing the timing belt cover doesn't look too bad on the Zetec. A question for the Zetec experts........does the Zetec have a camshaft position sensor and does it have timing marks on the front pulley/damper?

 

I've watched a few "pinging" videos on youtube since this thread has arisen and it seems much easier to identify from inside the vehicle. Hopefully we can get such a video to hear what's going on.

 

I've used the seafoam before and it's a god sent. use about 1/3 can in a vaccuum line (slowly) and the rest dug in the gas tank. I'm sure there's a proper write up around here somewhere (otherwise ask).

 

yay grumpy! you picked it up!! i dont know how people say it sounded normal..
iminhell, yeaa well actually, it was after running fuel injector cleaner through it that the pinging started... i put some in the tank because it was running quite slowly.. not really giving much power.. after it, it cleared it up and it ran smoothly and powerfully for bout 2 days... then it started doing this pinging.. yeaaa grumpy ive been meaning to check the camshaft timing.. i think its the culprit. i dont really think im competent enough to do it myself.. i asked my mechanic to do it, but he was a prick and just kept the car for a day and said theres no need to check it. ><

the engine is stock yea, but i believe the 1.8 and 2.0 petrols dont have knock sensors. only the 1.6 and 1.4s do...

ill try and get a vid tomorrow with it pinging on a hill init.. also i want u guys to hear the exhaust tone at idle when warm.. its not smooth.. its like a constant puh puh puh sound as iminhell described.. just without the smooth bits lol!

 

oh and i forgot to say that when it started pinging, i also got the poor throttle response. using my foot lightly on the pedal, the car seems to go quite happily, but when i just floor it, i feel it just doesnt respond as it should do.. theres no bucking or anything it just doesnt have the kick anymore..

ooh also, unfortunately we dont have such wonders as seafoam in england.. i wish we did.. it works much better than the stuff we have to make do with!!

thanks a lot guys!

 

oh i forgot to say that the car only has 43000 miles on it.. (supposedly) i bought it second hand.. i hope it hasnt been clocked! lol

 

alright guys.. heres a vid of it pinging... but u have to listen really carefully to hear it.. i think its most apparent after shifting to second gear in the vid... i may try and record a better vid soon..

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z36JCLmWUH4


thanks!

 

the pinging is most evident at 8 seconds and 14 seconds in the video clip.

i also thought id put one up showing it pinging when parked.. u can just about make it out in this new clip everytime i blip the throttle WOT...
the revs seems to respond really slowly..

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H6wBVAP44s4

also on a side note.. anybody know why my dash gets brighter everytime i blip the throttle and then dims when i take my foot off the pedal?


thanks


matt

 

This is not normal. Check the voltage at the battery during one of these brightening and dimming episodes. Let us know what you've got. Did this issue by any chance start at the same time as the performance/pinging issue?

 

ahh i donno how to do that.. :S naa i believe its always been doing this, even when i bought the car.. i find it quite annoying.. you can even hear the fan blower increase in speed when u rev the engine.. ><

what do u make of the video?

 

heres another vid of the pinging.. this time its on a flat road!! (end part of the vid)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzac3JQGzEc

 

I think you can rule out the valve timing- if that were off even one tooth, pinging would be the least of your problems.

When I hear any engine rattling a few times when the throttle is flashed, I think of hot spots. Maybe just a speck of glowing carbon in one of the cylinders, or deposits on the center electrode of one of the plugs.

The knock sensor is probably hearing the knock and cutting the timing back to try to quell it, but it cannot help because the hot spot is a physical thing that is present in the combustion chamber and is not affected by the ignition timing. So you drive with the knock AND retarded timing AND the kind of poor performance that causes.

I would put something like Rislone or Marvel Mystery oil in the gas, or whatever they sell in the UK to clean carbon out of engines. Then run the living crap out of this thing. Get out there and have some fun- wind the gears out to the rev limiter, lug the crap out of it, generally try to destroy the engine (you won't hurt anything, but nontheless leave the wife at home for this step). Five will get you 10 you'll be able to bust whatever is causing this loose and blow it out. I'm pretty sure that's all you're dealing with here.

 

hmm.. well i have done that at least 3 times already.. so i guess im back to square one..

 

Oh...

Does it do this immediately after starting from cold? Like: cold engine sleeping all night, start up, flash throttle.

The "puh, puh, puh" sound from the exhaust could be the result of retarded timing, as would a labored sound from the intake.

Are you sure the plugs are the correct heat range and not too hot? Are they the standard type? If you pulled a plug what would the insulator look like? Tan is good, white is too hot.

Just as a test, you could put some octane booster in the gas and see if anything changes.

 

errm, naa it doesnt do it when its cold.. but once it warms up it pings..
the spark plugs look fine, the mechanic checked them and said theres no evidence of overheating, leaning or richening of the fuel mixture. ive got some ngk platinums in there gapped correctly.

likewise, when its started cold, the exhaust tone is smooth.. but once its warmed up, it goes back to the constant "puh puh" tone..

yeaa ill try the octane booster thing.. though i just filled her up today.. ><

 

oh also... did u have a look at the vid where i rev the engine WOT when parked?? do u think the engine responds a bit too slowly than it should??