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HELP! The heatwave is causing my car to ping like mad! :(

JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
i have a '93 nissan sentra w/200k miles.

today was the heatwave on the east coast. my car started pinging like mad when i accelerated. nothing has changed except the temperature. same Shell gas station i've used for the past 4 years.

i was told to by a friend that it could be pre-ignition combustion. ie: the fuel is igniting b4 it gets to the spark plug. He said to get higher octane, like 89. Will try that tommorow. but...

1) Is there another fix to this problem?

2) if the higher octane doesn't help, what else could it be?

THX

EDIT: my car is also leaking/burning oil, about 1.5 quarts/1000 miles. but it's been doing that for the past 6 months.
 
The temperature shouldn't cause your car to ping. Sounds more like you got a bad tank of gas. Try running a couple of tanks of higher octane for awhile.
 


<< Your car may be overheating. Overheating engine will ping like a mofo. >>



temp gauge says it's normal. and the antifreeze/coolant is still at the correct levels.

oh, my car is leaking and burning oil. i avg 1.5quarts per 1000 miles. my mechanic said i need the upper and lower valve seals (?) fixed which will cost about $2k. he recommends that i drive it till a month b4 inspection/emmisions (next year) and get another car since the current one won't pass emmisions. if i keep putting oil in it, it'll be fine.

was he right? (i mean he seemed honest enuf if he tells me not to spend $ at his shop?)

happypuppy, i'm at 1/2 tank right now (170 miles), but will fill up immediately tommorow. but the pinging only started today, and only 30 miles ago. if it was a bad tank of gas, shouldn;t it have started after like 10 miles?

Any other ideas? THX!
 
I am thinking somethign with the fuel..

normally manufactuers use winter forumula fuel until beginning of may.. the early heatwave i think is causing yoru car to ping. The summer formula would be more suited for this weather.
I would suggest goign to a higher ocatane.. until the new fuel gets available.
 
I'd definitely try some 91+ octane gas at least once to see if it goes away, if it does, continue using higher octane gas... price difference is too small to worry about if you ask me.. considering that the higher octane gas is better in every way.. it's like 2 bucks a tank difference at most.. ooooh!!!
 
If you are burning oil that badly it could also be carboned up so bad its causing the ping too. You can try decarboning the combustion chambers if fuel octane doesnt help. Your engine appearantly needs a ring job pretty bad.
 


<< If you are burning oil that badly it could also be carboned up so bad its causing the ping too. You can try decarboning the combustion chambers if fuel octane doesnt help. Your engine appearantly needs a ring job pretty bad. >>



what's carboned up so badly? the pistons? sparkplugs? cat converter?
and how do i get rid of the carbon? something from the auto store?

THX
 
Some cars have an air bleed "valve" in the coolant system. If your car has this, it wouldn't hurt to make sure all the air is bled out of the coolant system.
Otherwise your cooling may not be working right, and be hot in some places but not other.
 
yes higher octane, but that costs $2 more per tank. if changing the timing also fixes the problem, then it's more cost effective.

so will changing the timing help?
 
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