[car.fixated]

Hey all.

I know I have seen this discussed before, but I cannot find how to do a forum-specific search within this group. So sorry, at the risk of repeating:

1,600 miles on my new 2012 V6. Bone stock original. Running 89 octane (87 first fillup, 89 since then).

I am getting a tapping or pinging on hard acceleration. Goes with engine speed. Only time I hear it is acceleration. I am guessing it is "knocking" as we used to call it. Only on my old, OLD cars with iron engines it sounded a LOT different. This pinging is much more quiet and higher pitched.

I have read on the forum before someone said that the ECU should be able to sense and account for pre-ignition and knocking regardless of octane used, and adjust accordingly to alleviate it. Does not seem to be happening. (My Nissan V6 does, and does it very well.)

Any thoughts? See the dealer? Much appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[bluebyu12]

You have no mods and a full warranty. Bring it to the dealer. If you had an after market tune I'd be worried but you don't.

 

[FiK]

Might not be knock either, might just be engine noise. Post a (quality) recording of it, please.

 

[Colonel Kurtz]

A few people that claimed they had pinging had it with their tunes and without. Same people stated they got rid of the problem by not using bad gas and going to a higher octane rating. The rest said its a character flaw of the engine (just noise). I say take it to the deal with your warranty and see what they saw.

 

[MCA2011]

LtngDrvr has mentioned this is the knock sensors adjusting timing on the fly, but I'll be damned if it doesnt sound a lot like ping.

 

[stevessvt]

I had this A lot. It was made more apparent with a BAMA tune, any kind for some reason. I also had an auto tranny. Have you noticed it does it almost always right when it shifts? This is when mine really made it noticeable.

 

[12tang]

I don't think it should be happening with 89 octane but it is very possible to get pinging with 87. In fact in the manual it says not to worry if you have slight pinging and only bring in to dealer if pinging is severe and occurs under most conditions. I take most conditions as under normal driving with frequent occurrence.

I had slight pinging with 87 octane all stock.

 

[Radioguy]

Hey all.

I know I have seen this discussed before, but I cannot find how to do a forum-specific search within this group. So sorry, at the risk of repeating:

1,600 miles on my new 2012 V6. Bone stock original. Running 89 octane (87 first fillup, 89 since then).

I am getting a tapping or pinging on hard acceleration. Goes with engine speed. Only time I hear it is acceleration. I am guessing it is "knocking" as we used to call it. Only on my old, OLD cars with iron engines it sounded a LOT different. This pinging is much more quiet and higher pitched.

I have read on the forum before someone said that the ECU should be able to sense and account for pre-ignition and knocking regardless of octane used, and adjust accordingly to alleviate it. Does not seem to be happening. (My Nissan V6 does, and does it very well.)

Any thoughts? See the dealer? Much appreciated!

Thanks.

If this has persisted over more than two tanks of fuel, just take it to the dealer. Pinging should not happen - by the way it usually sounds like a very loud rattle. Not sure about the sounds you are describing. If it just started, you might have gotten a particularly bad tank of fuel - it can happen if fuel delivery truck had just delivered diesel and did not flush the truck before loading gas. Earlier comment is correct. ECU has the ability to do significant adjusting of spark timing (on the fly) if the two engine "knock sensors" detect engine knock.

 

[car.fixated]

Sorry for the delay reply. I wanted to try some 91 Octane....

Same thing, same ping. 87, 89, and 91 octane. I'll see if I can hear it do it in the drive this weekend, but I *think* it only happens under load and modetate to strong acceleration. At least in the lower 3-4 gears (auto tranny). SO hard to record. But I will try it.

It is kind of a ping or rattle. Might also be something loose. Again, I have only had irown block engines in the past, so I have no frame of reference to a knocking sound in an aluminum engine.

I plan to drop it off at the dealer next week. I'll let you know. Thanks!

(I will be annoyed if it is knocking. My Nissan takes any Octane in its V6 and does fine, even though it RECCOMENDS 91... and it has 211k miles now also. :nono

 

[orbhot]

You're not using garbage brand gas are you? Here in Jacksonville, FL and surrounding areas, Gate stations are notorious for their poor quality gas. If you're not already using high quality gas, try switching to top tier (Chevron, Texaco, Shell et al.) for a while and see.

Also, why are you using 89 octane? This engine is made for 87 and it doesn't help to run 89 without a tune. If you have knock with 87, get a dealer tech to ride along and hear it so you don't waste your time and come out with them saying "we couldn't replicate the problem".

 

[post_break]

Ambient temps play a role in this. When it hits 95+ I have to be careful not to get on it. I run 93 and have only experienced it once when it was 100 degrees out. It sounds a lot like popcorn popping at very fast rate, almost all at once.

 

[car.fixated]

You're not using garbage brand gas are you? Here in Jacksonville, FL and surrounding areas, Gate stations are notorious for their poor quality gas. If you're not already using high quality gas, try switching to top tier (Chevron, Texaco, Shell et al.) for a while and see.

Also, why are you using 89 octane? This engine is made for 87 and it doesn't help to run 89 without a tune. If you have knock with 87, get a dealer tech to ride along and hear it so you don't waste your time and come out with them saying "we couldn't replicate the problem".

Actuially tried several different gas stations. As I said, I tried 87, 89, and 91 octane just to see if the noise changed. It didnt. And yes, good idea about the ride-along - I was also planning on doing that.

Thanks.

