1998 Ford f150 4.6l Engine Ping.

[mrrob]

Have any other Ford Pick-Up owners experienced this problem, under hard acceleration, you hear the engine pinging, like a timing problem.

Or if you use regular gas.

I have a few F150 pick-up owners who have to use premium or they will get heavy engine ping.


Mr.Rob

Lic Mech Auto/Truck/Trailer....

[ModMech]

Nope, they are equipped with knock sensors and should NOT ping. Really poor fuel, EGR troubles, or a MAF that is not reading properly (due to a K&N air filter) will all cause this as well.

[don strifler]

2003 ford f150 king ranch 5.4 engine, will not stop pinging on 87 octane fuel no matter where you get it. have friends with excursions with same problem. been back to dealer now nine times, engine replaced once with "reman" engine, still pings, have replaced knock sensors, have done everything that ford knows how to do. district rep now involved, have given information found on sites about pinging to the man that told me that he has never heard of this problem. need all ford owners that have this problem to jam fords telephones with complaints. this is rediculous.
ford dealer even suggested that i needed to go buy a superchip micro tuner and repair problem myself. 9 different ase ford technicians, 4 different service managers, 1 dealer owner, and 1 district rep all scratching their heads and telling me that the truck that i bought will only run correctly on premium fuel ( at a premium price of course) get mad and make ford correct their problems

[ModMech]

Don,

Starting in '00 Ford "deactivated" the Knock Sensors from the factory on some (if not all) trucks and Mustangs that had them. Soemthing about other parts of the truck fooling the KS into thinking knock was present when it was not.

[River187]

Try checking the amount of gaps on the spark plugs or the wires on the distributer cap they might be crossed

[ModMech]

Um, these engine have neither distributors nor wires.

[millerjamesp]

My 98 F-150 (4.6L) pings too. It does it at around 40 MPH. Maybe it's in between shift points? Any other suggestions on the doggy performance?

[4.6_F150]

My 2000 pings bad especially went its real cold out. I just put fuel injector cleaner in the tank every 5000 miles and use mid grade fuel. That seems to take care of it. Otherwise people think i've got a powerstroke in it

[andy2005]

My dad's 2001 4.2 V6 would ping real bad when it was almost new. The dealer adjusted the timing and the problem was solved.

[yotermanic]

Timing's not adjustable on the 4.2. Most modern Fords can have the octane rating adjusted in the PCM. Worth looking into, if the PCM thinks you are running premium, 87 will throw it for a loop. Also, I haven't heard of Ford disabling knock sensors. Not saying it's false or true, but I've never heard of it.

[mrrob]

I read a post on another site, where just by fluke truck owners coolant housing was leaking, so he replaced the Thermostat & Gasket (1998 Ford F150 4.6l), after he bled the system he road tested the truck and by fluke his Ping was gone?

It could be worth a try, I'll be doing it this weekend on one of my customers truck, I'll post the results, we are also going to have the Dealer adjust the timing, my buddy who work's at Ford say's they can adjust it by +/- 2' Deg. that's it.

Mr.Rob

[andy2005]

Originally Posted by yotermanic

Timing's not adjustable on the 4.2. Most modern Fords can have the octane rating adjusted in the PCM. Worth looking into, if the PCM thinks you are running premium, 87 will throw it for a loop. Also, I haven't heard of Ford disabling knock sensors. Not saying it's false or true, but I've never heard of it.

Now that I think about it i suppose the timeing wouldn't be adjustable on something that new. Anyway, the dealer adjusted something and the problem was fixed.

[mrrob]

The timing is adjustable but only by the dealer, and the maximum they can adjust the timing with their computer is +/- 2 'deg, obviously we want to retard it by 2 'deg, but is that enough to solve this problem? (PING).

Any Takers on the debate? I say maybe, but my other buddies are about 50/50 some yea some nea!

Mr.Rob

[kspeck]

I have 2008 F-150 King Ranch it is a Flex Fuel,

It has had the ping since 10000 miles, Dealer has replace Shortblock, Cleaned Heads, Decarboned 4 times, Replaced Computer 2 times.

I replaced the Plugs, oh yeah the cost of 8 plugs is over $125.00, and you can only get them through the dealer. I know, crazy. And no this is not the cost at the Dealer to have them replace them, it was me buying them out of pocket and replacing them myself. Dealer cost to replace plugs is over 250.00

And this is NOT ping on Tip in that you get in acceleration.

There are 2 options on for that year, one has Brown Boot Coils the othe has Black Boot Coils. Mine are Brown (Flex Fuel)

2 Ford Engineers agreed there is an issue, then 3rd Ford Engineer showed up and listened to it for 5 min and declared there is no problem. BS

This truck is a real peice of crap...

The Dealer and Techs put 4000 miles on it (not sure why or where they went, but come on 4k miles)

The truck now has 40+k miles and has gotten worse. And now a puff of black smoke comes out at first start of the day. Got to love that carbon build up

I have filed a complaint with Ford, and they offered 4000.00 to go away.
I have declined, Off to court we go...

And before all the gear heads chime in with the gas issue, I heve tried 40+ different gas stations, The Oil is changed by the Dealer.

I will never buy another new Ford again.

From what I can tell there are numerous trucks with this problem.

I will NEVER buy another Ford new again. I have been a loyal Blue Oval guy since I was old enough to know better (25+ years). I have purchased 6 New Truck in the past, 4 at the same dealer.

For Ford to blow us off like this is absurd.

Oh yah and if you tell me go but Import or a GM,
1. If you have not lost your job yet, keep buying imported goods.
2. I will never buy a GM (Government Motors) vehicle.
3. Dodge, no, No Fiat either.