I know But $400 is $400 - and then the original poster would have to pay someone to tune it on a dyno - how much does that run?

A stock V10 should never ping on 87 - something's wrong - throwing a custom tune at the problem isn't really the way to go... although it might be the only choice ...

 

The tuners come pre-installed with several tunes for different octane fuels, no dyno time is needed to use them.

I do agree that it should not ping on 87, something is wrong with his truck.

I only run 87 octane and don't ever plan on going to premium.

I do wonder if slightly retarding the timing would help his problem, however it is somewhat of a band-aid like running octane booster and higher octane fuel.

 

Or, like the "octane plug" on my '96 t-bird and '97 cougar (both 4.6L's).

Retards the timing something like 2 degrees across the board - makes it a slug though.

I remember reading on this site that Ford can do the same thing with a reflash on vehicles that do not have the octane plug.

 

This is the final chapter in my quest to eliminate my pinging.

I worked with a shop that specializes in tuning Fords. The first suggestion was to replace the MAF sensor. That had no effect on the pinging.

I then brought the truck into the shop. They checked the catalytic converter to see if it was causing a flow restriction. It was OK. They did drive testing and ran diagnostics. The diagnostics showed no problems.

This is what they did based on their experience tuning Ford engines…

1) Replace the plugs with colder plugs (I don’t know the plug specs).

2) Put in a custom tune with 3% more fuel and 2 degrees of spark retard.

The truck no longer pings on regular fuel! That even includes towing with a trailer over a mountain pass (where it previously pinged heavily on straight 92 octane premium).

Subjectively, I can not feel any performance difference. Objectively, the engine performance is just slightly better with 0 to 60 times averaging about 0.2 seconds faster after the custom tune.

 

That's great news Eric. I just read the entire thread. My pinging was solved by cleaning the MAF and replacing the fuel filter. But, like you said, that was the first thing you did. I wonder what changed on the truck? The previous owner said it did not ping until right before he sold it................I'm sure he's telling the truth. So, I wonder what changed on the truck. Oh well, who cares? It's fixed now right?

 

Eric,

Your ears must have been ringing this morning! I was pulling my 27' cruiser boat (just sub 10,000 #'s) to the water today and I was wondering if you ever solved your pinging problem. I was going to bump this thread to see how you made out. First I checked my email and saw a notification for this thread. Super weird! Anyway, I'm glad you have things worked out. Good luck.

Doug

 

Eric K -- GREAT news!

I'm giving REP points for posting a solution! Glad to see that you are back on the road...and no ping.


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