Solution for 01 Cobra Pinging?

[Avenging Angel]

Forgive the lack of mechanical knowledge, but logically, if the car pings during hotter weather, would a better aftermarket radiator (Like Fluidyne) be a good solution or would that be overkill?

I know NGK plugs & a 180 degree thermostat would help, but I'd rather play it safe & buy a $400 radiator than fix a DOHC engine. What are your thoughts?

 

[Blue03Cobra]

I would spend the $400 on a custom burned chip (and dyno tune). I have heard that can eliminate all pinging, regardless of weather...

Good luck

P.S. If you'll do a search I think that someone fixed their pinging with exhaust mods (like a catted Bassani X-pipe), but I don't remember the details.

 

[Daniel Moran]

I put Redline water wetter in my 01 when new and it has never pinged in its 6000 miles. If it ever starts doing it I would first try an upper cylinder cleaner like STP complete fuel system cleaner or a Seafoam treatment. My next move would be perhaps a colder heatrange spark plug. This assumes you have no mods that might cause a leaner mixture and contribute to pinging.

 

[brad65ford]

I'm with Blue98Cobra, because the chip will tell the the fan to come on sooner and longer. And the thermostate is not a good idea from what I have read.

http://www.forums.svtperformance.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16002&highlight=bypass+valve ;-)

 

[Avenging Angel]

Originally posted by brad65ford
I'm with Blue98Cobra, because the chip will tell the the fan to come on sooner and longer. And the thermostate is not a good idea from what I have read.

http://www.forums.svtperformance.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16002&highlight=bypass+valve ;-)

Awww damn. I just ordered a 180 Thermostat a couple of hours ago. Thanks for the post though. At least I can return it.

 

[Lo Pony]

Hey - go ahead with the 180 thermostat. Should be fine, and might actually help. Don't go below 180, though, since the PCM probably will run you too rich.

 

[CANNON]

Hey, (new guy here). I talked to SVT on Fri. about a 180 stat, and he told me the 01s came stock with a 180...???

 

[Lo Pony]

That's news to me - I understood them to be 195.

Due to emissions concerns, I would consider it unfathomable they would use a 180 degree tstat from the factory.

 

[MG01]

My 01 Pings

I am mechanically challenged ( trying learn as much as possible) so pardon the ignorance.

I just had the SSM 15571 (?) done that apparently addresses the ping. I haven't heard the ping since the work was done but it is early days.

Prior to the fix, I noticed that it tends to ping in warmer weather. The ping is correlated to warm/humid weather. It doesn't get scorching hot on the West Coast nor humid which is just fine by me. On some cooler days after about a 20 minute drive around to warm her up, she runs very well. Short trips or a lot of stop/go and pfmce is erratic

I will report back on progress re the ping fix. If anyone has any ideas about good after market chip, let me know. I believe Steeda sells the Diablo line---anyone have success with these??

Also, what is the Part # for the FR500 cat back exhaust system. The guy at my local Ford parts dealer had no clue what I was asking about on my last visit.

And by the way, Ford dealers in my area do a brutal job differentiating their SVT customers from others when you bring in for a service( i.e. left the card board mechanic mat in the car, no wash or vacuum)

 

[Nino]

Nick,
Have you taken the car in for the ping fix? I'd do that first since it's free and it may fix your problem. If that doesn't work then I would try to get someone with an OBDII scanner to make a couple of scans when it pings. That should help narrow down the culprit. I would not spend any money on a radiator at this point since the stock one is more than adequate. If the car is pinging due to localized hotspots on the heads then you might want to try a better coolant, such as Evans NPG+ waterless coolant. If it's due to spark timing then get a timing adjuster and pull timing back a few degrees.

 

[CobraFreak1996]

I agree with blue98cobra. To me it just sounds like they maybe got a little too aggressive with the fuel and timing for the heat. I know that's what they generally change when you get a custom chip but I'm thinking maybe they didn't get it right at certain points in the program. I'm no expert by far but that just seems logical to me. If the cars are getting gummed up in the upper cylinders with as few miles as some report, I'd hate to see them with 50k-100k miles. I know many won't see that but that just seems to be too low of mileage to be dealing with bad cases of carbon build-up. I've been following this issue closely as my next ride will be either a 99 or 01 and if it's an 01 I'd like to know if it can easily be remedied. Yes I'm sure ford would void the warranty with a custom chip but it just seems like a better option than having the motor destroy itself and them try to say it was from abuse.

 

[Avenging Angel]

Originally posted by Nino
Nick,
Have you taken the car in for the ping fix? I'd do that first since it's free and it may fix your problem. If that doesn't work then I would try to get someone with an OBDII scanner to make a couple of scans when it pings. That should help narrow down the culprit. I would not spend any money on a radiator at this point since the stock one is more than adequate. If the car is pinging due to localized hotspots on the heads then you might want to try a better coolant, such as Evans NPG+ waterless coolant. If it's due to spark timing then get a timing adjuster and pull timing back a few degrees.

I don't want to take my car in because 1st of all they don't know or say that they've never heard about this before (Tommie Vaughn Ford). Secondly I don't trust any if those fockers with my car. I had my 99 Cobra taken in to get the ac fixed. I get the car back with oil on the seats & 18 miles missing on the odometer. I know they have to test the ac, but 18 miles!!!