Hey guys,
I finally had a chance to tow something heavy with my truck this past weekend. I was pulling a 5000# boat, loaded truck with 4 people and camping gear. I had to climb a 1500' mountain pass in about 3 miles.

I noticed that while the truck was pulling uphill I could hear some slight knocking under the hood. It happened especially while "lugging" the engine. (RPMs below 2000). But, by the time I got to the top of the grade I had the truck in 2nd gear for awhile at about 3500 RPM. I was cruising at 55 mph and kept it there for 1-2 minutes. Now the weird thing is...the knocking sound got really bad. I pulled over thinking something was loose and banging under the truck. Found nothing, kept driving and it never happened again.

On the way home, I filled up with 89 octane instead of my usual 87. It seemed to decrease the knocking even going up the hill.

So, question is, should I always run 89? Why didn't the fuel computer adjust the timing to decrease the knocking? The engine and exhaust system were extremely hot after climbing the pass (engine not over-heating or anything) at those RPMs, is this when the infamous "Y-pipe" thing rears it's head? What kind of sound does this "Y-pipe" thing cause? Is there any type of software upgrade I should get for this?

It's a 2000 SD CC 4X4 SRW V-10. As far as I know the truck is completely stock. No mods. I've only had it for 4 months and it's got 82K on it.

Pete

 

The V10 has a knock sensor to detect knocking and should retard timing to prevent knocking.We have such a variance in gasolines that sometimes i can tell a bad batch from other fill ups.I would run 92 octane if i was you when you tow.Now another note,the shield between the trans and the engine rattles on some trucks and could be the problem.It does not hurt to tow at 3000 rpms or more for a extended time, maybe try to keep the rpms up a little more.You can tow at 4000 rpms all day.good luck

 

The heat shield that was tack welded to my Y-pipe rattled under load when I first bought mine, and I just welded it a little better. Any exhaust shop could do it for a few bucks - or you could remove it as long as you don't park on high grass. I wouldn't have mistook it for detonation, though. Maybe some people would.

At any rate, it was fairly easy to find. Just crawl up under there and see if you can move it. You shouldn't be able to.

 

Thanks guys,
I'm doing the exact same route tomorrow so, we'll see what happens. I'll be running 89 octane this time.

The pinging didn't quite sound like normal detonation, it seemed slightly quieter. I've heard plenty of cars knock.

I looked at that torqure converter sheild and it was flush up against the trans. bell housing. I bent it away. I also looked at the Y pipe and it seems to be choked down to like 1.25" diameter from the right side exh. man. when it connects to the main pipe. A real restriction going on there. The heat sheilds seemed tight.

Pete

 

I had the pinging in overdrive occasionally too. I have always ran 87 octane in my V10. What seemed to help me was to disconnect my battery overnight, then re-connect it in the morning and let the computer re-learn the engine. I just got back from a 2000 mi. trip with many mountain passes and didn't get any pinging the whole trip. I've read where the computer will adjust to higher grades of gas, but to reset it to regular 87 octane you will need to do what I did above.

Hope it works.

 

Guys, I have a very similar detonation problem and have been trying to figure it out for some time now. My scenario is similar to Petes (VolvoWrench) in that it appears when towing a boat but the difference is that it also appears unloaded as well and I only run 91 octane fuels (Always) because of this problem.

I have a 99 F350 dually V10 with 4.30S and 98K miles. Only modification is the addition of a Magnaflow CATBACK exhaust system.

The detonation occurs at roughly the 2800 -3500 RPM range, which unfortunately for me is about 60-65MPH pulling my 5000# boat up a slight grade in sunny So. Cal. this is during day or night time so the heat does not seem to be a factor.

I have taken the truck to the dealer for this issue twice and the first time they told me it was the EGR pressure sensor and carbon build (which I have seen on the forums) so I agreed and they replaced the EGR sensor, performed a decarbonization, a fuel injection clean and oil change and sent me on my way ($550 later, NO LUCK, still have detonation)
Then I contacted a friend who had worked on the design of the V10 in those days in Detroit and he told me to have them change the Octane adjust bit (in my prom) since I am a California vehicle it was set for higher octane in the 99’s. I took it back to the dealer and they adjusted the bit which retarded the timing 3 degrees (STILL NO LUCK)

So today I borrowed a friends Vetronix OBD scanner ($5K unit) and did a test run on the freeway (unloaded) and found that the detonation is occurring at the 3200 RPM range, engine load at 30-35%, timing advance is at 32 degrees and the ECU in closed loop?

