instigator311

I have a 01 V6 stock, and I had a problem with pinging back in December. The dealership was able to make it stop since then, and I've been running 89 octane consistantly since then. But now that it is getting hot out again, I've heard some slight pinging between 45 and 55 mph. Should I try running 91 octane to get rid of the last bit of pinging? Is it harmful to run 91 on a stock V6?

Stix66

How many miles are on the car?

depending on the age (mileage) of the car you shouldn't bump up to the higher level of octane. It will not hurt the car if oyu put it in but more like your wallet. Gas Prices are gonna be high this summer, and if your mileage on your car is not over 75k I wouldn't waste the extra 10-20 cents per gallon.

Another question is what did the dealer do to stop the pinging and did they tell you to start using midgrade? Because to me, unless the owners manual or the dealer tells me to put in a higher grade I will use regular.

ex-Galaxie500

I had a check engine light a while back after putting plus in the car and took it into the dealership. When I went to pick it up hey asked me if I had put a different kind of gas in the car. I told him I had and they said to only put regular in it from now on. On my reciept it listed the steps they took; they put Techron in my tank. The light went off soon after.

instigator311

I have 44,000 miles on the car, 14,000 on the new rebuilt engine. The dealership did something with the computer to change the timing or something to that effect. They had tried a number of things before that, and this was the last step where they called a Ford engineer, cuz they were out of ideas. I guess the new machines they use were designed for newer cars so you couldn't do exactly what needed to be done, so that's why they didn't do it in the first place. So they had an old machine there still that they hooked it up to and that was that. The mechanic said that if it still pings I could try 91 and see what happens. Money isn't a concern to me, I'll do whatever it takes to get the pinging to stop. I just figured I'd get a general consensus about the 91 because I've heard mixed experiences with it. Some have said the higher octane did wonders, others couldn't start their car.

So far I've only positively heard it slightly once, and I thought I may have heard it at that same range a couple more times, but it is hard to tell because my engine is kind of noisy and I may just be very paranoid about it. The owner's manual says that a slight ping is normal for the engine, despite what people have told me otherwise.

On the 3.8 forums I've been on, the pinging seems to be a very common problem that a lot of people are just living with and playing around with different gas and octanes.

Do you think the fact that it is getting warmer and more humid out will make it ping more? Or would that not be a factor?

forddude1416

I have 117k on my 98. When gas was getting cheap(er), I put in premium for a couple tank fulls, it seemed more responsive and got slightly better gas mileage. Wasn't really that much difference, about the same as when I usta flip the air filter on my 95 chevy 5.7

conv_stang

had the same problem with my 00 v6. the dealer told me it was from carbon buildup. they flushed the injection system and told me to run only 87 octane. they said the car didnt need midgrade or and higher. and that higher octane caused the carbon buildup and the pinging.

jgsmuzzy

I was under the impression that the higher grade actually lowered carbon build up, due to it being a more effective solvent.

There shouldn't be pinging on an engine that has been rebuilt so recently, regardless of the fuel used. Maybe something was not done right in the rebuild?

Moving to V6

lowblustang00

Over 100,000mi on my v6. Mine started pinging on 87 after some bolt ons. I've been running 91-93 in it since then without a problem for several years now. If I ever drop back down to 89 the pinging starts up again. Its not that bad on the wallet either. Around here it is usually only ten cents more per gallon and when your only filling up with 14 gallons it is only $1.40 more per tank. $1.40 is worth not having to listen to the pinging.