Pinging/pinking(knocking) Any ideas please?

[karism]

Morning Guys (and Gabby)

I have a little problem currently, not a big one.

Let me give some background first:I`am running 93 Octane Unleaded , Timing is set on 15Deg BTDC. NGK BCPR6E11 Plugs. New Fuel filter (E14),and new High Flow Bosch pump fitted.I was driving around earlier this week, and I heard the pinging(pinking)It will ping, and then it will go away, as the timing is obviously retarded to save those poor pistons.Decided to go and buy a boost gauge, and have a look what the engine is boosting. Fitted the boost gauge on, and the first reading it gave was 10.6 PSI. Oh noes!!!!Danger to manifold!!!

Let her cool down a bit, and then I adjusted the actuator rod , to lower the boost a bit.

I got some conflicting answers, but as far as I know, it should be boosting 8 PSI?(please confirm)

Went for another drive… Vrooom,vroooom,VROOOOMMM..Krrrrrr. Ok,so now the gauge was showing 12PSI.Damnit!The thread on the rod is clockwise tightening on both sides idiot!

Got it turned down to 8.5 PSI for now.(my hands hurt, they are burnt for pete`s sake! )Any ideas why it will be pinging? Should I turn the boost down more to 8PSI,or lower?Please help!Thanks Karis

[meminto]

That octane rating is pretty low, I am not sure where you are located, but if you can access better quality fuel, then use it. If not maybe adding some octane boost to it and see if it helps with the detonation.

Japan have a higher quality fuel which the ecu's stock are tuned for, if your motor is jdm (I assume it is) it will have a hard time with the fuel quality you are using.

Hot days will also increase the chances of detonation...

[bentvalves]

^^ what he said, your ECU will eventually figure out how much timing needs to be pulled.

however instead of sacrificing HP try some octane booster.you could also retard the CAS 1 degree and see what that does for you.

are you sure the engine in knocking?

[karism]

Thanks for the reply guys.

I`am from South Africa.We recently started getting 95 octane unleaded fuel here,allthough i havent been able to get anywhere for the last week.

funny that they were running fine here since 1991 when they started comming in to South Africa.Mine is just a bit of a pain at the moment.

Yip,i`am sure it is pinking.Believe me!I can perhaps try and tetard the timing 1 deg or so,and see what it does.

Any hints on what it is supposed to boost factory spec?

Thanks

Karis

[bentvalves]

under 10 or roughly thereabouts.

if you have any mods, intercooler exhaust etc then it will boost a bit more.

[karism]

Thanks,much appreciated.

I have a bigger exhaust,but nothing else.Will turn it up a bit then,to get it up to 10PSI again.Next up will be a proper cooler,not like the small motorbike one it has on now

Karis

[zero_gripS13]

honestly i dont think it has anyhting to dow ith the gas japans gas is rated differently and equates to like 92 or 93 octane so i dont think thats your problem your problem might be you plug gap as the BCPR6E-11 plugs coem gaped at 1.1mm or .044 and is too much for the ca18det, did you regap the plugs? try that and see what happends.. and you shouldnt have to retard your timing.... what did the pingin sound like and what did the car do?

pull your plugs if your pingin you be able to see it on the plugs ...

[Buddyworm]

You have a sidemount? Maybe it's just that your intake charge is getting unreasonably hot, as I understand it gets unreasonably hot in SA.

[progman]

What to do. Run your car until you hear detention. then turn it off right away and read your plug with a loop. Make sure it is detention first. If you keep driving you will lose the ability to read the plugs.

look for:

insulator nose covered in tiny "pepper" specks.excessive cement boil on the center electrode.specks on plug shell end

Maybe check your blow-by percentage this can definitely cause detonation.

check your O2 sensor reading.

make sure your knock sensor is connected properly.

check your fuel pressure.

If you can change your boost to as low as it goes and try to reproduce the sound. If you hear it at like 4-6 psi I really doubt it is detonating. Wait for a humid day and try to get it to detonate. You should have a hard time doing this on a humid day.

ignore that stuff said above about Japanese fuel (it's rated in ron and not r+m/2). If 93 octane was to low for the ca18 with factory computer then almost everyone's car here would be detonating.

Sparks plugs that are gapped to big will only cause ignition problems. not detention.

[karism]

Thanks for all the helpfull hints.

I was under the impression that the plugs had to be gapped to .044?I guess i`am mistaken then.

I`ll try and drive it a bit,and see what i can see on the plugs.

I`am confident that the fuel pressure is ok,i installed a new high flow bosch pump less than 1 month ago.Allthough i`am having trouble testing the fuel pressure regulator.I dont quite get how to with the little solenoid valve on it

karis

[karism]

I have changed the plug gap to 0.6 like you guys suggested.Didnt make a difference.Its weird,as soon as it goes a smidge over 8psi,it pings.

Will continue looking,and give feedback incase i get it right.i hope!

Karis
Modified by karism at 1:38 AM 5/10/2008

[karism]

Got it fixed finally.

I tried makeing the plug gap smaller.All that it did was to make the engine misfire at idle.Wasnt happy. Changed that back to 0.04".

I retarded the timing 2 times,and now she is fine.Not quite sure what the setting is currently,but it is running smoothly,with no more pinking.Running 10PSI,and all is happy.

Karis

[bentvalves]

Id almost say you have a faulty knock sensor circuit or the like. The reason I say this is when the motor knocks, the knock sensor should/would normally pick up on this and retard timing in 1 degree increments on its own in the blink of an eye.

You shouldnt have to retard the ignition timing to keep it from knockin on 93.

Interesting though, have a look at the knock sensor and see if anything looks visibly out of place.

[karism]

It was strange to me that it knocked so easilly.

It did retard the timing when it started knocking.I obiviously didnt keep my foot flat either when it did.

The engine was overhauled before i bought the car( some 1000 miles ago)

I get the idea that they didnt use the CA18DET pistons,but ones from a CA18.

It was strange to me that the engine performed quite well of boost.Wasnt like other factory turbo engines that suck when not boosting.

So far its not running bad at all!

karis

[progman]

of course it's going to ping with those pistons! lol 9.5:1 instead of 8.5:1.

Thats great that it's not pinging anymore. but that explains why it will ping to easily.

don't plan on upping the boost.

[bentvalves]

thats coo, so what compression are the DE's, 9.0.1

edit: damn 9.5.1 thats awsome.

float has 9.5.1's to I believe.

I want 9:1's one of these times around.

[karism]

Perhaps later on i will have a look at the ignition advance curve. I`am convident there is more hp to get out of the engine by working on the timing,while running stock boost.Running 95 at the moment,finally got some.