Engine ping

[Dr.Manhattan]

I tried to not to think anything of it for a long time, but while I have my ex off the road I want to try to fix things in it. A year ago my oil sending switch went and the car pissed oil everywhere. I initially thought this was the valve cover gasket going. I went through three days of changing the gaskets over to the rubber Felpro ones. I used RTV silicone only in the spots the instructions indicated and followed the Torque ratios illustrated in Chiltons.

When I put oil back in the car and started it I still had the same issue, at which point I realized it was the Sending switch. Once I changed it over I started the car and drove it up until Tax season this year when I got a cheapo car to weather the rising gas prices. Ever since I fixed all that stuff, I've heard a ticking, or pinging sound when I start the engine that would go away after driving for a few minutes.

The only thing I know that is wrong with the Ex is that it needs new O2 sensors. Anyone with any experience please let me know what to do about this. I have 262k on the Ex and would love to put a **** ton more on.

 

[Anime]

The 'ping' is likely valve clatter from worn rocker arms. This is a known issue with the stock rockers, the material was too soft and they actually wear down where they contact the valves.

The only fix is new rocker arms. Not too hard, not incredibly expensive, but you need to get the valve covers off, and generally it's a good idea to take apart the upper and lower intake while you're at it and replace all the top end gaskets.

You can also do the timing chain, gears, guide and tensioner while you're at it, at 262K it would make a difference along with the rockers.

Also make sure you're using 5W-30 oil. Using oil that's too thin will cause clatter and additional wear, and oil that's too thick will not get into all the places it needs to go, also causing noise and wear.