Hi there,
I have a 1999 mazda b2500 truck with the 2.5L inline 4-cyl. My truck only has just barely under 111,000 miles on it. I am having some serious PINGING PROBLEM with it. IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY. Ok, well i have taken it to a mazda dealer and they told me that replacing the catalitic converter because they said that the interior of it was cracked and broken. They said that this should cure my problem. So i went ahead and replaced it, but it didn't cure my engine pinging. I just got screwed! So then about a week later i take it into the Ford deal and they said oh that they could do an "octane adjust" which it turned out that they could not do this because apparently there is not a setting in my ECU for that and they couldn't further help try and figure out what is the cause of my pinging problem.
So far, i have replaced the catalitic converter, installed new O2 sensors, checked the spark plugs and the gap and they were fine, checked the spark plug wires (good), checked the air filter (good), and even done the sea foam carbon engine cleaner thing... pretty much done as much checking and maintenence that i could think of.
It pings the most when the engine is all warmed up but i can still get it to ping when it is really cold out. If i put in the high grade gas it helps but still pings OR if i put in 2 bottles of octane booster one (bottle is suppose to treat up to 16 gal.) it again helps it from pinging really bad but still pings. I have noticed that the warmer the OAT (outside air temp) is the worse my pinging problem is. I dont have to press very hard on the accelerator to get it to ping. The times that it pings the hardest (sounding almost like a diesel truck at times) is when i go up hills, lug it, when the engine actually has to pull the weight of the truck, accelerating of any kind, or even driving on a level freeway. I have a hard time doing the speed limit of 60mph and trying to keep the engine from pinging.
A mechanic that i know has one of the computers that you plug into a cars computer and he did it to my truck the other day. His analysis of what the computer was showing him was that comparing the short term and long term fuel % or whatever that is... he said that my truck is running very rich and it keeps trying to lean itself out and apparently it isn't really doing that. I am not really sure what that is suppose to mean other than the fact that the engine is getting more fuel than air in the fuel/air mixture. He also mentioned to me that it could be possible that my timing belt could be stretched out, got warm and could have jumped a tooth on the timing gear thus throwing my timing slightly off and causing the pinging. I dont know, does this sound like it is reasonable and is it a common problem?
Also, i have heard that on my truck there isn't a way to change the timing because it is all controlled by the computer so is this true?
SOOO....DO YOU HAVE A CLUE WHAT MY PROBLEM COULD BE???
I am absolutly clueless as to what the heck is causing my truck to ping and i would like to get it fixed soon because i am planning on doing to cross country driving this summer. If anyone could please give me some input OR direct me on this problem, OR if your have some other idea's on what could be causing it to ping, OR you have any questions for me in helping me solve my engine pinging problem I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!!!!
PS: sorry about the long length but i wanted to give you a good idea of exactly my whole situation for more accurate diagnosis.
THANKS FOR READING and again please send me a message if you think you could help me in anyway because i am to the point of giving up.
THANKS AGAIN!!!
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