aaron95stang

I have a 95 5.0 5spd that is factory except for a k&N, flow master cat back and a hyper tech chip (which also required a thermostat change). The car has always had a problem with pinging (which was the reason I put the chip in it, I was told it would help) but it seems to be getting worse. It currently has just under 100,000 on it and I always run 93 octane. The only way for it to run half way decent if the temp outside is over 80 degrees is to run octane booster with the premium gas. needless to say that is pretty darn expensive. don't have the problem in the winter because it is cold outside and the car runs a little cooler. the car never runs hot, when it is hot outside and running bad, it will never make it passed the "o" in "normal". any body else have this happen? any suggestions? the car is also way down on power when warm too...thanks.

aaron95stang

ANYBODY?

JeffreyDJ

Well, I don't know specifically what could cause it. Someone smarter then me could probably figure it out.

1. But ... Are you sure the Thermostat installed isn't casuing the problem?
2. Checked the fluid in the radiator?
3. Did the HyperTech cheap mess with the timing in the car?

Anyone else have ideas?

Scothew

If its pinging, it means you are detonating. You have to much timing in the car either through your chip or you have advanced the timing via the distributer. I would honestly pull that chip out, especially during the summer and see if that helps.

aaron95stang

It ran bad before i installed the chip. i ran it with out installing the thermostat for a while. to keep the car cooler it was compensating by running the fan on high all the time, which eventually burnt up the fan. so I had the thermostat installed when they replaced the fan and that problem was solved. should i maybe having the timing set back at the distributer rather than yanking the chip?

Scothew

Do you know how much it has been advanced?

Also check your plugs. You may can find a cooler heat range plug to help combat the detonation. I would defintely get a timing light on the car regardless to check the timing.

joker

Definitley pulling the chip out would be the first thing I do, second would be to check the timing. Mail order chips are crap. I would almost bet $100 that your base timing is up too high, and the chip is just making it worse.

Cooler thermostats can also be a bad idea if you live in a hot climate. Common sense tells you that if you run a cooler thermostat, your engine will run cooler. Well, this isnt always the case. Your radiator serves one purpose, as a cooling area for the water and coolant with aid of the fan. Your thermostat basically regualtes when the cooler water from the radiator is allowed into the engine in order to cool the engine. Basically, if your thermostat is opening at a lower temperature, the water in your radiator has less time to actually cool off. So runnning a 160 thermostat will allow less time for the water to cool than running a 180 thermostat. Therefore by running a lower thermostat, you are actually trying to cool your engine with warmer water, which is less effective. This could also be part of what contributed to your fan burning up. Basically since your thermostat opens more often, the radiator was filled with hot water more frequently, causing the fan to run constantly.

What I would do personally, in exact order is:

Pull the crappy chip (I have NEVER heard of a mail order chip helping detonation)

Check the timing, drive the car a week, and check it again to make sure it isnt changing ( a loose timing chain is one thing that can cause this but it is unlikely with the mileage on your car)

put a stock thermostat back in

aaron95stang

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the advice. I will pull the chip this weekend and see if it helps. Might be hard to tell as the temp has taken a major dive here in the last couple days. I will keep you posted.

aaron95stang

I yanked the chip the other day and to give it a real test filled up with 87 octane. I got a little bit of detonation under wide open throttle a couple times after it warmed up, but for the most part it ran better. i am going to try better gas next time, but I think I still need to get that timing checked...

Scothew

Yeha still check the timing. Also if your timing is increased at all from stock, defintely run premium fuel to prevent detonation. I'd bet you could run it now as it is and then it would be ok.