Pinging in '92-'93 4.0 engines !!!!

[stilbo]

You won't believe how simple this fix is! I did it to mine and now have doctored at least a dozen 4.0 for this.

Ford (Germany) used a rotton batch/design intake manifold gasket in these years. There is a TSB at Auto Data if you want to search for it....

The expensive fix (if it was let go too long) is to pull the manifold and replace gasket with updated version but.......

Retorque the intake manifold to head bolts!!!!!

That's it and that's usually all you have to do...

Usually cyl #5 bolts are the worse (loose) ones.

No more ping, no more premium...

Yer gonna love it!

Dr Ron

 

[Rick]

Ron, I am going to give this a try. I sure will be thankful if it works. My engine runs great EXCEPT, for the knock under load which ONLY occurs with Arizona's ozygenated fuel. When I run "real" fuel there is no knock. Maybe I have just a slight leak.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

that is right Ron, I did this about 3 years ago. Mine was so bad that I was burning oil too. After I did this my engine ran better and stopped burning oil. 3 years the motor still runs great.

 

[stilbo]

Hope this helps ya'll.....

I hope a lot of people with this problem get to see the fix cause it really sucked (OIL)....

I forgot to mention that the gasket leak doesn't allow air to get into intake but DOES allow OIL to get sucked into (usually #5) intake valve pockets.

This oil actually INCREASES the compression ratio of that particular cylinder by introducing a dense mass to the mixture....also carbon build up will increase the compression. Kinda like any British made engine...

That's why burning premium (I save that stuff for the Probe GT and the old Harleys) will make the pinging go away, but only until the leak gets so bad that NO amount of extra octane will help....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ron S.

 

[MikeTEC]

Great information! Hate to show my ignorance, but what do you take off/where do you start to get to the intake bolts? Is it a complex job? Thanks Mike

 

[timfretwell]

Procedure

This sounds like it might be a good thing to check. I've got a pinging problem on my 94 that I cant solve. This might be a dumb question, but does anyone have a procedure for retorqeing these bolts? I dont want to just go cranking on bolts and screw up something else...
Thanks.

 

[sciguy007]

Re: Procedure

Originally posted by timfretwell
This sounds like it might be a good thing to check. I've got a pinging problem on my 94 that I cant solve. This might be a dumb question, but does anyone have a procedure for retorqeing these bolts? I dont want to just go cranking on bolts and screw up something else...
Thanks.

ditto

 

[toad]

Yes there is a sequence for torquing the bolts down to apply pressure evenly on the manifold, hard to explain but its in the manual.

 

[Rhett]

I tried re-torquing the lower intake manifold bolts on my 94 as per specs, but as I recall, I couldn't reach all of the bolts. Maybe I just need a swivel socket.

I think that intake manifold gasket problem is not just limited to 92's and 93's.

 

[timfretwell]

I agree, I have a 94 and it appears that I have the same problem. With this being so common, Ford should really do a recall to fix this. Fat chance of that I'm sure. Does anyone know what it costs to have the retorqueing done?

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

When I retorqued the Lower intake I took the upper intake off to get to the Bolts made it much easier.

 

[MikeTEC]

Well, I finally had enough and the wife said she could not stand the pinging/clattering any longer. So off to my Ford dealer. The Ford technician/mechanic felt it was carbon, so he took the plugs out, sprayed a chemical into each cylinder, let it set for an hour, removed it along with a lot of carbon, regapped the plugs, cleaned the injectors and now NO PING! He worked on it about three hours. Cost about $175 but it was worth it. Now I can finally burn regular with no pinging/clattering. However the test will really come when I tow my trailer in the hot Texas summer heat. I truly believe each case is different for each of us, but this worked for me. Mike

 

[pudljmpr]

4.0L Pinging engines

Ditto on the different cases for many of us. My 4.0L '94 engine was cured with a new crankshaft position sensor. But I like the idea of the intake manifold being the real culprit and will crank em down just in case. Haven't check'd my manual for the procedure yet but I will. If I remember correctly, the ignition computer will compensate for most of these problems until they go "out-of-range" and you're left with the ping.

 

[PekingMan]

Unbelieveable, all the threads relates to pinging, and to think that all this time, in many cases all it was a few loose bolts occured over time. It's hard to think how much extra money was lost by having to use higher octane fuel to get rid of the knocking. I will check mine (and girlfriend's) this weekend to get rid of my occasional knock.

Thanks stilbo for the great thread that may help a lot of us!