Not to question your results on different brands of fuels but many companies don't have storage or refineries in all areas. In some places all the brands come from the same company.

 

Ken00, It is interesting that you mention the storage/refinery issue... I have heard that this is mostly the case here in Denver.... But then I've had mechanics at our Subaru shop that tell me certain brands of fuel here in Denver cause issues with our Outback. Looks like I'll have to do some more research on this.... I will add more to this thread when/if I find out more info...

Snydly

 

Roger that Ken00, in my area the fuel is pipelined in to a big tank farm about 15 miles east.

I would guess there are about 8-10 major brands with bulk storage tanks there.

I was informed by my fishing buddies neighbor, who works for a major petrol mfgr there & who's job it is to mix the additive package for his companys product, as it leaves the tank farm in tanker trucks, that all bulk fuel for an area, is the same until the companys additive package is mixed & added to the tankers.

That said, the bulk fuel in my area may not be formulated exactaly the same as fuel for southern Fla. or Denver, nor would the brand additive package likely be the same.

Thats why I say, try different brands in your area, to see which performs best in your engine, in your area, for the kind of driving you do.

Just because Chevron & Texaco perform best for me where I live, they may not, where you live.

Where I live, the aditive package difference makes a BIG difference.

I stumbled onto this back in 97, upon having driveability problems with my 94 3.8L Taurus.

I had tried every additive & brand of gas with little or no results.

Out of desperation & frustation I fell for Texaco's ad that said "give us 5 tanks & we'll guarantee you'll feel the difference".

Well I tried it & they lied, it took 2 tanks & that old 3.8L Essex engine really began to WAKE UP.
After 5 tanks the mileage had gone from 17.2 to 23.5 around town.
I had never gotten better than 19 since it was new. After 8-10 tanks he mileage peaked out at 24.5. It's stayed there beteen 23-24 over the last 5 or so years, with my alternating between Texaco & Chevron.

 

Doing the process 3X is correct. Be aware that a dirty MAF sensor may result in engine knock; it's easy to clean. Earlier model years are also known to develop a vacuum leak on the lower intake which resulted in engine knock. This was typically corrected by simply retorquing the bolts.

 

I've never had to de-carbon an engine. -And my girlfriend says my lead foot costs me money. HA!

 

Would this procedure work for the 3.0 as well or should I not attempt it?

 

Is anyone familiar with Valvoline's version of the PM3? I had my oil changed a couple of weeks ago and requested the thorough engine/injector clean. They hooked up a can of somesort to my beast and let it run for a while. I'm only assuming that its the same but Ford makes the best for Ford minus those cursed 3.0 plugs. Sorry Bob.

Plugs are a forbidden taboo for debate just like religion and politics. Botch does indeed suck in Fords. I switched to Autolite DPs from the Botch P+4s and saw a tremendous gain in engine performance in my 2.9L. They just can't take da heat.

As far as carbon, just good maintenance and awareness can remedy that. Gas additives every other tank or so. My 2.9 has almost no carbon in the combustion cylinders and its still ticking at 320k. MPG still kinda sucks but I luv my Ranger so I am selectively blind to that. My .02 cents anyways. - cannibal

 

Hi all,

I've read this whole thread pretty closely, and the MAF only gets an honourable mention. I cleaned mine though (and plugged an open vaccuum hose) and the knock/ping all but disappeared completely. Is the decarbonization a good idea anyway, or is it one of those things, "if ain't broke" etc. etc.

Gerry.

 

Hi rn2go. Welcome to FTE!!
Do you own a 4.0? Decarbonizing is one way around the ping, but only if that is whats causing it. When is it doing it? Under load? Is your oil pressure good?

I was just rereading my post earlier and when I said I had almost no carbon in my cylinders, that was checked before the carbon treatment. I just had that done to make sure my valves and jazz is clean.

 

Yes I have a 1993 4.0 with about 70K. Before reading this forum, I never had an idea that "knock" was such a commone problem with Rangers.

Mine seemed to do it more under load, up hills I'd notice it most. As I said, cleaning the MAF seemed to help a lot, and I also had a vaccuum hose open (took out the stock air box, replaced with an intake kit, K&N filter etc) that I'd forgotten to plug. I suppose more than one factor can contribute at time?

For the time being, I'm satisfied with the way it's performing. May try a chip or some kind of aftermarket exhaust.

 

Yea, essentially the 4.0 and the 2.9 are the same block so if one pings the other probably will too. Don't slap me if Im wrong here.

 

Not the same block. Relatively similar designs, but the 4.0's block is both taller and wider.

 

your right, i forgot that the 2.9 is a cologne block. isnt the 4.0 a vulcan block?

 

They're both Cologne series motors. 2.6 V6 (pre-Ranger), 2.8, 2.9, and 4.0 (both OHV and SOHC) were all made in the Cologne, Germany plant.

 

Ref CowboyBilly9Mile's post of Feb 03 on how to decarbon a 4.0L.
The post states it takes about 1.6 hours to complete, but with each can of carb tune-up cleaner you have to wait 1 hour for the cleaner to soak in. So this must be about a 4 hour job. Is the 1.6 hours what a shop would charge, not including the 3 hours waiting?
I did the procedure today, and may have screwed up. I waited 60 mins on can 1, 20 mins on can 2, and 10 mins on can 3.
Bottom line is pinging/knocking has not gone away.

John

93 4.0L Extended 145k miles