Pinging is back! Short lived bliss

[bluevolume]

My '00 XLS was getting to the point where I couldn't drive it at highway speeds. Once it went into OD it would ping throughout the throttle range, it got so bad that I thought the engine was going to fly apart. I tried all of the normal things (plugs, wires, tons of fuel injector/intake cleaner, fuel filter) but no luck.

So I finally let the dealer have a crack at it since I was having some warranty service done anyway. They did their upper-intake service -- I'm assuming that this is there version of Seafoam treatment? Anyway, I got it back and it ran better than it ever has. The pinging was completely gone and it had a lot more power, especially in the upper RPM ranges. I was really starting to like this truck for the first time.

The honeymoon is over, as they say. The pinging has returned and the increased power is gone. It's only been 2 months -- has it loaded itself up that bad in 2 months? I do a fair amount of highway driving and I'm not one to baby the throttle, so I'm really shocked that it has carboned up this fast.

Any ideas? The dealership charged me $80 for their cleaning, I can't keep doing that every 2 months.

Thanks,
Blue

 

[metstalker]

what type of engine?

 

[aldive]

I have a couple suggestions:
*1) run Sea Foam through the motor and add some to the gas
(2) try a higher octane rated gas

Good luck.......

 

[bluevolume]

I have the 4.0 OHV engine. Didn't get lucky enough to find a SOHC in my price range.

Thanks,
Blue