I am going crazy worrying about burning up a piston while on the road as the detonation is steady in this RPM range pulling the boat and the knock sensor can not adjust the timing enough it seems. Note that I did have the dealer confirm the knock sensor is working properly.

Any ideas out there where to look next? Possibly take the timing down even further, it currently shows at 32 degrees per the Vetronixs unit? I don’t want to lose any more power though!

Thanks for any assistance

 

I have the same problem towing my 8500 lb travel trailer, so I am very interested in the solution. Having read the discussions of blown spark plugs, I think about detonation blowing a spark plug thru my hood.

 

I had the same problem in my 2000 F350 SC DRW 4.30 gears. I bought the truck in Oregon so it had California <ST1emissions. Pulling my 5ver home I thought it was coming apart just at certain RPMs. A Ford dealer looked at it and said nothing was wrong called Ford and told them I own two 2000 V10s and one makes the noise and the other one doesn’t. They made a appointment at another dealer and they had it for two days with no fix at that time because Ford didn’t have one, 3 weeks later they contacted me and installed a new Y pipe and reprogrammed the computer to a 2001. Sound was gone and have been happy with it sense. The Y pipe looks like a 2001 pipe. There is a TB out their on this problem. My V10 that didn’t have the noise was a early production and the one that did was a late production also the early production was not a California<ST1 emissions truck.

Hope this helps

Denny

 

RVPULLER,
I have read a few other posts where the Y pipe has been recommended and my buddy back in Detroit who work on the V10 design actually mentioned this as well, Glad to hear of some one who has had the same problem and it actually fixes the problem . This will be my next step for sure. Do you know exactly which Y pipe they installed (year), this way I can speak intelligently at the dealer. I swear you have to hold their hand half the time to get things right . I assume a TB is a "Test Bulletin", any idea where to locate this?

Thank you for the input. It really is greatly appreciated.

I have really enjoy this forum, there is lots of very useful information that has help guide me through a few problems.

 

I can’t believe that I found the original papers from the first service on the truck. It’s a Special Service Message, No 13519 11/24/2000 6.8L California Exhaust Flutter. I put it in my glove box. I believe that when I picked the truck the fix was under a Technical Bulletin, sorry can’t find that.


Good Luck

Denny

 

First of all I really enjoy this website! Lots of good information from good people. We recently purchased a '99 F350 CC 4x4 DRW V-10 with 78K on it. We absolutely love this truck! The V-10 makes great power. We have used it to tow our boat (total of 6,000 lbs with trailer) and our 5th wheel (9,500 lbs empty). My only complaint so far is the pinging, or detonation, that can be heard when cruising along (not under a load or acceleration). At first we were running 87 octane but quickly upgraded to 91 octane. While the 91 octane made a huge improvement it still "pings" considerably. I was glad to see this topic and a few suggestions of what might help. I am going to try a few of the suggestions, starting at the Ford dealer for an engine diagnostic, and move on to the exhaust system. One good thing is that the temperature guage never moves once it is warmed up, so it does not appear that the pinging is causing higher engine temperatures. Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Flutter,flutter,flutter

 

I had the same problem of pinging under tow/load. I have always been told and read that 87 octane will do fine but can you always guarantee your going to get 87 octane. Recently with the higher gas prices and the wars that stations have had to be competitive, many have been accused of "watering" it down or thinning it out. So to ensure I get 87 I always buy 89 octane just to feel comfortable. I also use to program a previous truck and burn 93 under program/tow and go back to 87 for stock mode and it never ran right for the stock mode. I then thought about no programming and burning 93 octane when towing and then going back to 87 when done. All this jumping around seemed to just mess it up more. From this I've learned to not jump around, just stay with one octane(89 for me) for towing or no towing and the pinging has went away. There is also something to be said for disconnecting the battery so your truck can re-learn your driving habits or fuel useage/octane choice. This has been my experience with a 2001 F250,V10,CC,longbox towing a 6000# travel trailer. Good Luck.

 

I have only run 87 octane in my 04' V-10, 6-speed w/4:30's, towing skidsteer or going to Nova Scotia towing a 23 ft Camper, and bed loaded with toys and stuff, thing ran great,,no knocking, and very impressed with this motor and setup.

Later,,,,,,,,,,,,,Mark

 

Now that ya mention it....I've only had my '01 V10 for a week or 2, and notice pinging at around 1500 RPM in overdrive. No load, just driving around.