Heavy Octane Ping - Page 2

fredjacksonsan · 03-03-2005, 08:01 AM

I stay away from techs whenever possible, I hate to leave my vehicle with someone who works too long on too many vehicles, and to whom mine is "just another one" that they're trying to beat the book on.

Some techs I've taken a vehicle to have been good, and a lot of them have been bad. Sometimes they don't even listen to what you have to say, make an assumption and tell you what your problem is.

rant: Case in point: The rumble in my drivetrain. I took it to the dealer, told them the problem, and left it there all day with them. When I went to pick it up (after 8 hours and a call saying it was ready) they said they hadn't done any work to it and the exhaust noise was normal. I asked them if they had driven it. Nope. They hadn't done anything and had the vehicle all day. I insisted the tech go for a drive with me, and his eyebrows shot up when he heard and felt the rumble - it was obvious my truck had been parked all day long - so after ZERO diagnosis they were telling me it was normal. (I've since diagnosed it myself as a driveshaft vibration being transmitted through a hard rubber mount) /rant

Many techs straight out of school have a lot of book learning, you're 100% right there Bleed. But they don't have enough experience or seasoning to understand that their opinion may not be the only one that is correct. A dangerous assumption to make. And being assholes about it, well that speaks for itself.

I'm with you ScoutinKeith, DIY whenever possible. Saves money and usually downtime, and you know the job was done right. (Plus the beer angle of course!)

badthumper · 03-03-2005, 06:33 PM

my 5.9pings too. tried to check the plenum gasket but not sure how..
hooked up the brake vaccum hose to a smokemachine, waited for 5-10 mins but no smoke anywhere around the plenum. just a bit from the breather. that mean it's ok? thanks.

OCUJer · 03-03-2005, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1thunder

Hey fredjacksonsan do you have a Dodge truck of this vintage so you can read the manual and see exactly what they say about pinging and WHAT IS CONSIDERED NORMAL before you start beecking off about something you obviously know nothing about. Or just go to your nearest Dodge dealer and read some of their manuals and then repost and let us know what you learned!!!!!!

If you won't take it from him then take it from me, this pinging....AIN'T NORMAL. Before the treatments I was noticably loosing Horse Power after a certian RPM. This 5.9 ltr is a beast, it doesn't loose HP at 75mph on an incline.

scoutinkeith · 03-04-2005, 07:56 AM

badthumper,
to check the plenum gasket, you can either look down the throttle body with a light to check thebottom of the intake for oil, or you can, with the engine running, remove the pcv valve from the valve cover, and cover the hole with you hand, if you can feel vacume, the gasket is bad, if preasure builds, then the gasket is ok. NOTE: if you have any other vac lines attatched to the valve covers, they need to be removed, and the holes plugged.

I doubt a smoke machine would show much, basically what you were doing is filling the intake with smoke, but the gasket is on the bottom side of the intake manifold, and any leaks would leak into the lifter valley, and not be visable to you.

Carly123 · 05-31-2005, 12:42 PM

my 2000 5.9 is pinging like crazy and I am so sick of getting ripped off. Do I tell them to just change the plugs? Thanks

fredjacksonsan · 05-31-2005, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carly123

my 2000 5.9 is pinging like crazy and I am so sick of getting ripped off. Do I tell them to just change the plugs? Thanks

Hey Carly, if you've looked in this forum you've seen all the threads about the plenum gasket being bad. That is where I'd start, based on your short description.

To get a bit more exposure, you might want to start a new thread, and describe your problem in detail. More folks will see it that way.

wafrederick · 05-31-2005, 07:02 PM

Take it to the dealer to get the computer reflashed.There is a tsb on that and that is the fix.One of my father's customers had that same problem,one with a 5.9.Luckily my father found that on Alldata and and told him take it to the dealer to get the computer reflashed.

fredjacksonsan · 05-31-2005, 07:09 PM

Agreed that the flash works in some cases, but in others it causes a hellacious reduction in power. Better to check the plenum gasket first.

BleedDodge · 05-31-2005, 08:14 PM

No kidding. Get the thing flashed and you'll have no power AND the still leaking plenum gasket...

BFG227 · 06-21-2005, 10:38 AM

First of all, that plenum gasket is a major design flaw in my book. If you want to fix it right, go to www.hughsengines.com .. They offer a replacement plenum cover made from machined solid aluminum with gasket and bolts for about $80. Its about 1/4" thick and can tolerate use of a supercharger. Or, use the M1 2bbl performance intake manifold found in the mopar catalog. That solved my problem with some gains to boot.

Blylock · 06-24-2005, 01:09 PM

read this. anyone with dodge questions, ask me, because chances are i can answer them. heres the TSB of the plenum(intake) gasket problems for the 5.2-5.9 rams. ive had 2 put on my truck

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2000/09-05-00.htm

think before you fix, it even tells you how to check it, but a fast way is to look into your throttle body and see if oil is in your intake. but thats only works if its leaking near your TB. another way is if your consuming oil, and your not getting blue exhaust. i was going through 2 quarts every 500 miles, and no black plugs or blue smoke. yet another way is if theres oil inside your exhaust tips. keep n mind when the intake gasket leaks, 95% of the oil exits through your exhaust valves.

alot of you are right and think about this. Pinging is a problem. flashing the comp, or changing the plugs does not fix it. i dont get the common sense here. motors just dont develop a spark knock which requires a different program, or different plugs to fix

john4.7 · 09-06-2005, 08:04 PM

You need to watch the type of plugs you use. I have had bad experience with platinum plugs. I bought +4 and my engine knocked like crazy. I found out it's because they hold too much heat and can ignite the fuel prematurely. Just a thought.

wafrederick · 09-07-2005, 06:37 PM

Reflashing the computer will not effect the power of the truck.The tsb came from Daimler Chysler and they knew about it.Only brand plugs that are good for Chrysler products are Champion spark plugs.

Loud Pipes · 09-12-2005, 12:32 PM

Hey all, just joined this forum. Used to be in the Jeep one, had a Grand Cherokee. I had pinging there, but no good solutions. I ended up putting on a cold air intake, and problem solved. I know it did not fix anything, except introducing cooler air for combustion.

Now I have a 97 ram with the 5.9L, and I have pinging also. I wonder if the cold air intake would help here too. I had not heard about the plenum pan gaskets before, good advise. But what if I am not losing any oil, can it still be a bad gasket? Oil level has not moved over 3k miles (almost time for the next change).

Thanks!

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