96 t-bird pinging and do "speed chips" work.

JESTKICKINBACK

MEMBER
1996 FORD

Hi, I've got a 96 ford t-bird with a v6 and 120,000 miles on it. It pings fairly regularly just about anytime I step on it. If I'm real light on the throttle it's not too bad or usually not noticeable if it's pinging at all. When I use a plus or super gas it has less pinging.

I have recently changed the fuel filter, air filter, PCV valve, cleaned the mass air flow sensor, new plugs, new belts, new hoses.

This has been going on for a while, but the check engine light doesn't come on. I've talked with some people and would love to richen the mixture, but from what I can tell there is no way to change the timing or mixture.

One option I have come accross is throwing a so called "speed chip" on the car. They claim more HP, better gas mileage and that the car can drive on water. Looks like it just hooks to the temp sensor and makes the car think it's cold, thus keeping it at a richer mixture. Is this true? Will this fix my problem? Doesn't the car run richer when cold? Would this do anything for HP? And wouldn't it actually cause me to get less gas mileage? OR, would more power let me get off the gas quicker and then actually save.

There are a bunch of chips on ebay in the $25 range. Is this a quick fix for me? If so, is there one that is better than the other? All brands seem to have the same claims. Thanks for any help you can give me!

3 Replies

TAURUSWHEEL

MECHANIC
718 POSTS

Does Ford sell a chip to fix this problem? Of course not. Pinging is usually related to the egr system, not always, but usually. Could also be dirty intake valves, some cases high compression caused by carbon buildup. The reason the egr causes a ping, sometimes, is that when the egr system opens to recirculate the exhaust, the timing is also advanced to compensate for the temp change, if the flow is not up to par, you will hear the pinging. I would start with a compression check, then checkl out the entire egr system for proper operation, check for any plugged lines, ports, etc. Higher octane fuels don't fix the issue, just mask it with the higher anti-knock additives. Give your engine a good going over, get a service manual of some type to help you. No codes because the system is still operating within the designed parameters, however something is out of whack enough to cause the ping, hopefully it's something easy to fix, good luck

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Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 AT 7:30 AM

98RANGERXLT

MEMBER
301 POSTS

Some cars if you dont use shell of chevron or texaco it will ping

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Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 AT 10:46 AM

JESTKICKINBACK

MEMBER
5 POSTS

I'm not familiar with the EGR system and have replaced a ton of stuff already. I don't have all the fancy tools or even a good place to work (apartment), so as far as I can tell I've replaced just about everything I can. Even the manuals at the autopart store don't cover anything more that what i've done and cost $20. I hear only good manuals are the real shop manuals that cost $150+. I don't want to put any more money into this car as it is worth next to nothing. This is an old car that I'm looking to get rid of in the near future. I paid $1600 three years ago with 40,000 less miles. If the chip and good gas can mask the problem then that would be more than enough for me.

I did some more research on the chips and people are saying that they are simply resistors you hook to the temp sensor. If that makes it think it's colder, then will the mixture richen? If so, then with the chip and some high octane, would the pinging stop?

Also, if it is just a resistor, then I hear you can pick them up at radio shack for a $1. If that's true, what kind do I buy and how would I hook it up?

Thanks!

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Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 AT 5:42 PM