Pinking

11th October 2007, 21:17

Pinking?
Does anybody know:

a)What it is?
b)what causes it?
c)how to cure it?

Many help muchly apprieciated.
Many thanks
saxmaniac5

11th October 2007, 22:11

pinking (or pinging) is another name for preignition. commonly caused by poor quality fuel, compression ratio too high, driving in too high a gear or too much ignition advance.poor quality fuel can be fixed by changing fuel.
too much advance can be fixed by either retarding the timing or adding an octane booster to your fuel.

too high compression ration is a problem. either the engine was built with too much compression (rare these days, but not unheard of) and you need to yell at the engine builder, or the heads are choked up with carbon, filling the space in the combustion chamber. time to refresh the engine with a rebuild
if its because of too high a gear, slap yourself in the head and go down a gear at the hill

my bet would be to add some octane boost to the fuel and see if that makes a difference. if so it may need to be retimed. if that doesnt work, time to get some quotes

11th October 2007, 22:19

i noticed this on my vtr so i let the petrol run low (till the light came on) and put some of the uprated fuel in the stuff that costs more think it has a higher ron and its hardly noticeable now unless im in a high gear going slow and put my foot down !

11th October 2007, 22:33

cheers for that sharky. is there an easy way to check to see if my timing is out?

12th October 2007, 08:13

Just to let you know on exactly what it is...

During the compression stroke of the engine, the piston moves upward, causing the air / fuel mixture to become compressed. Normally, the spark plug will ignite the mixture, and the force of the explosion then pushes the piston downward etc, etc... Pre-ignition is where the air / fuel mixture ignites prior to the spark plug actually igniting the mixture. The reason it ignites on its own, is because the air / fuel mixture becomes volatile under pressure, and if the pressure is too great, the mixture will combust on its own accord - Pinking / pre-ignition.

Contrary to what most people think, higher RON rated fuel is actually less combustable, hence, when mixed with the same amount of air, it can be pressurised to a greater amount before it will combust on its own accord. (Don't confuse this with the energy that is released from the explosion however...) As high performance engines and racing engines tend to have rather high compression ratios, they require the use of the higher RON rated fuels to stop the possibilities of any pre-ignition taking place. This is typically where the common misconception is made where people think higher RON rated fuels give more power.

20th October 2007, 01:15

well i've gone back to std air box with pipercross replacement element and used a tank of BP and the pinking seems to have quietend down a bit. gonna try running some wynns or slick 50 though it to clean it through. cheers guys

15th June 2010, 16:43

i am having the same problem

really getting loud now started of as nothing when i first got the car and had it now for about a month or so and it has just got louder and ideas of what this pinging noise is or do you think i should try this change the petrol??

gaz

15th June 2010, 16:47

Are you both sure your cars are actually pinking? It's not your tappets needing setting up, is it? Because they make a tapping noise...

16th June 2010, 11:46

The ignition timing is set by the ecu and contantly changes as conditions alter - engine load/temp/speed etc. This makes me think that you might have a possible sensor fault thus the ecu is applying the wrong amount of ignition advance under some conditions.

16th June 2010, 12:00

yes its pinking mate. well thats what i have been told by the garage and the went to put a knock sensor in but he said that there was no plugs to plug it into

any 1 got any advice??

thanks gaz

16th June 2010, 18:24

sorry for taking over your thread there mate but i have the same problem as you so free bump hope we get it sorted

if i find anything out i will be sure to let u know bud

2nd July 2010, 12:36

Sorry to Bump up this oldish thread i`ve just been talking to the garage that does most of the work on my car,about adjusting the tappets & after describing the rattling noise to them they are sure the engine is pinking.They have said to me to get my fuel from Shell as its a higher RON rating & this should solve the problem as cheaper fuel is mixed with more chemicals.At least they didn`t rip me of by saying its the tappets adjusting them & charging for it.

Steve.

2nd July 2010, 12:52

IIRC, the earlier blacktop Vtr lacks a knock sensor, and so when its hot & fitted with an open induction kit can pink.

2nd July 2010, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quick

IIRC, the earlier blacktop Vtr lacks a knock sensor, and so when its hot & fitted with an open induction kit can pink.

I take your point mine has an open induction kit but for how much longer is debatable thinking of going back to standard airbox with a k+n filter.

Steve.

14th July 2010, 20:05

had this on my vts, change of fuel didnt sort it, but once plugged into a propper code reader, cleared all faults its never pinked again, been over 2 months of using everyday. but im sure the garage's they you went to have tried that?

14th July 2010, 20:21

i dont understand why ya'd want an induction kit mate-they're crap for vtr's.And they sound silly.Why,in the 1st place?