I have a 99 Windstar with the 3.8, and it has been great. It has 113K on it and runs and drives great. I have one problem that is annoying as hell and I am sure I am not the only one. The damn thing pings like crazy, I have installed new plugs, wires, upper intake gasket, fuel injector service, sea foam to the intake, pcv valve, and new air filter (K&N). It will only stop when you run 92 octane, and then it runs like new. I have been told it is a timing issue and when they did the intake gasket they updated the computer. How do you advance the timing in a vehicle that has no distributor? Will the dealer do this or can a regular shop do this? Any help would be very much appreciated. And could this be a sign of a timing chain that is strechted? Thanks again.

 

Have you tried cleaning the MAF sensor? If it's dirty that can cause a ping.
On most Windstars the timing retard for different gas is programmable with a scan tool. The settings are in the PCM. Your dealer should be able to reprogram that with their WDS scan tool.

 

2FordTrucks,

I had the same problem with ours (2000 3.8 V6). I kept asking the Dealer about needing a hgher octane gas, and the service manager was emphatic in saying "Under NO Circumstances Use Any Gas Other Than 87 Octane". So I told them I wanted it fixed. They let me bring it in twice for this, but everytime I picked it up- going up the first hill it would start again. So finally they agreed to "really fix it'- saying that they would need to keep the Windstar for at least 3 days. They had it for over a week. They ended up tearing the engine apart. Thank God for the Extended Service Plan! We've traded in the Windstar, but I think I still have the receipt that has the full description and parts list. I'll see if I can find it.

 

The dealer told me that retarding the timing will cause a power loss (like it has cobra power in the first place). They are willing to do it, but he said that in the summer months it is prone to do it because of the summer grade and winter grades of fuel. I did not buy that because my F150 has the 4.2 V6 and it does not do that. I think it was another way of saying " That is normal". We want to dump ours, after we fill it up with premium so it wont ping with them on the test drive, but we cant right now and I feel like something is going to break, but it runs great. Any way, thanks for your help.

 

Check your owners manual about using gas with a higher octane rating than 87, be sure before you do it.

 

He is right about the Winter, Summer grades "Reformulated" gas. Newer cars and trucks have the Chip programmed to tell what grade is being used. One reason gas cost more.

This stuff should be outlawed. It has been showen to posion water and cause Asma. Alaska has banned it' use and The Goverment made Oil companys exempt from law suits. We thank You California for your dumb *** idea!!!