 

[12tang]

You're not using garbage brand gas are you? Here in Jacksonville, FL and surrounding areas, Gate stations are notorious for their poor quality gas. If you're not already using high quality gas, try switching to top tier (Chevron, Texaco, Shell et al.) for a while and see.

Also, why are you using 89 octane? This engine is made for 87 and it doesn't help to run 89 without a tune. If you have knock with 87, get a dealer tech to ride along and hear it so you don't waste your time and come out with them saying "we couldn't replicate the problem".

He can run 89 if he wants. The ti-vct will adjust for higher octanes. Performance will be increased with higher octanes stock. This has been proven on bama's tuning/intake video. This engine was allowed to run for 87 octane but IMHO it's too low of an octane. I had slight pinging on two tanks of fuel and it was top tier fuel. The manual informs drivers not to be alarmed if they're experience slight engine knock. I now run 93 with a tune and have no problems...

 

[wrxified]

If it's truly pinging or knocking and you're actually able to hear it then I doubt bad gas or environmental factors are the issue. Octane and environmental factors might be contributing to the problem but these cars will knock bone stock right off the showroom floor on 87 octane and you will not even notice it happening. That's why you make more power on 93 octane vs 87 octane.

So bottom line is this. If you're hearing a real knock then your car is not picking it up and making the appropriate adjustments to correct the issue. That would mean there is another issue with the ECU or knock sensor which would need to be addressed at the dealer. It seems like a faulty sensor would generate some sort of code. Take it to the dealer and have them drive it to see if they think it's really knocking. That or test drive another car and see if it does the same thing. These engines are exactly quiet under WOT when it get above 4k rpms. They're pretty loud.

 

[car.fixated]

UPDATE:

The pinging, knocking, or rattle I am getting on moderate to hard acceleration.

Had it to the dealer, and they were not only really nice about it, but when they could not "verify it themselves" they had me take a tech around in it. He could *hear* it, and agreed it was very quiet, but he felt it was just normal operating noise. So then they let me take him around in a comperable V6 AT 2013 they had on the new lot. And there it was - the 2013 made the exact same noise at the same times. But the 2013 was even louder! I said "I will keep my 2012, thanks!"

To jump to the conclusion... it turns out it is an exhaust resonance vibration that occurs in the forward exhaust in all 2011-2013 V6's. And I am just being too sensitive to car noises. :nogrinner Normal operating sound. Just that I have had over 20 cars older than me, and I have learned to listen to noises the car makes. Now i just have to get used to it.. or do an exhaust change. LOL

Hope that helps others that do a forum search! Thanks all, it was an interesting discussion.

 

[JpL4K3]

Have you thought about installing an oil catch can on your car? You probably have oil being sucked in from the valve cover being recirculated into the upper intake manifold which is killing your fuel quality, which is causing the pinging. I remember this was an issue on the 99 - 04 3.8's

 

[Recreate.Me]

Thanks man, I think this is the same sound that i was hearing with my v6 2012. It was right at gear changes and was pretty constant. I took it in today and they said they couldn't hear it, but someone in my thread pointed me here and I am glad they did! This is my first car and that noise was bothering me just a bit, but I am glad its not 'knocking' or detonation and the engine isn't slowly pitting itself.

Awesome work, I am really happy hearing this!

 

[Intense]

If it's truly pinging or knocking and you're actually able to hear it then I doubt bad gas or environmental factors are the issue.

So bottom line is this. If you're hearing a real knock then your car is not picking it up and making the appropriate adjustments to correct the issue. That would mean there is another issue with the ECU or knock sensor which would need to be addressed at the dealer. It seems like a faulty sensor would generate some sort of code. Take it to the dealer and have them drive it to see if they think it's really knocking. That or test drive another car and see if it does the same thing. These engines are exactly quiet under WOT when it get above 4k rpms. They're pretty loud.

Old thread, but I got to searching about foam insulation around knock sensors. My '13 has a foam insulation under the lower intake that pretty much fills the whole knock sensor valley and the pics I'd seen of Z28th1s's manifold swap...didn't have anything there. You could see his knock sensor valley in the pic. MAYBE it's there for simply cancelling out some engine noise but maybe it also has a dual role of isolating the knock sensors better to detect knock?? Just putting that out there. I've seen on other platform forums that a few people were saying this. I don't know if it's correct or not but it seems it might isolate ambient noise to an extent so the knock sensors could detect the knock frequencies transmitted through the block better. Sound like a possibility?

Anyone else have the foam under their lower intake? I might need to start a new thread.

 

[Shadow_Chaser]

Old thread, but I got to searching about foam insulation around knock sensors. My '13 has a foam insulation under the lower intake that pretty much fills the whole knock sensor valley and the pics I'd seen of Z28th1s's manifold swap...didn't have anything there. You could see his knock sensor valley in the pic. MAYBE it's there for simply cancelling out some engine noise but maybe it also has a dual role of isolating the knock sensors better to detect knock?? Just putting that out there. I've seen on other platform forums that a few people were saying this. I don't know if it's correct or not but it seems it might isolate ambient noise to an extent so the knock sensors could detect the knock frequencies transmitted through the block better. Sound like a possibility?

Anyone else have the foam under their lower intake? I might need to start a new thread.

I have the foam 'insulator'... I was told by a Ford Tech at my local dealership that it was placed there to limit noise from the injectors.

 

[Intense]

I have the foam 'insulator'... I was told by a Ford Tech at my local dealership that it was placed there to limit noise from the injectors.

Hmm...maybe so.

Curious...is your car an auto or a manual trans?